Governor Rounds Predicts Spring Flood Damage 02/25/10 (audio)

Air Date:02/25/2010

By Eryn Clement

Governor Mike Rounds has requested two Presidential Disaster Declarations to help the state recover from a Christmas blizzard and a January ice storm. Now with spring around the corner, the Governor says flooding is  the next concern.

December and January were rough months for South Dakota. Governor Mike Rounds says the blizzard over the Christmas holiday and the ice storm in January caused about  twenty-three million dollars in damage statewide. Just as residents are beginning to recover from the winter storms, flooding could bring more damage this spring. Governor Rounds says the Northeast part of the state  may be hit the hardest.

“The worst case scenario that we could have is an extended period here of cold weather and a very quick warm up in the Northeastern part with rivers still having a lot of ice on them in the Southeastern part of the state and causing a real hard time for that water to drain out or a very slow release of that water down into the tributaries down to the Missouri River,” says Rounds.

Rounds says the National Weather Service predicts the state could be looking at a situation similar to the spring of 1997 in the coming months.

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