Governor Noem Requests Disaster Declaration for Storm Damage

Nearly a month after a series of storms devastated a large part of Eastern South Dakota the state is looking for help from the Federal Government.

Friday afternoon (June 10), Governor Kristi Noem requested a Disaster Declaration from President Joe Biden for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) assistance to help with repairs for damage done to public infrastructure.

Preliminary estimates say the May 12 storms caused more than $6.7 million in damage in Aurora, Beadle, Bon Homme, Brookings, Clay, Codington, Day, Deuel, Grant, Hamlin, Hanson, Hutchinson, Kingsbury, Lake, McCook, Minor, Minnehaha, Moody, Roberts, and Turner Counties, as well as the Flandreau Indian and Lake Traverse Reservations.

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Two people died in the storms, which produced 14 tornadoes and wind gusts of more than 100 miles per hour in some places. Nearly 70,000 people went without power for an extended period of time.

The governor's office says South Dakota currently has six open Presidential disaster declarations for other events and is working with FEMA on the recovery process for each of those disasters.

Also Friday, Governor Noem signed Executive Order 2022-06 to help South Dakota local governments recover from the damage caused by the storms. The order invokes provisions under the state's Emergency Management law and remains in effect for three months.

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