Storm causes widespread damage, citywide cleanup starts Monday

Posted

Updated at 9:50 a.m. Monday

BROOKINGS – A citywide curbside cleanup starts Monday in Brookings after a storm tore through eastern South Dakota early Thursday evening, causing destruction in the city and throughout Brookings County.

Widespread tree and property damage, downed power lines and power outages were reported following the storm, which the National Weather Service in Sioux Falls has called a “derecho.”

A derecho is “a widespread, long-lived wind storm that is associated with a band of rapidly moving showers or thunderstorms,” according to the National Weather Service.

“Although a derecho can produce destruction similar to the strength of tornadoes, the damage typically is directed in one direction along a relatively straight swath. As a result, the term “straight-line wind damage” sometimes is used to describe derecho damage. By definition, if the wind damage swath extends more than 240 miles and includes wind gusts of at least 58 mph or greater along most of its length, then the event may be classified as a derecho,” according to teh National Weather Service.

The National Weather Service reported wind gusts as high as 79 mph in Brookings County Thursday.

By 5:50 p.m. Friday, the City of Brookings reported that city streets had been 100% cleared of tree and storm debris. However, cleanup continues throughout the county on city and private property, such as parks, homeowners’ yards and elsewhere.

“Crews will resume cleanup operations and damage assessment of public areas on Monday,” the city press release says.

“Residents will be able to place debris and trees on their curb for cleanup by city workers. The cleanup will follow the same rules as the city’s annual Spring Cleanup with one noted difference: the city will not be limiting the tree/branch diameter for disposal. Trees must be broken down so that city staff can handle and transport the pieces for disposal,” the City of Brookings reported in a press release Friday. 

“Residents are asked to please place items parallel to the street on the boulevard and away from construction, light poles, standing trees, etc. Please do not place items in the street or in alleys. We ask that residents separate garbage and trees. Piles should not be mixed. Recycling materials and household waste should be placed in City of Brookings carts for normal pickup. As cleanup takes place, please refrain from parking in front of piles to allow crews and cleanup vehicles access to items. The city will be implementing a real-time cleanup tracker webpage allowing residents to follow status of operations block by block. The cleanup tracker webpage address will be forthcoming. Learn more by visiting www.cityofbrookings-sd.gov,” says the City of Brookings press release.

A citywide power outage was resolved in Brookings Friday evening. Brookings Municipal Utilities was waiting on its supplier, Western Area Power Administration, to repair damage after the storm. After WAPA restored power to the Brookings area, BMU crews began restoring power to Brookings businesses and residents. “In order to ensure grid stability, we are required to restore power in segments,” BMU reported on its Facebook page Friday evening.

Cheers could be heard in some Brookings neighborhoods Friday night as lights started coming back on.

“On Thursday, we found out what the force of Mother Nature can do. We also found out how a community can come together to help and support one another, whether it was reaching out to check on someone, helping a neighbor pick up branches or lending a hand to help with repairs,” BMU posted on its Facebook page Saturday. “Brookings Municipal Utilities and Swiftel Communications want to extend a heartfelt thank you for your patience in what was a challenging situation of living without power, conserving water and interrupted telecommunications services for the last couple days. We are proud to serve you and thank you for your cooperation. Take care and stay safe.”

BMU had asked customers to conserve water while the power was out, but those restrictions were lifted Saturday.

The South Dakota Rural Electric Association’s online outage map reported Sunday afternoon that more than 500 member-consumer-owners in Brookings County were still without power. Most were customers of Sioux Valley Energy.

The Brookings Regional Landfill resumed standard hours on Monday, the city reported. Due to safety concerns, the Citizen Campus will not be open 24/7 until further notice. The Citizen Campus will open and close in line with scheduled business hours. City garbage, recycling and yard-waste cart collection will continue as normal.

A Brookings Call Center that had been set up by the city to take calls regarding housing and downed trees and branches closed Friday afternoon.

Also on Friday afternoon, Brookings Parks, Recreation and Forestry announced that all parks, facilities, sports complex/facilities and trails are closed and all recreation activities are canceled until further notice. The Brookings Marathon was also canceled on Saturday.

“The City is requiring that all members of the community keep out of parks and off of trails for their safety. Even downed trees and damage that appears to be minor has the potential to be dangerous. The City will continue to assess damage and usability of public facilities, trails and parks. However, we are currently focusing on streets and other infrastructure,” the city press release says.

Brookings Mayor Ope Niemeyer said more information will be forthcoming regarding the curbside cleanup.

He praised city staff in how they’ve responded to the storm and its aftermath.

“I’ve been real happy with how staff stepped up to the plate. They did a smash-up job Friday in getting things set up in their emergency headquarters at the East Fire Station,” Niemeyer said.

He called the ongoing cleanup throughout the city “a Midwestern effort.”

“Everybody was pitching in, helping their neighbors,” Niemeyer said, relaying stories of out-of-towners even coming into Brookings to help with recovery efforts. “One family had like five trees down in their yard, and their sons and friends came and helped them clean up.”

“There’s still quite a few trees that haven’t been touched yet, so obviously the tree service companies are going to be busy,” he added. 

Niemeyer advised city residents to keep checking the city website and Facebook page for any updates, especially related to the curbside cleanup, such as the route and whether the city may take a second run.

“It could be a couple of weeks before we’re all cleaned up,” the mayor said.