Update from Sioux Falls Emergency Center
Sioux Falls, South Dakota: As of 8 a.m. 4/15/13, the City of Sioux Falls and Minnehaha Emergency Operations Center continues to respond to issues related to the winter storm.
City of Sioux Falls response updates include:
- The City is expanding the area of initial branch cleanup and is beginning initial work outside of the core area.
- The City of Sioux Falls is accepting applications for temporary laborers to help with branch drop-off sites. Applications for temporary employment are available online at www.siouxfalls.org or at Human Resources, 224 West Ninth Street.
- The City continues to update information on its website. To see the latest updates, go to www.siouxfalls.org/icestorm2013.
- Minnehaha County crews are addressing debris removal at Sioux Falls public and Catholic schools on April 15 and 16.
- To report power outages, contact your service provider:
As of 9 p.m., Sunday, April 14, Xcel Energy announced that they were at the conclusion of power restoration to communities hit by the ice storm. Crews have restored power to nearly all customers, except those whose home was damaged by the storm and where an electrician is required to repair the homeowner’s equipment before service can be reconnected safely. To report an outage, to receive outage information, or to report damage to their electrical service, customers are asked to call Xcel Energy’s outage line: 1-800-895-1999.
If the storm has damaged a homeowner’s mast, the pipe-like housing that connects service wires to a home’s meter, the homeowner must contact an electrician for repairs to the mast before Xcel can safely reconnect service to
the home.
Crews continue to clear blocked roadways to assist with cleanup efforts.
Park crews are assisting with tree branch clearing efforts.
Free tree/branch drop-off is available at the City Street Department (1000 East
Chambers Street), the Sioux Empire Fairgrounds (North Lyon Boulevard), and
the Sioux Falls Landfill (26750 464th Avenue and County Highway 148) to
assist with branch cleanup due to the ice storm. Drop-off sites will be open from
7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.
- An additional free City tree/branch drop-off site has been opened at the northeast corner of 69th Street and Cliff Avenue. Public access to the site is located off of 69th Street.
- The City has provided contact information for licensed arborists and licensed electricians at www.siouxfalls.org/icestorm2013.
In Sioux Falls, call 2-1-1 if you have questions about who to contact for stormrelated issues.
People interested in volunteering for the response or donating items to the response should contact 2-1-1.
Recommendations to citizens:
- Do not park in front of debris piles.
- Anticipate and prepare for the possibility of power outages.
- Be aware and stay clear of downed power lines.
- Do not allow children to climb on piles of tree branches.
- When clearing tree branches, make sure fire hydrants remain clear and accessible.
- If traffic signals are not functioning, please treat affected intersections as a fourway stop.