South Dakota officials say cleanup crews are working to restore Black Hills communities following an early October winter storm, and they're keeping tabs on flooding potential in western South Dakota.
Heavy, wet snow blanketed the Black Hills region Friday into Saturday. The wind and snow downed power lines and snapped trees, prompting no travel advisories and interstate closures.
Parts of I-90 that were shut down are now open, including the section from Murdo to Wall. State Secretary of Transportation Darin Bergquist says crews are hoping to have the entire stretch of interstate open by the end of Sunday.
Bergquist says the volume of snow and its density makes the cleanup process slower than it usually goes. He says that's especially true on roads away from the interstate in the Black Hills and farther north. Bergquist says cleanup crews are sometimes needing bigger equipment and making more passes to clear a road; however, he says warmer temperatures help cleanup because roads stay open once they're cleared. The transportation secretary says most highways should be passable by Monday morning.
Bergquist says local crews are having a harder time pushing snow off of streets, such as in-town Rapid City, Sturgis, and Lead/Deadwood. He says that's because plows can't simply push snow to the side of the road but instead must load snow into trucks and haul it out of the way.
Warmer temperatures are sliding into western South Dakota as the workweek nears. Secretary of Public Safety Trevor Jones says state officials are paying attention to flooding potential as the sun shines. Jones says the National Weather Service tells him that the amount of snow on the ground is about the same as an inch to an inch and a half of rain, which doesn't pose an immense problem. He has some concern in areas of Perkins and Harding County, where rural rivers are rising toward flood stage. He says Rapid Creek and other waterways are holding their levels well, but the state is monitoring the issues.
Jones says state officials have asked for river gauges from the USGS and NWS. He says federal agencies have been able to provide the state with all of the data about water levels in rivers and creeks west river.
The Public Safety secretary says power crews are still trying to restore power to thousands of people in the Black Hills. At maximum, 28,000 people didn't have electricity.
Now that communities are transitioning to recovery mode, Jones encourages neighbors to help one another during the cleanup.
Jones says the Black Hills region often gets heavy snowfalls with high moisture content, but that typically happens in the spring. He says people were well-prepared for the storm, and the state is working in conjunction with local emergency managers to support communities and rural areas in western South Dakota.