McCOOK LAKE — Neither Morgan Speichinger nor many of her neighbors came away worried on June 23 after listening to Gov. Kristi Noem talk about flooding in the southeastern corner of South Dakota.
“Noem’s press conference made it sound like it wasn’t going to be bad for us,” Speichinger said. “There was no talk of a massive flood coming our way.”
Four hours later, Speichinger and her neighbors were fleeing for their lives, while Noem was at a political fundraiser in Tennessee, having flown out after her press conference in North Sioux City.
The floodwaters that slammed into the McCook Lake neighborhood destroyed and badly damaged dozens of homes, temporarily knocked out electricity, gas and water service, and carved deep gouges in the land.
Speichinger and some other McCook Lake residents say the effects of the botched warning have been exacerbated by a disorganized recovery effort and by Gov. Kristi Noem’s decision not to dispatch the National Guard.
“We have no idea what’s coming next for us,” said flood victim Nathaniel Cutsinger.
A press conference and a flight to Memphis
Authorities began expecting flooding as historic amounts of rain fell for three days, June 20-22, in southeast South Dakota, southwest Minnesota and northwest Iowa.
In the southeast tip of South Dakota, McCook Lake, North Sioux City and Dakota Dunes are situated alongside the Big Sioux and Missouri rivers, making the communities especially vulnerable.
At 11 a.m. on Sunday, June 23, the North Sioux City Council held an emergency meeting and activated a 48-year-old flood mitigation plan. The city got the state’s blessing to close a section of Interstate 29 and build a temporary levee across it. The temporary levee plugged a gap in permanent levies that protect parts of North Sioux City and Dakota Dunes.
Noem led a press conference later that day in North Sioux City, beginning at 2:30 p.m., that focused on the construction of the temporary levee and a voluntary evacuation order that Dakota Dunes issued for its residents.
“Knowing that’s where we’re most vulnerable,” Noem said at the time.
None of the local, state or federal authorities at the press conference clearly explained that the temporary levee was intended to direct Big Sioux River floodwaters toward McCook Lake, where the overflow would hopefully drain toward the Missouri River while causing minimal damage.
When somebody in the audience asked what McCook Lake residents should do, Noem said they should protect their personal property, “because we do anticipate that they will take in water.”
“That’s what we’re preparing for,” she said. “If we don’t, then that’s wonderful that they don’t have an impact, but they could see water flowing into McCook Lake.”
Noem shared projections during the press conference indicating the Big Sioux River in North Sioux City would peak at 42 feet by 1 p.m. the following day.
As the press conference concluded around 3 p.m., the crest projection had been updated to 42.3 feet by 7 p.m. that evening, and the projection continued to change as the situation worsened.
Sometime after the press conference, Noem flew to Memphis, Tennessee, where she was the featured speaker that evening at the Shelby County Republican Party’s Lincoln Day Gala fundraiser. The event started at 6 p.m. Eastern, 5 p.m. Central.
Phone alerts fail to reach stunned residents
Based on what Speichinger heard from the afternoon press conference, which she’d streamed on her phone, she was comfortable allowing her kids to play at a neighbor’s pool while authorities and contractors worked on the temporary interstate levee and after they completed it around 3:30 p.m.
“There were people still out in their boats on the lake as the flood was coming,” Speichinger said. “Nobody had any idea. I didn’t even know there was this diversion plan.”
She had moved into her home on Penrose Drive near the lake in 2019. Some other lake residents also lacked knowledge of the plan to divert water to McCook Lake or were caught off guard by the severity of the flooding, including a few police officers in the neighborhood, according to residents.
Speichinger said a sudden gush of water flowed through her backyard around 7 p.m.
“People were running and screaming, ‘Get out! Get out!’” she said.
Union County Emergency Management Director Jason Westcott said first responders, including two emergency rescue boat teams, conservation officers, law enforcement and firefighters were all on standby in case “the worst-case scenario happened.”
“And that’s what happened,” he said.
Those first responders immediately began alerting residents to evacuate and performing rescues, Westcott said. He targeted an alert to the smartphones of residents along the north shore of McCook Lake at 8:21 p.m.
“We were relying on other people to know about the issues going on,” he said. “A lot of stuff was happening very fast.”
Speichinger and some others said they didn’t receive the phone alert.
“I’ve only heard of a few people who got that alert,” Speichinger said. “It wouldn’t have mattered anyway. The flood was here.”
Wescott said the alert system has weaknesses. He said the area’s poor cell service may have contributed to the problem, and some people may have disabled the location tracking on their phone.
“There are a million different ways you won’t get one,” he said of the alerts.
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