BROOKINGS – With a week full of rain, warmer temperatures and melting snow, some roadways are flooding, vehicles are getting stuck, and leaks are springing up everywhere, according to reports from the area.
One of those stuck vehicles happened in Brookings Wednesday near Second Street South and Division Avenue, according to the Brookings Police and Brookings Fire Department.
Early reports indicated the car was in the water up to its headlights and someone was still inside.
“By the time we got there, the driver was out of the car. And we just called a wrecker for it,” Assistant Chief Derrick Powers said.
Brookings Fire Chief Darrell Hartmann wasn’t sure how many people were in the vehicle or how it came to be in the water, but “they drove right into the drainage ditch and (it) was partially submerged,” he said. “Pretty deep into it.”
No one was injured, but Powers cautioned drivers to be careful.
“Just the water, it’s sometimes tough to tell how deep it is, so people should use caution when they’re traveling through water that’s over the road or in a lot because it’s really tough to tell how deep it is. And moving water could be even more dangerous,” he said.
The City of Aurora on Thursday posted a picture of an SUV that drove around a barricade, got stuck in rushing water and tipped at a severe angle at the corner of Broadway and Lovejoy.
The City of Aurora also had requested earlier this week “that all residents use water sparingly to help prevent the sewer system from overfilling and creating issues with this last rainfall and snow melt.”
The Brookings Fire Department had three other calls on Wednesday. The first was a report of a gas leak at 11:46 a.m. at 510 Eight St. S. No. 63. BFD and North Western Energy responded and found no gas leak; in fact, the gas had been disconnected the day before. The fire department cleared the scene at 12:03 p.m.
The fire department was called out to the Carrot Seed Kitchen Co. at 310 Main Ave. at 3:12 p.m. for an arcing power service.
“Basically what had happened is a big chunk of snow and ice was sliding down the roof and caught the weather head and caused the wires to arc out,” Hartmann said.
City utilities disconnected the power and the scene was turned over to the owners. Hartmann said an electrician would be needed to clear the rest of the snow and run a new service in the building. The fire crews cleared the scene at 3:58 p.m.
The fire department was asked to take a look at the Brookings County Courthouse at 4:21 p.m. Wednesday due to leaks.
“We used our aerial platform and personnel to clear snow and ice from the roof drains. We had considerable leaking, flooding in the courthouse,” Hartmann said.
The Brookings County Courthouse was closed Thursday, but that was due to Gov. Kristi Noem closig all the state offices, not because of the leak in the local courthouse, according to Stacy Steffensen, Brookings County Commission Department director.
“Also, the leaking is considerably better after the fire department came and cleared the roof drains and the ice buildup (Wednesday),” she said in an email.
Fire crews cleared the scene at 7:21 p.m. Wednesday, Hartmann said.
While they were still at the courthouse, they got the call about the vehicle in the water on Second Street and Division Avenue.
“Some of us made it on scene, but we were cleared pretty quick at 4:53 p.m.,” he said.
Although the weather has cleared, Hartmann cautioned drivers to be careful in inclement weather, particularly when visibility is bad, as it was Thursday.
“If you can’t see, don’t drive. If you don’t have to drive, don’t drive,” he said.
County flooding
Things played out as expected for the county this week, according to Brookings County Development Department Director and Emergency Manager Bob Hill. He described Wednesday as “terrible for everybody,” but we had it better than Sioux Falls because of a timely turnaround from rain to snow that eased some flooding concerns, even if it did come with a blizzard warning.
Some issues such as icing did come up as a result, Hill said, but one of the main problems in Brookings County on Thursday into Friday has been blocked culverts, resulting in water on some roads. As of Friday afternoon, County Road 29 was still closed due to water on the road from a blocked culvert.
“We had at least ankle-deep water if not more on the road and a bunch of debris from the ditches was covering the road, so the decision was made to close the road until we could get the culverts unplugged and the debris off the roads,” Hill said Friday afternoon. “We had Alton Township call, and they said they had so many roads (with water), they couldn’t give me a list. They said about every road they had a stream run through was covered by water, and they didn’t recommend people drive through the water.”
He said motorists shouldn’t attempt to drive through water over roadways because there’s a variety of dangers that could be hidden: “You just don’t know if something is washed out from under it or not.”
The county did end up distributing sandbags to the public after stocks in local stores were depleted. More should be available for purchase in those stores by the weekend, Hill said, but until then, they’ve given out as many as people needed.
He was grateful for citizens who called in order to volunteer to fill sandbags and help in other ways. Hill said that Sioux Falls has been working in conjunction with 211 to coordinate volunteers and clean-up efforts, and Brookings would use 211 as well if a disaster strikes.
