Governor Kristi Noem announced today that South Dakota has received a Presidential Disaster Declaration that allows the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help South Dakota local governments in 16 counties statewide recover from infrastructure damage sustained as a result of the severe winter storms that occurred this past December.
On February 9th, Governor Kristi Noem signed Executive Order 2023-03, which declared a disaster in the impacted counties.
Public infrastructure damage assistance will be provided to the counties of Bennett, Brookings, Clark, Day, Deuel, Hamlin, Jackson, Jones, Kingsbury, Mellette, Oglala Lakota, Potter, Roberts, Stanley, Todd, and Tripp. Federal resources will also help with the impacts of the storm for state, tribal, and local governments.
An estimated $2,413,949 in qualifying costs were incurred during the December storms in those counties listed.
In December, much of South Dakota experienced hazardous travel conditions, road closures, damage to power infrastructure, and unexpected costs for snow removal.