You're watching a production of South Dakota Public Broadcasting.

The 2011 Missouri River flood is among one of the most devastating events to ever take place in South Dakota.

We're going to fight this flood with every fiber of our being.

When Governor Dennis Dugard appeared on the May 26th special South Dakota Focus and made the announcement about the impending flood.

The crew at South Dakota Public Broadcasting took immediate action, collecting stories and shooting video footage up and down the Missouri River.

I've never seen these days of this wide open skin crazy.

For the next hour, you'll witness the day to day accounts of the 2011 Missouri River flood.

As the events unfolded, starting with the May 26th South Dakota Focus and ending with the rising waters at the Dakota Dunes on June 17th.

Originally, we had planned to bring you a two hour special tonight on the state budget cuts.

However, due to our reservoirs reaching historic levels and the fear of major flooding up and down the Missouri River, we have changed gears.

It's like the plug in the bathtub.

They have to drain that bathtub reservoir down and create room for the snowpack, which which is beginning to melt now in the mountains.

We will be, seeing the corps release up to 120,000, cubic feet per second, which is more than twice the record.

It will inundate parts of Fort Pierce and parts of pier.

Absent some protective emergency measures.

And we're trying to get the word out to pair in Fort Pierce residents going door to door to alert them to the danger and encourage them to evacuate within the next 48 hours, if possible.

We don't believe that the homes will become accessible again until perhaps a month and a half to two months from now.

If then.

Army Corps engineers worked, overnight to design emergency protective levees that we are planning to install on either side of the Missouri River, downstream from the bridge between Pier and Fort Pier.

Right now, we're putting a completion date of, 20 300 hours, 11:00 at night on June 2nd.

That's, shortly before our next scheduled increase.

The precipitating event for this was a severe Sunday huge rain storm event that happened over the last two weeks.

Eastern Montana, northern Wyoming, western Dakotas.

There's no way anyone can plan for a, precipitation event like that.

So now the Army Corps is faced with a massive surge of water heading down the Missouri, and they have no choice but to open the gates and let it pour through dams like Oahe.

The Corps is planning on releasing a record flow never before put through this system of dams.

Governor Doug Guard says he hopes there is enough time to build temporary levees, and to take other mitigation efforts to divert water away from public buildings and homes.

Dugard says there are great deals of preparations to be made in a short time.

The governor signed an executive order to allow for the free flow of state resources to help with this disaster.

Last night, contract agreements were, settled upon, and work is underway as we speak on building the levees.

Conditions are deteriorating.

There is there are, storms forecast for the exact same basin that got the major flows.

Previously, over the next few days.

So at this time, the corps is, expecting increased flows and expecting the, schedule to get pressed up.

We are fighting this flood.

With a unified front, and we are going to keep fighting it until it goes.

And we're done.

The corps.

Yesterday at 6:00 PM central time, released a new flow schedule.

They had forewarned us yesterday morning that that was coming.

Original levee height was designed to an elevation of 1434.

That is the new high water mark elevation that we're designing to.

So our our levees are going to be built up an additional two foot for the freeboard for our safety.

Safety factor.

The release schedule.

The release schedule.

We went to 85,000 cubic feet per second yesterday at 8:00 in the morning.

We're holding that schedule as originally transmitted.

Through the 2nd of June.

That's the completion date of the contract.

The water level.

We expect to rise to 1434.

It will not rise from its present level until, June 3rd.

So the water should remain at its current levels until the morning of June 3rd, when the, releases will increase.

As Eric related.

I have suspended this morning.

The requirement that commercial driver's license be required for truck operators within the affected area over the next two weeks.

We have farmers and ranchers who are very capable of operating large equipment, but they're not required by law to operate that equipment on their farm.

I want to use their talents where we can.

There's a tremendous interest in the view of the water as it surges out of the dam, but that traffic is slowing our contractors trucks.

So if you're going to look at the dam, look at it online, or stay home.

I must say, yesterday morning, when I went out personally to look at the levee site, I was a little bit discouraged yesterday morning because I worried that there wasn't enough activity.

By mid-morning, that was completely dispelled.

Those, truck drivers and dozer operators came from all over to.

The snowmelt is still lagging.

It's still lagging.

It's it's just starting in some of the in some of the basins, and I, I can't tell you exactly which ones, but, the snow melt into the garrison reached yesterday still really hadn't started.

I am calling on all residents of Dakota Dunes to immediately plan to evacuate due to flooding.

Residents should plan to be away from their homes for as much as two months.

Water levels in the dunes will reach 1090 eight feet above sea level.

1098.

That means protective measures should be built to 1100 feet above sea level.

3 to 4 days ago.

There were questions about the likelihood of success, and there still remain questions about success.

But even though we are still challenged, I am hopeful that we will be able to complete the, reconstruction and elevation of existing levees and additional levees where necessary, and protect the residential areas in Dakota Dunes.

We are working against the clock.

And every time a dirt driver has to slow down or a National Guardsman has to slow down, the risk that we will be unsuccessful goes up.

So, please, if you do not have business in the Dakota Dunes area, do not come to sightsee.

I'll count on the media to be your eyes and ears here.

As it stands right now, the current forecast, which was last released on 29th May, has not changed.

That forecast is still in effect.

That forecast has a predicted maximum discharge out of Gavins Point Dam of 150,000 cubic feet per second.

We will reach that maximum discharge on June 14th.

Approximately 15 days from now.

The travel time from Gavins Point to the Dakota Dunes area is approximately one day.

So there will be a one day lag between changes in the discharge there and effects seen here from that.

Residents of the Dakota Dunes are frantically sandbagging and moving personal items out of their homes.

Today in a press briefing.

Governor Duggan again warned homeowners.

First of all, everyone in the residential area should be prepared to evacuate by tomorrow night.

That's what I said several days ago, and that remains true.

They certainly should remove all their property now and move it to higher ground.

They should secure their homes now if they have not already done so, and be prepared to evacuate personally by the end of tomorrow, as those on the ground work hard to build levees and protect homes.

Help from up above is also available.

I have ordered some Black Hawk helicopters to the area.

Two arrived yesterday afternoon and have been actively moving.

Large sandbags.

We have two Black Hawk helicopters right now.

We have ordered another, what we call a heavy helicopter.

It's a virtual.

It will carry at this point 6,000 pounds, three tons of those sandbags at one time.

That is why we ordered it.

Two miles worth of levee will help hold floodwaters back once the flooding preparations are complete in the Dakota Dunes.

Yesterday when I was on the levee with the contractor, at one point, he stated that traffic was causing him to be able to dump half as much as he could otherwise go.

That's unacceptable.

And so we need to drill down and manage that traffic so we get the job done.

State officials, FEMA, local residents and volunteers are preparing for increased water out of Oahe Dam.

The Army Corps of Engineers will increase the flow to 100,000 cubic feet per second at 8 a.m.

Friday.

Residents along the river in Peoria and neighboring Fort Pierre are being asked to leave their homes by 8:00 tonight.

Eric Stash, with the Army Corps of Engineers, says it'll be difficult to notice the change in flows.

It's not going to be, wall of water.

It's not going to be a surge of water.

You're going to have to be there and watch it come up, because it will slowly rise.

It takes, a little bit of time for that water to get from the dam to here.

Stash says the emergency levees are nearing completion and should be done before tomorrow's increase.

He says the river is expected to rise within 4/10 of a foot of the emergency spillway.

Stash doesn't anticipate needing to use the spillway.

Governor Dennis Dugard says while he is preparing for the worst, he's hoping for the best.

We're reaching several days that are critical.

The levee work will be completed.

The affected areas will be evacuated and the waters will reach their peak.

Words cannot describe the outpouring of hard work and support we have seen over the past week.

Dugard says he watched affected residents in pier, Fort Pier and Dakota Dunes to evacuate by tonight.

It is part of the orderly process of removing human life from an area that will become increasingly risky to occupy us.

When Blackhawk helicopters are dropping sandbags near the Missouri River at Dakota Dunes.

Kirk Van Patten is the air tactical group supervisor.

What we're doing is filling these bags that you see behind me, what we call helo bags.

I believe they're used for something else.

Beans or corn or something, but, we're filling them with 2,000 pounds of sand.

They're 36in by 30, six inches by 50in.

And that's a total of around 2,000 pounds of sand.

We're shooting for about 24 of 30 bags an hour.

And, we filled about 250 to 260 bags.

We're, delivering them with the US1 Black Hawk helicopters to the inside.

And, we're getting real good production out of that, out of the two of them.

And even with one, we're getting real good production.

It's, a tricky operation.

As you can see, the helicopter has a 100ft long line underneath it, and there's a remote hook on the end of the 100ft long cable, and the pilot can release the bag once it's on the ground.

And for the pilot to be placing that bag in a specific spot and building a line of those bags is is tricky.

So, depending on the conditions at the incident, either goes quicker or go slow.

But, our main concern is safety.

And, they're doing a great job.

We want to field 3000 bags before this is over.

That's our goal.

And we have 5000 yards of sand, so we've got a long road ahead.

The shell gas station in pier owned by Sheldon Suter, is among the businesses that are closing down during the flooding.

Suter says it's important to stop any gas from leaking into the river.

But he says this requires keeping air out of the underground tank.

I guess, try to keep our tanks full as we can in case the groundwater levels get too high or even the water itself.

Get up here.

Why?

If the tanks are too low, they'll cork right up out of the ground and take concrete and everything with it.

So, tricky balance between keeping them, keeping them from floating away and keeping it from contaminating the river at the same time.

So the discharge out of Oahe Dam increases to 150,000 cubic feet per second over the next four days, if the flow remains within projected limits, and if the levees hold power in Fort Pierre may avoid widespread flooding.

Most of the residents of Pierre and Fort Pierce took seriously the request to evacuate in advance.

However, Governor du Gard is once again calling for evacuations of homes in the Dakota Dunes.

Teams of law enforcement and National Guard are going house to house in the area where evacuation is recommended, to be sure that those residents who choose to stay fully understand what they are up against.

They also should understand that utilities would become less and less available and ultimately, possibly and likely unavailable.

The Army Corps of Engineers has begun increasing the water flow rate at the Oahe Dam.

However, there were some changes made to that plan overnight.

The amount released did not change.

The only thing we did was we changed and we took that 15,000 cubic feet per second in, increase, and we took it in 2 in 2 stages.

The first one at 8:00 in the morning, the second one at 4:00 in the afternoon, as communities from here to the Dakota Dunes prepare for rising waters.

Many wonder, what will this flood cost the state during the vigorous budget discussions?

In the most recent legislative session, there were a number of proposals to utilize emergency reserve funds to perpetuate ongoing overspending.

And I resisted that.

And one of the prime reasons I resisted it, because I said those funds should be used for emergencies and unforeseen one time costs.

Many property owners have erected a second set of sandbag barriers around their homes and buildings to protect the structures.

If the levees fail.

Governor Dennis Daugaard stresses that the levees are not a guarantee of safety.

He's also asking the public to stay away from the levees to ensure their stability and integrity is maintained.

We've been using the National Guard to conduct mobile security patrols on the levees in Pierre and Fort Pierre to ensure the safety of the locals as levee levee construction is completed.

The National Guard has been meeting with local and state law enforcement to refine the levee security and surveillance plan.

As the water levels rise in the coming days, the levee will become more and more stressed and its chances of being overtopped or breaking will increase.

If a sudden breach should occur.

It would produce a tsunami like wave into the flood zone.

Joe Lowe is the incident commander overseeing the effort to protect Dakota Dunes from rising floodwaters.

Should the levee breach, that secondary levee will be in place to contain the rest of the water?

That that would flow into that.

The waters on the Missouri are rising.

But officials say the coming days are the true test as the river levels reach their maximum.

For Steve Howe and his kids, a day working in the parking lot next to a massive pile of sand is a family affair.

They're heavy.

I can't lift them.

Ryan Howe is ten years old, but it seems he's still barely bigger than the sandbags he's dragging.

I take the bag and basically put it around that and, wow, he puts the sand in, and then she ties it.

Then we put a package to the way.

His dad, Steve, heaves those sandbags onto pallets while machine operators lift the stacks onto trucks and wheeled the bags away to places bracing for flooding.

Well, these sandbags right now, they're primarily going to stabilize the the property along the Missouri River in Clay County.

And any of the surplus bags that would be, put together here will be taken to Dakota Dunes if we were fortunate enough to have too many.

Steve Howe says the hot day is full of hard work, but it's important to show his family the value of volunteering.

I think it's worthwhile take a little time away from the swimming pool for the kids in order to come out, and hopefully they learn a good lesson about helping people.

Steve's daughter is just a few feet away, and 12 year old Abby knows exactly how she's spending part of her summer vacation.

Tying knots in twine, securing hefty bags of heavy sand.

We're filling up sandbags to block the flooding that's going on in the river for for like, other people that have cabins on the river.

Abby has another reason to be here.

It's kind friendly, neighbor like, but also it may help save lives sometime, someday.

Her brother Ryan is quick to sing his older sister's praises as together they secure sandbag after sandbags.

Abby has the hardest part because she has, well, because she has to, Well, we can be messy, but because he could just scoop it in, and if it goes on the ground.

So what?

And I just have to put theirs.

She has to tie it very precisely.

And everything.

So that's why she.

She has the hardest.

Their father, Steve, is more focused on the totality of the operation as more volunteers sign in and stations fill up for the next sandbagging shift.

It's just a great sense of pride to see everybody coming out and our employers coming out to help, you know, the families that are in need in the community is terrific.

It's another hot, windy day in Dakota Dunes.

Trailers filled the parking lot of the Liberty National Bank, where people in all sorts of uniforms are working on their chunk of the flood protection plan.

A lot of those people answer to Ed Wagner.

He's the operations section chief for the team running this incident.

Floods are really a different animal than and I'm not sure what you see down there.

And they were going good.

They're hard.

They're very hard because they were very stressful.

And, this flood, if it had been a flash flood, had been one that's over and done with.

Fires are over and done one.

This is just been a slow process, and it puts a lot of people on a lot of stress because you know it's coming, but you don't know when it's going to get there.

And so we've been racing against the clock all the time.

And that's what makes this thing a really tough one to do.

And there is a lot to do.

For starters, the incident management team wants to keep the water out so they're busy building levees.

And Waggoner says they're confident they will finish the levees in time.

But what more concerned about how long will it hold?

And and so that.

And once we get it built, the constant patrol the mains and that that and and we're going to have to have that for at least a month or so and maybe more.

So that's it.

It's a it's a very hard one.

And because this is, you know, if you built it during the summer and right time and we had structural engineers and did it all right, but we're building it on the fly.

Crews are also working on a secondary levee further away from the river.

Waggoner says the team has used a similar strategy in Fargo.

Levee, the outer perimeter.

I've got a secondary and then they run stringers between them.

So if a levee breaks, we're only going to lose a little compartment of.

That's the goal.

Can we get there?

I don't know, but that's that's what the big picture is.

The team is also making preparations in case the levees don't hold.

Wagner says crews are securing infrastructure.

But he says the good news is that Dakota Dunes used a Sioux City treatment plant, which is high and dry.

So what we have to do is secure the pumping stations and and we've done that.

So we feel confident that sewer system is not going to end up in the river.

And it'll be functional after afterwards through the water system, a little different.

And in fact, that, you know, we have wells when we can we switch, we switch from wells on to the city system.

Waggoner is a little concerned about the city's storm drains.

He says crews have pumped and sealed all that they know about, but there could be more ones.

We're concerned about the small one that a landowner put in in his front lawn and one other, and we didn't know it was their little four inch one.

So we'll be on the hunt starting today of trying to find every little one, because all it takes is one little, issue like that, and we can lose the levee on the one that's got the pressure on it.

Waggoner says the levees aren't the only things under pressure.

As I told you, the flood is very stressful on the victims and the people involved.

It also stressful on an emergency worker.

So everybody's on a great deal of pressure and being able to handle that and not get frustrated and be easy to, to quit.

I mean, people do quit sometimes, but what we can't do is we can't quit.

We can't give up and we won't give up.

So I keep fighting and Waggoner says they could be fighting for a while.

Oh, we're going to be here months.

I'm in probably in into July.

After the 4th of July, I'm sure.

I mean, and then and hopefully now and, everything goes right and a river starts coming down, but with a tremendous amount of people.

This is the historical portion.

You know, this is this is not just your normal flood.

This is history in making.

And there will be people talking about the 2011 floods for years to come.

Waggoner says the situation is changing from day to day, but there's one main goal to build the levee and make sure it lasts.

Flows from the Missouri River are increasing every day, and the water is rising south of Oahe Dam.

Eric Stosh with the Army Corps of Engineers says the first day of added releases showed quite a jump on the gauges.

We increased that 15,000 cfs over the day and between 8:00 yesterday morning when we took our first release to when I read the gauge at oh 6:00 this morning, we had a 10.5in increase in water surface elevation.

Once final releases are added, the Missouri River, it is expected to rise to 1430 four feet above sea level.

Pier Mayor Lori Gill says Low-Lying areas are starting to flood.

There are some homes that are getting ground water in the basement, and the water is starting to get into some backyards in southeast Pierce, so it's moving and at this moment, it's probably starting to move into some neighborhoods, but it's really a watch as we go today.

Lieutenant Governor Matt Michaels is working on state efforts in southeast South Dakota.

He says officials want boaters to stay off the river because obviously boats create weight.

And for that matter, if anybody is thinking about being on the Missouri River in a boat, you should have your heads examined.

This is a dangerous river.

If you think you understand this river, and as I've been saying in the past, I don't care if you are the greatest river rat throughout this stretch.

It is a different beast, and they're cranking it up.

Union County Sheriff Dan LaBarge says law enforcement is working hard to patrol evacuated areas in the state's southeast corner.

But a message that I'd like to send out is to the criminal element that is out there.

If you think that, Union County is an opportunity for you.

Rest assured.

Think again.

Because you will be arrested.

Our biggest dilemma is we've been out of power.

We're on Rural Electric, and we've had no power for now.

Six days.

And, that's, happened because one of their transformers apparently got wet on this end.

But last night, when they went to 100,000 cfs, part of this road went under and all of my personal driveway, remember about 12in of water.

We got out of there last night at about 7:00 with an ATV.

This morning when they went to 110, this entire road length went under the water.

I walked, drove back their kayak most of the way or half the way, but I was in there for one hour.

And in this hour's time, this water has come up about six inches, and I had to kayak the entire mile and a half out of it.

And our biggest dilemma is, is going to be, is going to be getting fuel to the site.

A lot of us had bulk fuel brought in before the water came up.

So we've got two 5300 gallons here, 300 gallons there.

And, well, how do you haul gas in a kayak to a house a mile and a half away?

Each of us has two generators, 2 to 4 sump pumps, gas transfer pumps.

We built a berm.

Almost everybody down here built a 360 degree berm around their properties.

Well, the groundwater is going to come up through our crawl spaces.

It already is.

Last night I had one inch of water in my crawlspace.

I now have six.

If you build a berm and you don't pump the water out, you've just created a great big pond.

It's going to hold the water.

So if you commit to a berm, you really have to commit to a method for pumping the water out.

We've spent thousands of dollars on pumping equipment and hundreds of dollars on gas to run it, with no good way to continue getting fuel back there.

Most of us have anywhere from a 30 to 50 day fuel supply on our sites, and if this exceeds that, it's going to be boats and kayaks with five gallon cans day in and day out.

A generator takes about 8 to 10 gallons a day.

The U.S.

Army Corps of Engineers remains focused on increasing water flows on the Missouri River.

The plan is to reach 150,000 cubic feet per second by mid-June.

Many in our state wonder if these manmade structures are strong enough to withstand the powerful impact of Mother Nature.

Eric Stoesz with the U.S.

Army Corps of Engineers says South Dakota's dams are safe.

I have total confidence that we have a safe dam.

We have many people watching it and many very knowledgeable people watching this dam on a continual basis.

Now, the dam and reservoir system on the Missouri River is designed for multi-purpose use that includes hydroelectric power, navigation, municipal water irrigation, fish and wildlife habitat, recreational use and flood control.

But many wonder if flood control was part of the mission.

Why are so many up and down the river?

Flooding?

Flood control projects do have their limitations and this being the wettest year in the last 113 years, it's really stretching the flood control capability of these projects.

You know what the Corps calls it right now?

These flood control now they call it flood damage reduction.

You know, we don't prevent flood damages, but we try to minimize, the flood damages.

And definitely we try and protect the public from that.

The Army Corps of Engineers is reassuring the public they have no concerns about the stability of the dam.

Becker says the dams were designed to flow more water than what we will see.

This summer.

As waters rise, so is the temperature.

Governor Dennis Dugard says there's a new safety concern other than heavy construction equipment.

He is urging residents to take care of themselves in the heat and humidity.

Up until very recently, we've had a number of days where the temperature has been moderate, moderate, and the humidity also moderate today.

We're going to have very high humidity and temperatures in the 90s, maybe even reaching 100.

So please, as you're being safe about your surroundings, be safe about your hydration and keep yourself cool.

Dugard says he is also worried about accidents around the higher water.

All workers near the levees will wear personal flotation devices.

He is also bringing in two new Black Hawk helicopters on loan from Minnesota.

We're able to lift heavy sandbags and other, heavy equipment with the Blackhawks on hand, but none of them have hoists that are suitable for air rescue.

And so Minnesota is going to give us a couple of their Blackhawks that have hoists.

And when we place them then we'll send a couple of our other Blackhawks on loan home.

Officials with the Army Corps say the river is behaving as expected.

Eric says the new concern is people wanting to watch the rising water.

He says over the weekend, people parked on the highway and walked to get a closer look at the Oahe Dam.

Stash says the corps is constructing a parking lot, but often in the grass for developing a parking lot so that people can get off of the highway, can get off of our access roads, park in a safe location, and walk down to the stilling basin.

Governor Dennis Dugard banned all boating and recreation on the Missouri River from Oahe, down through the towns of Pierre and Fort Pierre.

But the United States Geological Survey has special permission to travel up the river and gather data on the river flow.

A USGS team, including hydrology technician Nathan Stevens, uses a device connected to their boat that employs sound waves to measure the river depth, discharge and other parameters.

Stevens says it's important for the USGS to be able to verify the cause data, and vice versa.

This way there is an assurance of accuracy.

Absolutely, because there's, no condition is ever the same.

It's always unique when you're out here in a boat and on the rivers, and especially in situations like this.

The USGS measurements also help the Corps understand how much the river is scouring into the channel below.

This refines the understanding of how high the river walk at and how the levee system responds.

Army Corps Colonel Robert Brook says, as this water rises, the levees get more and more stressed.

He says the Army Corps must keep 24 hour watch on the levee.

It's an everyday battle.

You have to keep people up there.

You're looking for boils behind the levee.

You're looking.

You're looking for erosion on the levee.

So we've been talking to the local officials.

They've set up rapid reaction teams, several places behind the levee in each city.

And they're ready to go.

And that's what it takes.

It'll be vigilance from now until we're able to drop the water.

So far, Corps officials say the river is responding as predicted.

This is good news for residents around the state capital, who are relying on the levees to hold back the Missouri once it reaches full force.

Ruck says under the current estimates, the flow of the Missouri begins to drop by July 15th.

Volunteers are filling and stacking sandbags on the water's edge as residents of Larsen's Landing are preparing to leave.

Doug Larson is the owner of the resort.

He says residents are taking a recommended evacuation seriously.

Well, there's well there's a house right there that was moved out yesterday.

This house is being moved out today.

And most of the rest of the houses are pretty well emptied out.

Yeah, they're they're getting out.

They know that they can't stay down here.

They know there's going to be water where we're standing.

Larsen is on the resort for about 30 years.

He and his wife, Linda, are hoping for big turnaround and government assistance once the flood waters recede.

So residents will come back and rebuild.

Governor Dennis Dugard is asking residents to stay off the river.

He says the Coast Guard has closed the river for boating south of Sioux City, Iowa.

And he's asking the Coast Guard to close the river between Gavins Point Dam and the Big Sioux River and Missouri River confluence.

Everything from refrigerators to propane tanks to logs to parts of decks are floating down the river.

And those are fixed objects which those voters familiar with the river would typically look to find and see are often now submerged.

The incident commander for the southeast part of the state says a lot of sewage is being discharged into the river, so there's also a potential for water borne pathogens.

Joe Lowe says 630 homes have been evacuated in Dakota Dunes and an estimated 3500 people are displaced.

He says levees in the area are 80 to 85% complete.

Guarantee that this levee system will hold.

But I have great confidence that it will.

Lowe hopes to have the levees completed by late tonight or early tomorrow morning in Pierre and Fort Pierre.

Officials say their top focus is safety of the public and stability of utilities.

Crews are working day and night monitoring electric and sewer systems.

Fort Pierre Mayor Sam Tidwell says the community has responded in a very positive way.

We are, I think, in the community, doing very well considering the problem has thrown at us in such a short time to do anything about it.

Army Corps of Engineers officials say releases are proceeding as scheduled.

Oahe dam is now discharging 150,000 cubic feet per second.

Gavins point is expected to begin releasing that amount on June 14th.

Kyle Crossman is helping his brother protect his home.

Usually the house is about a football field length away from the water, but it's creeping closer to the house every day.

Grossman's brother has used up his vacation and had to go back to work.

He says now it's up to volunteers.

He's worked, pretty much the last ten days straight, doing it himself.

But he had to go to work eventually.

So he's back at work today.

And so family members came in and we got a lot of help from a lot of volunteers as well.

We have, six pumps total in the house, enough to pump out a swimming pool in about an hour and a half, two hours.

So, but and we have generators to back that up.

But we hope we don't come to that.

We hope power maintains here.

One of those volunteers is Nick Christiansen.

He's been helping fill sandbags for the past ten days.

He says he'll keep coming as long as he's needed as he climbs a ten foot wall of sandbags.

He says doing that in 100 degree weather has kept many volunteers away.

There's more volunteers at the beginning of this work, when they realize how big of an emergency this was.

But then as things start progressing, more and more help is needed to get all these home safe.

But less and less volunteers are coming out because everybody, everybody has lives and everybody needs to go back.

But there's still a great need for volunteers, and we hope that everybody can get out here.

Some members of the Army National Guard were on hand to assist with sandbagging, but some homeowners say there's still more to do.

And time is running out.

On this hot June day.

McCook Lake is still.

Boaters and jet skiers are not enjoying the water.

Instead, there are trucks and heavy equipment all around.

Marty Reich's house is about 50ft from McCook Lake.

She's lived here for about 11 years, and never imagined a lake that has water regularly pumped into it would flood.

We live on the lake, and almost everybody has walk out basements over here.

So we start taking our own elevation readings and looking at the information that the Army Corps of Engineers was putting out and knew we were going to have a minimum of two feet of water in our basements.

We figured that out on our own.

It wasn't until Wednesday night that they held an emergency meeting for the folks at McCook Lake, and told us that we were in serious trouble.

Marty Reich says residents work together, filling sandbags to protect their homes and community from rising flood waters.

They just came in and knocked out their yard and pushed it up against their house and built their sandbag wall with that.

We were fortunate enough to have access to a friend who had access to some dirt.

I think he's got a big gaping hole in his farm.

I don't know where our dirt actually came from.

The original information that we were provided was, again, the North Sioux City McCook Lake area wouldn't have a problem.

Well, we learned the new information and they had the latest information just a few hours after I received it.

And what we're going to do is, you know, I'm sure you've heard this many times here the last few days.

We're preparing for the worst, hoping for the best.

Fuchs says the latest concern is rising groundwater.

Along with rising lake water.

Releases from Gavins Point Dam are now at 140,000 cubic feet per second.

But officials say it could take as much as a day for those levels to affect communities downstream, such as Winstone.

Josh Wendling is the president of the homeowners association.

He says the National Guard is helping to build levees in the community, and they should be completed within the next day and a half.

It's been a struggle, but it's been some of the most gratifying times of my life.

Dealing with the community.

They are busting their tails and, you know, something like this.

It's hard to imagine, but it does bring you closer to your community and your your residents in North Sioux City and McCook Lake.

Officials say infrastructure is running as normal and crews are making good progress on levee construction nearby.

And Dakota Dunes officials say levees are nearing completion.

Jeff Dudley is the city manager.

He says the levee has reached the 1100 foot level in most areas.

This is a very important milestone, not only for for getting to the to the height of the levee needs to be, but also it allows us to start implementing, our dewatering plan, allowing the dewatering crews to get their pipes over the levee, to get the water from inside the dunes out to the river.

Governor Dennis Dugard says the levees downstream from Gavins Point Dam won't be fully tested for another week, when the Corps begins releasing 150,000 cfs.

He says the water will remain at unprecedented heights for two months or more.

And so those levees, which seemed strong in the first week, may not seem so strong after four or 5 or 6 weeks.

We'll see some seepage on the bottom.

We'll see much ground water pressure on basements.

Residents of the Dakota Dunes are finalizing flood preparations.

Most homeowners have evacuated, and once they leave, they cannot return.

Heavily armed officers are standing guard and patrolling the area to protect homes from not only rising waters, but possible thieves or looters.

Highway Patrol Trooper Chris Holm has been guarding the dunes since Memorial Day weekend.

This is one of the homes that had residents in it.

The Border patrol, they're helping us out with their security detail.

They noticed that the door was open, so we just did a quick security check, make sure there wasn't anybody laying in there hurt.

Homes with yellow ribbon indicate the house is empty.

A pink or red ribbon.

Tell law enforcement officers the homeowner has chosen to stay.

From our best estimate, there's nobody in there is that the people have finally evacuated.

They're going to notify the sheriff's office at the command center that the people have evacuated.

And then we're going to change the color, the tape, so that we know that this this home has been evacuated.

So if there's a levee breach and we have to get people out, we don't waste our time trying to find people that aren't here.

Out of the 13 families that have chosen to stay, two for home expects many to be gone soon.

If I had to guess, those 13 would probably be out by the end of the week.

Because once they're out, they can't get back in.

So I mean, they have no one to bring food to them or anything, so they're eventually going to have to leave.

Gavins Point Dam will increase its releases to 150,000 cubic feet per second on June 14th.

24 hours later, the increased water will reach the dunes.

Those patrolling the area will continue to guard the community regardless if the homes are flooded or not.

Oh, it's good boys, good boy.

Jeff Popovich is with the Best Friends Animal Society based out of Utah.

Best friends along with code three rescue Animal, have been in Pierce since last week.

They set up a temporary shelter in a garage lent to them by the Pier Regional Airport.

Popovich says displaced residents are grateful they have a place to take their animals.

We've had some people come in in tears bringing their animal here and you know that their life is upside down with having to evacuate and not knowing what they're going to do and where they're going to go.

So for us to be able to provide a little bit of comfort and give them a place where they can bring their animals and know that they'll be safe is really helpful for them.

And so a lot of times they'll leave and they'll be back in 15 minutes bringing us supplies that we have on our little, you know, shopping list.

So it's really cool the support we're getting.

Popovich says so far they have around 90 animals, ranging from dogs and cats to chickens and chinchillas.

He says they have plenty of room to expand if needed.

Popovich says many people are able to take their pets back after finding temporary housing, which ultimately is the goal.

You know, we hope that everybody find some place where they can settle in and be for the long term and then get their animals, bring them back home because that's that's the best situation for these guys that we have here, is for them to go back home.

Those who can't have their pets with them can visit, which Popovich highly encourages.

It's great for the families and it's also great for the animals.

It kind of relieves everybody of a little bit of stress.

Popovich says there's been an outpouring of support, both locally and nationally.

The supplies that we've gotten in, you know, a lot of it came from the people in town, which is fantastic.

And we also had PetSmart charities come by and they brought us a semi load full of supplies.

So they brought wire crates and they brought, you know, a few pallets of dog food, a few pallets of cat food, cat litter bowls, you know, all the miscellaneous things.

So that really helped out quite a bit too.

Popovich says the flood situation is stressful on humans, but it also takes a toll on the animals.

So he says, volunteers do all they can to make sure pets are well taken care of.

The more that you can provide even one on one attention, with one person taking one dog for a nice long walk, it does wonders for them mentally.

Popovich says although the shelter is temporary, they at least will stay through the end of June and longer if needed.

The main levee that is protecting the Dakota Dunes from the Missouri River is all that stands between most of these million dollar homes and muddy flood water.

Highway Patrol Trooper Chris Home has been patrolling the dunes area since before Memorial Day, and according to Trooper Home, most of the homeowners in this area have chosen not to sandbag.

Most of the houses are completely sandbag.

Everyone's counting on the levees to hold.

This one is built at 1100 feet above sea level, and they are predicting the crest at 1098ft.

So they've built in two extra feet of security measure there.

If the first levee does break, a second levee a few miles away has been built.

However, some who call the dunes home chose not to stick around to see what happens.

Different levels of evacuation.

Some people just grab their billfold and purse and headed out the door.

Almost everything behind.

Others took everything and removed all the drywall in its place down to the basement.

We've seen that quite a bit, where folks are anticipating their basements are flooded, and then trying to cut down on the mold from forming after the water, evacuate.

Law enforcement, along with barricades, are keeping people out of the dunes, while homeowners hope the levees keep the water of the Missouri River away from their homes.

Governor Dennis Dugard and other officials seem optimistic about holding back Missouri River flood waters.

All levees in the southeastern part of the state are expected to be finished by Saturday night.

Even levees around the Winstone community are near completion after struggling to find help earlier in the week.

Incident commander of Rocky Mountain Team C Joe Lowe says he is confident in the Winstone levee.

You're looking real good right now.

You're going to have some dewatering issues to take care of.

But, it's starting to stabilize over there.

We're starting to move, move to a point where I'm feeling comfortable now.

Over there.

Governor Dugard says the levees seem strong, but there will still be seepage and boils.

But for a period of time here, it's still going to be very uncertain.

The levee looks strong, but there's other means for the water to find its way in.

Dugard says they're hopeful they can still manage the levees through dewatering.

The real test for the levees will come early this week.

Currently, the Gavins Point Dam is releasing 145,000 cubic feet per second on Tuesday.

That increases to the projected 150,000 cfs.

Lowe says the levee is already starting to feel the full effects.

It's going to take about two weeks to see how the to see how this is going to affect that levee and how stable it is.

That's that's the early earliest.

We're starting to see and evaluate the effects of this levee system right now.

Lowe says they are optimistic.

He says if it wasn't for the state taking immediate action, they wouldn't be as far ahead of the flood as they are now.

David Becker is the operations manager of the Gavins Point Project Dam near Yankton.

He says the Army Corps of Engineers chose to bump up the increase all at once, rather than a gradual increase throughout the day.

At 8 a.m.

this morning, we increased our flows to 150,000 cubic feet per second.

Total, which would be roughly 20,000 cubic feet per second, out of the power plant at 130,000 out of the spillway.

But today, since our increase was only an increase of 5000 cubic feet per second, our our reservoir managers really felt they could do that in one step.

The metal gates are open about ten feet, and then the gates on each side of that are open eight feet.

As the flow increased, people gather to watch.

Gail Eveleth owns a business on the Missouri River near Sioux City, Iowa.

She came to Yankton to witness the increases in hopes of gaining some insight on what to expect downstream over the next 24 hours.

If it floods upstream, will that save us, or if it doesn't because of the levees?

The full brunt of it coming down river is certainly is historical.

Other onlookers at Gavins Point came to simply experience a once in a lifetime event.

Hope it's a once in a lifetime happening because what's going on at, Lake Oahe up here is the same thing.

They're letting out the same amount, which is like, what, 150 cubic feet per second?

Just driving up the road, you can see the mist coming up off the.

I mean, we're a half mile away and you could already see the mist.

Each day is more powerful.

The army Corps doesn't plan any additional increases out of Gavins Point Dam.

It takes about a day for higher flows to reach the Dakota Dunes.

It's been over three weeks since South Dakota began its battle against flooding from the Missouri River.

Now that all four dams have reached their planned release flow rate, many are now keeping a close eye on levees.

Safety is our number one concern, and we have to keep in mind, that we do have a levee system.

It's charged with water behind it.

And it can be a very volatile situation.

And we have to to monitor that on a on a day to day hour basis.

Residents of the Dakota Dunes will be allowed back into their homes on Thursday for a brief time to examine any damages or retrieve anything left behind, only those that are residences.

The residents have.

Dakota Dunes are going to be allowed into their residents.

They must have the ID system that, the emergency management team has put into place, and they must have a government issued ID, photographic ID with that in order to get back in.

Everyone must check in at the checkpoint on Cota Dunes Boulevard, and they must check out when they leave.

There is a requirement for us to to manage who is inside the levee and who is not.

As homeowners begin to assess flood damages.

So far, Governor Dennis Dugard is already looking at what this flood has cost the state of South Dakota.

The total amount of state costs.

This is just state costs is in excess of $10 million.

More than 5 million.

A million of that is National Guard activation costs.

Crews worked all day to fix an issue on the south levee in Dakota Dunes.

Officials say the levee hasn't breached, but some of the riprap is caving in to the river.

Lieutenant Governor Matt Michael says levee construction begins with the wide base of packed sand, then dirt and clay with plastic over it, then sandbags and finally large chunks of rock called riprap.

But whirlpools in the swollen river are causing some problems.

What's happened in this circumstance is the force of these whirlpools in the current coming back on it, dug in under the plastic where the dirt in the sand is, and just created these large holes.

And so the dirt from underneath it's it's like a cake.

And so if you ate up from underneath of a multi layer cake, it would eventually sloughed off on the side.

And that's what's transpiring now.

So they're dropping the rocks in there.

Quite a bit of them I mean they're massive boulders going into the river to stabilize it.

Residents in the Country Club section of Dakota Dunes were supposed to be able to visit their homes today, but Michael says the visitation is postponed to allow more room for trucks needed to repair the levee and to ensure safety.

Jeff Dooley is the district manager of Dakota Dunes.

He says he's glad the National Guard caught the problem in time.

The repairs started almost immediately.

I don't think seepage is an issue as of right now, but, something like that could cause that.

And that's why it needs to be identified and fixed very fast.

Resident Bernie Schreiber was hoping to go back to his home today.

I miss my home.

Obviously you've been, you know, the surroundings and, that's I have been there 20 years.

I sure hate to lose at home, but, we just wait and pray that they've done a heck of a job trying to save us.

Schreiber says it's fine that he wasn't able to visit his home because he says the levee work is important.

Officials hope to open the area to residents tomorrow at 10 a.m.. Secretary Tom Vilsack assured producers of the availability of the crop insurance and other disaster programs.

Vilsack says the USDA will assist farmers and help ease stress.

Also wanted to make sure that there was an understanding to work with folks in terms of loans that they have with USDA, to make sure that, we don't add to the stress at this point and that if folks who have been displaced because of home, so that there are opportunities to move the government, with housing units, it has to be available on a different basis.

Vilsack says farmers and members of the communities being flooded are frustrated over lack of information from the Army Corps of Engineers.

He promises to inform the Corps of the need for better communication.

The first 20 days were filled with changes and uncertainty.

This crisis is far from over and SDB staff will continue to collect stories and document the changes in the Missouri River.