the rising water

Today we are experiencing something new at the University of South Dakota and its going to last the whole summer.  The rising waters along the Missouri river have left much of South Dakota, Iowa and Nebraska under water.  Sunday we got an email from the Dean of Students informing us that we would be preparing for anywhere between 300 and 700 reserve and active military personnel as the Governor has declared South Dakota in a state of emergency.  According to our news station, Keloland, "record amounts of water are being released from dams along the Missouri River in South Dakota, creating flooding fears in a number of towns."  One of these towns being most affected is Dakota Dunes in North Sioux City.  This is actually an area that I am looking to move to this summer so lets keep our fingers crossed the apartments aren't greatly affected.  Britton's office is located in the dunes along with the families of many of his coworkers.  Many of these families began to move out over the weekend in preparation of the rising waters.  As of today, they have issued a mandatory evacuation for the Dunes and they are telling people to be prepared to be away from their homes for the entire summer.

Britton and I saw the flood waters yesterday on our way into Omaha from the air and I will tell you, it wasn't pretty.  Much of the Missouri river was already overflowing into neighborhoods and farms along its banks.  As I drove further up towards South Dakota I could see even more of the rising river and its affects on the local communities.  While Nebraska has not yet declared a state of emergency, we are only days away from the water levels causing the rest of the nearby states to need more help than the locals can provide.

Today the President of USD has informed the local community about the opportunities to help.  People are being taken to Yankton and the Dunes to sandbag 3 times a day and as a staff are allowed to request to take 4 hours a day to assist with this for the next few days.  I spent the morning preparing our residence halls for the military personnel to arrive and spent 4+ hours moving mattresses from one floor to another, cleaning rooms and mopping floors to make sure our military has a comfortable place to stay.  I am hoping that I can go out to the local towns later in the week to assist with sand bags as well.  Throughout the last few months I have had my heart strings pulled throughout the various natural distastes across the US and now I have my chance to help.  For more information check out http://www.keloland.com/news/news/flooding/