High waters — The high waters on Railroad Avenue made it difficult for cars to travel across town. Flooding was an issue all over Hill City, including Railroad Avenue, which made water flow into the gift shop of the 1880 Train. [PN Photo/CARRIE MOORE]
By Kacie Svoboda
According to Hill City Mayor Dave Gray, this weekend was the story of two floods. The first flood was caused by Mother Nature and a torrential downpour and the second was caused by Hill City Area Chamber of Commerce president Bob Stanfiel where a flood of volunteers came to help clean up the flash flood’s aftermath.
The National Weather Service in Rapid City reported that a storm system stalled over Hill City for approximately two hours on the afternoon of Saturday, June 5 — dropping two to three inches of rain during that time. In addition, there were reports of up to four inches in the localized area near Major Lake. Hydro-meteorological technician Mitch Erickson explained that with water levels and ground saturation already higher than normal, it didn’t take much precipitation to cause flash flooding.
“It (the water) had no place to go, it couldn’t soak into the ground, so it ran off the hills into Hill City,” stated Erickson.
According to Rich Zacher, area engineer for South Dakota Department of Transportation (DOT), the worst of the Main Street flooding was caused by Newton Fork Creek overflowing into the viaduct between the Subway and Hill City Fire Department (HCFD). Newton Fork Creek runoff flows into Spring Creek, which spread the flooding east of town several miles. According to Hill City fire chief Craig Comer, at the flash flood’s highest flow, approximately 18 to 20 inches of water were running across Main Street.
When water over the roads was reported, Pennington County Emergency Management sounded the town’s siren to alert the public of the dangerous conditions. Several individuals believed this was a tornado siren. However, deputy director of Pennington County Emergency Management, Alexa White, explained, “Outdoor warning sirens can be set off for any rapidly developing, life-threatening situation.”
Due to these high-water conditions, several roadways were also closed for varying periods of time on Saturday. Deerfield Road in the Marshall Gulch area was closed for about two hours and Palmer Gulch Road was closed immediately as emergency management had previously had issues this spring with water levels in that area.
Traffic was diverted by the S.D. Department of Transportation from Highway 385 through Keystone via Highway 244 south of town and Highway 16 north of town for approximately five to six hours. Highway 16 through Hill City remained closed for this duration of time due to the debris left covering the roadway after the water receded.
This debris covered Hill City’s streets and clogged the city’s storm drains and culverts. Gravel roads and parking lots within town were washed out and eroded and the flooding pulled joint sealant from the paved roadways. Water flowed into the basements and crawl spaces of several residences and businesses.
Spring Creek swept over Holly House, flooding the crawl spaces under the bed and breakfast and the cabin, washing away the pumps that were removing previous flood water from underneath the cabin. Owner Dawna Kruse’s new water pumps have been pumping 1,800 gallons of water per hour since the flash flood hit and, as of Monday, they were still pumping. According to White, bridges and infrastructure were mostly unscathed in the storm.
School superintendent Mike Hanson described only minor damage for the school district. Some water came into the elementary school entrances located on Main Street, soaking the entry rugs, but doing no damage to tiling or equipment. There were some minor leaks in the roofs at all buildings due to the volume of water, as well as debris and mud along the chain link fence and sidewalk by the elementary school. The water-damaged ceiling tiles will be replaced and the cost of repairs will be minimal.
Despite rushing water and debris, only two calls came in to the HCFD during the storm. One call notified the department of a propane tank that was floating in the runoff. The HCFD shut off the gas and evacuated the residence. The other call pertained to a house that was believed to have been struck by lightning, but fortunately no evidence of fire was found. Many people commented on how, during the storm, the situation looked bad, but the damage was relatively minor and no one was injured.
City administrator Brett McMacken summarized the flood and resulting damages, “All in all, we fared pretty well.”
On Sunday, Hill City citizens and volunteers from as far away as Rapid City joined together under the direction of Stanfiel to clean up the town’s main thoroughfares. On Saturday evening, Stanfiel asked chamber executive director Jerry Cole to email the chamber members, Lorena Freis of the Farmer’s Daughter to email the merchant group and worshipful master of the Hill City Masons, Jack Welker, to contact the local Masonic lodges to gather people to help, starting at 6:30 a.m. Sunday.
Stanfiel estimates that at least 100 people volunteered throughout the day and in just under three hours the group had cleaned Main Street, Elm Street and most of McGregor Street. The HCFD brought out all of its fire trucks to wash away mud and smaller pieces of debris, while volunteers scrubbed the street with brooms. The volunteers did such a thorough job that when the DOT’s street sweeper came into town on Monday, Main Street appeared as if the flash flood had never happened. So the sweeper was used to clean some of Hill City’s side streets.
“Hill City residents should be proud of how they handled that,” Zacher said.
However, some citizens were upset that certain prominent community members did not join the volunteers on Sunday. At the Hill City Council meeting on June 8, Kruse stood up during the public comment period to thank Gray for his help during the clean-up and express disappointment that not all the council members participated.
“I just think that in a small town, everyone needs to help out,” said Kruse.
Hanson expressed his gratitude for those who did volunteer. “I want to sincerely thank the Hill City Volunteer Fire Department fire fighters, City of Hill City employees, Chamber of Commerce members, school faculty, board members, and the wonderful citizen volunteers from Hill City and surrounding areas who were out on Sunday morning cleaning debris,” he said. “There are so many to thank for their incredible gifts and talents.”
