Flooding threatens low lying Ft. Pierre/Pierre homes and property (Fort Pierre: gated, deal)
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Hm, that's strange, I watch Keloland every day and they have people both in Pierre and Dakota Dunes and I don't think I've seen Duugaard at all....Not that I care anyways, didn't care for Rounds nor him...
So, you equate a governor mugging for a camera the same as being in charge? In your astute observations did you see entities and people working together? And by working together I am talking all levels of goverment, I am talking business' and individuals...
My take is vastly different than yours. Because you see or don't see the governor in front of a camera you seeminly conclude that he is doing nothing. It appears the results are contrary to your conclusion.
Woudn't a better measure of the job be to ask and observe what actions are being taken to mitigate damage or prevent loss of life and property damage?
We are a week into the 150,000 cfs release at Oahe, the levies seem to be doing what they were intended to do and are holding up pretty well. Better than I was expecting. Most of problems will arise with the raising of the water table. That will inflict a majority of the damage.
And as far as dealing out blame... Well thank mother nature for that. In the last month large areas of the upper missouri river drainiage areas received up to 600% above average rain fall amounts. This on top two or three winters of above average snow packs.
Lets rewind to 2002 when this part of the world was in the middle of a pretty major drought. Levels on Oahe and other bodies were far below normal... Where boat ramps were closed, water intakes for water systerms were drying than a popcorn fart. The "experts" thought it would take 40 years to fill up the lakes again. .
Some would love to blame the Army Corp of Engineers. Last time I checked, they lacked the ability to communicate with nature what nature should do. No one can control mother nature. No one. You can somewhat regulate water flows an prevent floods some of the time, never all of the time.
The whole situation is a mess from Fort Peck all the way to Gulf of Mexico.
Talked to one of our guys that just got back from Dakota Dunes yesterday. He said it's pretty incredible being on site and helping...the levee is 25 feet high in some places. The majority of the work is done, now it's just a monitoring and waiting game. They really are doing 24 hour foot patrols on the levee to search for leaks and weak spots. The effort that this is taking is tremendous. Our soldiers and others that are working on this deserve our utmost respect.
He said watching people empty their homes knowing they might have nothing to come back to was heartbreaking - watching people work for 3-4 days with no sleep to save what they could...this guy's a real tough-guy type, and to hear what he was describing was so hard. We tend to lose touch with the human factor in all of this in our awe of the hugeness of the flooding, but the people are still there and the harsh realities are what is going to matter when this is all over...
As far as our politicians and their involvement - our guy said he personally spoke with Daugaard and Noem, and he stood by as Noem spent quite a great deal of time on her phone with Washington, making sure we had the personnel and supplies to see this through. At one point, an agency was going to pull their personnel, and she made sure they stayed. I would say our politicians see the greater need, and all of them are working to make sure South Dakota gets its needs met.
I wish all those affected the best. If it was me and I lived along the river in a known former floodplain, I would have looked at the elevation maps carefully and bought flood insurance... but I tend to over-research stuff though. A dam is no guarantee that a former flood plain will never again see water.
Due to an immense amount of expected rain, the Oahe and Big Bend dams will be increasing their water release schedules to a tremendous 155,000 cubic feet per second on Saturday and 160,000 cfs on Sunday.
The United States Army Corps of Engineers said Friday that because there is the potential for 3 to 5 inches of rain by early next week the increased levels were necessary to make way for the rain that will fill the reservoirs.
Jody Farhat, chief of the Missouri River basin water management office for the USACE, said it was necessary to transfer water from Oahe down into the Fort Randall reservoir.
Bohica... It isn't good. The forecast for Western SD and Montana for the next few days shows more rain. June, thus far has been holding somewhat below normal on the precip.
Last night there was some heavy rains in Pierre. It was a fairly heavy rain. They were pumping out the low areas.
The increase, I hope it doesn't mess with the water tables.
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In your astute observations did you see entities and people working together? And by working together I am talking all levels of goverment, I am talking business' and individuals... 
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If it was me and I lived along the river in a known former floodplain, I would have looked at the elevation maps carefully and bought flood insurance... but I tend to over-research stuff though. A dam is no guarantee that a former flood plain will never again see water.
Oahe Dam release rate to be increased this weekend
