NORTH SIOUX CITY, S.D. – The North Sioux Railroad bridge which runs over the Big Sioux river between Riverside and North Sioux City has collapsed under the weight of the water and debris that is flowing down the river.

The failure occurred around 11pm last night.

The bridge is used for trains hauling grain and crushed rock to Sioux Falls.

We will try to get more on this story as it develops.

 

SOUTH DAKOTA Undated – State officials have closed Interstate 29 in southeast South Dakota, near North Sioux City.

The closure went into effect at 6:00 p.m. Sunday and impacts both northbound and southbound lanes on Interstate 29 from Exit 2 to Exit 9.

The Big Sioux River is predicted to crest around 7 p.m. on Sunday and is expected to send a significant amount of water into low-lying areas of southeast South Dakota.

A berm, or levee, is being built across both lanes of I-29 at Exit 4. That protective structure will connect with an existing levee on the east side of North Sioux City.

The South Dakota Department of Transportation has set up the following detour routes:

Southbound I-29 traffic will be detoured onto S.D. Highway 50 west at exit 26 to Vermillion, then south to South Dakota Highway 19 into Nebraska where it becomes N.E. Highway 15, then continue south to N.E. Highway 12 east in Nebraska to U.S Highway 20 east in Nebraska, then to exit 144 for I-29 south at South Sioux City, IA.

Northbound I-29 traffic will exit onto Highway 20 west, then north on Highway 12 and Highway 15 in Nebraska, continuing onto Highway 19 in South Dakota to the Vermillion exit to Highway 50 eastbound to I-29.

Local traffic will be allowed into the area until the water reaches the roadway.

Detour maps are available on https://www.SD511.org or https://dot.sd.gov/travelers/travelers/flooding-information.

Motorists are urged to use caution when driving on state and local roads in southeast South Dakota for the next several days. Motorists should not drive through rushing or standing water over roadways as the road may be washed out underneath.

 

PIERRE, S.D. (South Dakota Searchlight) – The Department of Transportation issued a no-travel advisory this afternoon for all state highway sections in southeastern South Dakota experiencing flooding, including a blocked portion of Interstate 29.

Some locations in the area received more than 5 inches of rain in the past two days, with 2 to 4 additional inches of rain in the forecast for some locations today into Saturday.

The Department of Transportation said heavy rainfall and saturated ground conditions are causing widespread flooding, making travel difficult to impossible in the southeastern region. A majority of state and local routes are impassable due to standing or flowing water across the roadway, and many of the major streams and rivers will continue to rise and are not anticipated to peak until this weekend or later.

Interstate 29 is blocked at exit 50 (Centerville) and exit 62 (Canton). An alternate route has been created in conjunction with the Iowa Department of Transportation and the Minnesota Department of Transportation to allow motorists to safely travel from Sioux Falls to Sioux City, and Sioux Falls to the South Dakota Highway 48 junction north of Junction City.

The alternate route diverts motorists in Sioux Falls to eastbound I-90 to Worthington, Minnesota, turning south on U.S. Highway 59, turning southwest on State Route 60 through Sheldon, Iowa, and continuing south on U.S. Highway 75 from Le Mars, Iowa, to access Sioux City, Iowa. Motorists can also use Iowa State Highway 3 heading west out of Le Mars to access South Dakota Highway 48 and I-29.

It’s highly recommended that motorists use the alternate route, said the South Dakota Department of Transportation, as other secondary highways in the area are impassable due to high water.

A map of the alternate route as well as additional flooding traveler information can be found at https://dot.sd.gov/travelers/travelers/flooding-information. Travelers can also find road condition information for the state of Iowa at https://www.511ia.org/ and the state of Minnesota at https://511mn.org/.

Interstate 90 is currently open but is anticipated to close this evening as the weather system becomes stronger and rainfall increases. Areas on I-90 near Salem and Mount Vernon are significantly impacted by flooding.

Travel impacts are expected to increase throughout the evening hours, with a high likelihood of rain continuing through Saturday. An additional storm system is anticipated to move into the area around 5 p.m. Central today, which will bring heavy rainfall, damaging winds, hail and possibly a tornado. Motorists can expect additional road closures if conditions continue to worsen.

Motorists are reminded to respect all road closures and not drive around barricades. They should not use secondary highways to avoid road closures or highway obstructions. Driving into floodwater areas can lead to potentially dangerous or life-threatening situations. Due to the expected length of this weather event, all motorists are asked to plan their travel accordingly and not travel in southeast South Dakota if possible.

Visit https://sd511.org or download the SD511 mobile app to view all current road closures, no-travel advisories and highway obstructions.

 

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Seth Tupper, South Dakota Searchlight) – Sioux Falls is asking area residents to limit their contributions to the wastewater system, while state officials are warning of river crests that will arrive Monday and Tuesday as southeast South Dakota recovers from several days of historic rainfall totaling more than 17 inches in some locations.

Mayor Paul TenHaken said Sioux Falls is diverting wastewater into holding facilities that have never been used before, and those facilities are full.

“This is the most strained the system has ever been,” he said.

He asked people in the Sioux Falls area to temporarily avoid doing laundry, taking showers, running their dishwasher or doing anything else that would contribute unnecessary wastewater to the system.

TenHaken participated in a media teleconference Saturday morning with Gov. Kristi Noem and other officials.

Noem encouraged everyone affected by flooding to document their property damages and relay that information to their insurance agent and their county emergency management director. She said the state will collect that information and apply it toward the $1.6 million statewide damage threshold needed to unlock assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The governor said rainfall totals since Thursday include 18.2 inches in Canton (Noem said that figure twice, and her spokesman confirmed the figure to South Dakota Searchlight afterward), 7.48 inches in Mitchell, 7.3 inches in Sioux Falls and 7.15 inches in Chamberlain. She said 21 of the state’s 66 counties are experiencing flooding.

“We have seen a tremendous amount of rainfall,” Noem said.

There are widespread reports of flooded roads and basements, but officials on the call said they have not received any reports of deaths, while reported injuries have been minor.

TenHaken said Sioux Falls emergency responders rescued six people during the prior 24 hours, including one man in the Big Sioux River near the falls. TenHaken said that man is lucky to be alive.

People may want to view the water roaring over the falls, TenHaken said, but they should stay away and view it through webcam feeds on the internet.

“Just maybe avoid going to the falls, would be appreciated,” TenHaken said. “It’s not really a safe place right now.”

Noem warned against complacency as the rainfall ends.

“All of that water is moving through our system and moving through our tributaries, our streams, our rivers and our dams,” she said, “and we are expecting high water flows to come downstream.”

Officials said several rivers are expected to crest Monday or Tuesday, including the James River near Yankton at 25.1 feet, the Big Sioux River near Sioux City at 38.4 feet, and a portion of the Vermillion River at around 30 feet. The Big Sioux figure would be a record for that segment, Noem said.

Those are all tributaries of the Missouri River, which is managed with dams. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Friday that rainfall in eastern South Dakota, northeastern Nebraska and northwestern Iowa was 600% of normal during the prior 24 hours. The corps responded by lowering releases at Fort Randall and Gavins Point dams. The lower releases, continuing through Sunday, are expected to raise the water level behind Gavins Point by 2 feet.

John Remus is the chief of the corps’ Missouri River Basin Water Management Division.

“While the decreased releases are expected to bring lower downstream river stages, they cannot offset all the flooding in the Sioux City area,” Remus said in a Friday news release.

South Dakota’s secretary of public safety, Bob Perry, said a portion of Interstate 29 south of the Canton exit remains closed due to water over the road. He said an alternate route that had been established through Iowa “seems also closed at this point.”

Perry urged drivers to visit https://sd511.org or download the SD511 mobile app to view all current road closures, no-travel advisories and highway obstructions. Further information about South Dakota flooded roads is available at https://dot.sd.gov/travelers/travelers/flooding-information, and information about roads in Iowa and Minnesota is available at https://www.511ia.org/ and https://511mn.org/.

The National Weather Service forecast for southeast South Dakota includes scattered showers and storms through early Saturday afternoon with less than a quarter-inch of new rain in most areas. The forecast for Sunday is mostly dry with a chance of isolated showers and storms, and there are more widespread rainfall chances Monday night into Tuesday.