FEMA to reimburse eight South Dakota counties, three tribes for storm-related infrastructure fixes

The federal government will reimburse up to 75% of public infrastructure repair costs from storms that hit eight South Dakota counties and two Native American reservations in late June and early July, the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced Wednesday.

The Oglala Sioux Tribe, meanwhile, is in line for the same level of reimbursements for repairs to public infrastructure caused by storms in early June, and individual tribal members will be eligible for financial aid to cover some property losses from that incident.

Gov. Larry Rhoden requested a presidential disaster declaration from the Trump administration in late July, in a letter laying out $4.5 million in public property damage from a storm system that moved through the state between June 28 and July 3. 

Governor of South Dakota seeks federal help for damages from summer storms

Rhoden said, first in a Tuesday evening social media post and again in a press release on Wednesday, that President Donald Trump called him directly to tell him about approving the state’s request for a disaster declaration. 

On X, Rhoden shared a post from Trump in which the president wrote “South Dakota is a special place, which I won by Historic margins, three times, and I will always deliver BIG for them.”

The disaster declaration for the state as a whole will reimburse public property repair costs in Beadle, Bennett, Buffalo, Day, Hand, Hughes, Hyde and Stanley Counties, along with the Crow Creek and Lower Brule reservations. Roads, power systems, parks, recreation areas and public facilities were damaged in the storm, with the heaviest impacts in Hyde and Beadle counties.

Lower Brule Sioux Tribe President Boyd Gorneau told South Dakota Searchlight on Wednesday that the tribe lost some center-pivot irrigation systems on its agricultural land in the storm. 

FEMA sent a press release on disaster declarations for South Dakota on Wednesday, but the release did not include dollar figures. 

A FEMA spokesperson told Searchlight the reimbursement isn’t limited to the $4.5 million in damage cited in Rhoden’s request to President Trump, whose post said he’d “approved” $3.4 million — a figure that would cover 75% of the cost to repair that damage.

The actual amount paid in reimbursement will be based on the cost to repair infrastructure, the spokesman said, provided local governments and state officials adhere to FEMA guidelines and protocols.

The same will be true for the Oglala Sioux Tribe’s public infrastructure. The tribe, which requested a disaster declaration separately, was hit with flash flooding June 2-4 after a heavy rain and hail storm.

During the first round of storms, according to the National Weather Service, “6 to 7 inches of rain fell in a short period, causing streets and ditches to fill extremely quickly,” in addition to strong winds and hail. A tornado touched down near Ideal in Tripp County the following day, damaging mostly agricultural land.

The individual assistance program, part of the FEMA announcement for the tribe, will allow residents to work with FEMA to obtain “grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses and other programs to help individuals and families recover from the effects of the disaster,” the spokesperson wrote in an email.

A separate press release from FEMA on the tribal disaster declaration said that tribal members who experienced losses in the storms “should document their damage, keep any receipts for repairs, and file a claim with their insurance provider.”

“Information on how individuals may apply for federal disaster assistance will be announced when it is available,” the press release said.

The FEMA spokesperson said the tribe has not requested a disaster declaration for a more recent hailstorm, which dropped baseball-sized hail on some areas of tribal land, damaging school buses and homes and forcing a delayed start to the school year.

The tribe’s public information officer did not immediately return calls and emails seeking comment on Wednesday.