Spring Flooding (audio) 2-19-10

Air Date:02/19/2010

By Jackelyn Severin

Governor Mike Rounds says flooding is highly likely across South Dakota this spring. The National Weather Service expects a 60 to 90 percent chance of flooding on rivers and lakes in much of the eastern part of the state.

Rounds met with the National Weather Service yesterday. He says it’s not a matter of if we have flooding but when and how bad. Rounds says the state can't predict how severe flooding could be but he says officials are hoping for the best and preparing for the worst.

"We are in the middle stages at the state level of planning for the pre-positioning of assets to respond to the anticipated flooding this spring. We met yesterday with representatives from the National Guard and with representatives from DOT and with emergency management," says Rounds.

Areas seeing the highest chance of severe flooding are along the Big Sioux River, Vermillion River and the James River. Rounds says local individuals should start preparing now based on what the National Weather Service is predicting for their area.

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