There is some controversy in the Sioux City metro regarding flooding control actions. Some people living in the McCook Lake area of North Sioux City say they were placed in the path of flowing water in order to spare other people in the rest of North Sioux City and the Dakota Dunes area.
Dirk Lohry, president of the McCook Lake Association, told South Dakota Searchlight that the area needs a new flood mitigation plan.
“McCook Lake was sacrificed for the benefit of North Sioux City and Dakota Dunes. We don’t really think that’s fair,” Lohry said.
The Big Sioux River flows by McCook Lake, North Sioux City and Dakota Dunes in the southeastern corner of South Dakota, and the flooding over the weekend destroyed several homes in McCook Lake. Entire houses have fallen into the lake, and there are 100-foot drop-offs from washouts, which have been shown in widely shared social media videos.
North Sioux City has had a flood mitigation plan in place for decades.
After North Sioux City officials activated the plan Saturday, state and local contractor crews helped build a temporary evee across Interstate 29 at Exit 4, a spot that is less than 1,000 feet east of some of the 230 homes that line McCook Lake. That tied in with permanent levees that protect North Sioux City and Dakota Dunes, which each have several thousand residents.
The plan was used to control floodwaters during during flood events in 2014 and 2019.
However, state officials say severe flooding at McCook Lake was likely inevitable due to the amount of rainfall that hit the region this week.
Governor Kristi Noem on Tuesday said the amount of water that came this time was just too much for the system, resulting in excess water flooding into McCook Lake.
Additionally, Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources geologist Tim Cowman said, “it doesn’t matter if the berm was there or not. That water would have gone over into the McCook Lake area and flooded it.”
Cowman said if the berm was not there, other areas of North Sioux City would have flooded, including residential neighborhoods.
The Big Sioux River crested at a new record level of 46 feet on Monday morning, well above the prior record of 37.7 feet.
Noem said the James River will crest near Yankton at just under 25 feet on Wednesday. The Vermillion River is expected to crest at record levels near Wakonda. This gives crews more time to prepare and reinforce levees in the region. The delayed timeline also eases pressure on the Missouri River, which each of these rivers feeds into.
*Additionally, Siouxlanders are dealing with a variety of trying situations as rivers drop and highways reopen after several days of closures.
A Red Cross official on Wednesday said at least 350 people have used Red Cross housing after being displaced in many Siouxland communities.
In the latter part of Tuesday, portions of Interstates 29 and 680 north Council Bluffs closed, as much water flows south and impacts the Missouri River. The Missouri River is expected to be a moderate flood stage later this week.
In another portion of I-29 in the Sioux City metro, the highway reopened in southeast South Dakota on late Tuesday near the heavily flooded McCook Lake area. That major highway had been closed for three days, beginning on Saturday.
Another highway reopening took place midday Wednesday, with Highway 20 going through the Little Sioux River valley at Correctionville in Woodbury County. Barricades will remain in place at the entry points into Correctionville to keep non-residents from entering the community.
In Sioux City, the Riverside neighborhood is the most impacted area due to Big Sioux River flooding. Inspectors are going door to door with MidAmerican Energy to determine if it’s safe to restore power to flooded homes.
A city of Sioux City release said it is understandable that people want to remove water from their homes, but cautioned that removing all the water at once may cause serious structural damage to homes.
The White House has approved a federal disaster declaration for five Iowa counties, covering Clay, Emmet, Lyon, Plymouth and Sioux counties, where some of the worst flooding is impacting such towns as Spencer, Rock Valley and Hawarden.
*In other news, a Woodbury County man who lost his primary election bid to win the Republican Party nomination for a county supervisor seat is now running for the post as a Democrat.
Brian McNaughton in a Wednesday press conference said he has “realized the Republican Party in which I grew up no longer existed,” so he will now run in the November general election as a Democrat.
McNaughton said he was running to speak out about what he called mismanagement of the new $70 million county jail being built. He said the Democratic Party is “the party of true fiscal responsibility and small government.”
McNaughton will face Republican incumbent county supervisor Mark Nelson in the election, who is the person who defeated McNaughton in the June primary.
Woodbury County Republican Party Chairman Bob Henderson in a Wednesday release called McNaughton’s move a political stunt.