McCOOK LAKE — Morgan and Malcom Speichinger still live in a house that was damaged in a flood one year ago, because they have no better option.

“If we could afford to move, we would,” Morgan said.

Three days of rain last June 20-22 in southeast South Dakota surpassed 17 inches in some locations. Local and state authorities implemented a half-century-old diversion plan to handle record-high water that was flowing down the Big Sioux River toward Sioux City. They built a temporary levee across Interstate 29 that tied in with permanent levees to divert water into McCook Lake.

The water was supposed to flow through the lake and drain toward the nearby Missouri River. Instead, on the night of June 23, it overwhelmed the lake and inundated many of the homes around it. Many residents said the flood surge came suddenly, after they’d received little to no warning.

The water carved deep ravines into the land, undercutting trees and power lines. The Speichingers’ home was one of more than 100 near the lake that were damaged. Twenty homes were destroyed.

While the family received the maximum $42,500 of assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, they estimate they’ve spent about $100,000, and work on the home remains.

“We got a Bobcat and did what we could,” Malcom said, referring to a popular brand of skid-steer loader. “But our yard’s still a trench. It’s not that safe for the kids.”

Their mortgage lender granted a six-month forbearance after the flood, but they’ve had to make payments since then on a house that was barely habitable.

“There was a stretch where we met with a bankruptcy lawyer,” Morgan said. “We didn’t think we’d make it. If FEMA hadn’t come through, we would’ve walked away like our neighbors did.”

‘We have nothing’: Flood victims say government failures continue after botched flood warning

Three nearby homes were either abandoned or demolished.

In interviews with flood victims and volunteers, a picture emerges one year after the flood: a community still deeply wounded, still struggling with limited resources, and still lacking the kind of assistance that many assumed would follow such a large-scale disaster.

Renae Hansen of the local Izaak Walton League helped lead local recovery efforts.

“When a flood like that happens, you expect some official to show up with a megaphone and a plan,” Hansen said. “Instead, it was us — neighbors helping neighbors. We did it because nobody else was.”

The sense of abandonment still runs deep. The feeling began the night of the flood, after then-Gov. Kristi Noem conducted a press conference that afternoon and did not advise McCook Lake residents to evacuate. She said they should protect their personal property, “because we do anticipate that they will take in water.”

“That’s what we’re preparing for,” Noem 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.”

After the press conference, Noem flew to a political fundraiser in Tennessee, which is where she was when the flood surge hit McCook Lake and sent people fleeing. During the aftermath, Noem refused to deploy the National Guard to help clean up the area, after she’d sent Guard troops multiple times to help Texas secure its border with Mexico.

Noem later resigned to become secretary of the federal Department of Homeland Security, which includes oversight of FEMA. New Gov. Larry Rhoden recently visited North Sioux City as part of his “Open for Opportunity Tour.”

“Our new governor went to a business in town and called it a success story,” Hansen said. “He didn’t come to see the disaster zone. It’s like we don’t exist. We were sacrificed to protect those businesses.”

Like the Speichingers, Hansen said the maximum $42,500 of help from FEMA is hardly enough to replace a foundation, much less an entire home.

“There are families paying mortgages on homes that no longer exist,” Hansen said. “One woman had moved in 11 months before the flood. Her last furniture delivery was two weeks before the water came. It’s all gone.”

Hansen said some neighbors are walking away from their mortgages, renting a new place, and choosing a damaged credit score over paying for a destroyed home.

Multiple residents worked with a lawyer and sent the state a notice of a potential lawsuit, alleging an unconstitutional taking of private property for protection of other areas, but no lawsuit has been filed so far.

‘Every time it rains, you wonder’

Kathy Roberts, who owns a home on Penrose Drive, calls herself one of the “lucky ones.” With a partner who had construction experience and support from friends, she has nearly finished rebuilding.

“But I’m still having nightmares,” said Roberts, who works in mental health. “And I know my neighbors are, too. There’s PTSD all over this community. Every time it rains, you wonder.”

Malcom Speichinger can attest to that.

“I’ve had dreams where the house floods again. It’s hard not to go there.”

He’s certain the area will have severe flooding again.

“And we’re still not ready for it,” he said.

New government, new plan

In the wake of the disaster, residents petitioned to overhaul the North Sioux City government. Voters replaced the eight-member alderman system with a new mayor-commission format. That allowed voters to elect an entirely new commission and mayor in one election. And in April, a new mayor and commissioners were sworn in.

“There’s some hope there now,” Hansen said. “We’ve already seen more engagement from the new commission. But the fact that it took a total government reset to get basic attention should tell you how bad things got.”

At the heart of residents’ frustration lies the emergency flood plan last updated in 1976 — one that sent floodwaters into the McCook Lake neighborhood intentionally, in an effort to divert it from the more heavily populated areas of North Sioux City and Dakota Dunes.

And so, two months into his term, North Sioux City Mayor Chris Bogenrief said implementing a new mitigation plan is at the top of his agenda.

Bogenrief said the county and the Army Corps of Engineers envision a diversion farther upstream on the Big Sioux River. But he said that effort is still in the early study stages and could take a decade or more to materialize.

“We don’t feel like we can wait that long,” he said. “People are trying to rebuild.”

So, the city commissioned Stockwell Engineers to explore three short-term plans.

“We’re applying for hazard mitigation grants from FEMA to help cover the cost,” Bogenrief said. “But one way or another, we can’t sit around and wait.”

McCook Lake is an oxbow — a horseshoe-shaped former segment of the Missouri River that became a lake when the river cut a new, straighter path. The first two short-term concepts would use a new channel and culvert system to better route water into McCook Lake and out through one end or the other of the lake. The third would reroute floodwaters to the west prior to reaching McCook Lake, and into undeveloped Goodenough and Mud lakes before draining into the Missouri River.

Bogenrief said the cost estimate for implementing a short-term plan is up to $20 million. The design cost of the projects is about $1.7 million, he said, with North Sioux City expected to cover about 10% and FEMA covering the rest.

The state has drafted a $15.4 million plan to help communities recover from the 2024 flooding. The plan would utilize federal Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery funds to rebuild infrastructure in areas hardest hit.

The plan proposes spending more than $12 million on infrastructure projects like road repairs, stormwater systems, and improvements to McCook Lake. The rest is for future planning and administration.

The plan says the unmet recovery need in the state still totals more than $63 million. That includes $3.1 million categorized as owner-occupied damage, with the rest dealing with infrastructure.

Bogenrief hopes the city can free up local money to start a homeowner recovery fund as those infrastructure dollars come in.

Many residents lacked flood insurance, Bogenrief said, because FEMA did not classify the area as a floodplain.

“The only way it floods is if the emergency flood plan is executed and the interstate is shut down, which is what happened,” he said.

A lake full of everything

The state Department of Game, Fish and Parks awarded a $1 million contract to Three Oaks Inc. to remove debris and sediment from the lake, said the department’s Kip Rounds. The department is tasked with managing the lake cleanup effort because it manages the waters of the state.

Using an excavator on a floating barge, the company is three weeks into a project scheduled to finish by Aug. 1. Rounds said the contractor is nearly halfway though removing an estimated 20,000 cubic yards of sediment.

McCook Lake Association President Dirk Lohry said there’s other work to do. He said local residents hope to raise $250,000 to extend Three Oaks’ work, but that campaign hasn’t launched. A funding request to extend the contract with state money failed during the recent legislative session.

Lake resident Kathy Roberts said the road to healing is a long one, but she sees one clear takeaway.

“This flood taught me how important your neighbors are,” she said. “When the worst happens, it’s not FEMA or the state that shows up — it’s the person living next door.”

South Dakota Searchlight is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. South Dakota Searchlight maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seth Tupper for questions: info@southdakotasearchlight.com.

An international student in western South Dakota overcame Kristi Noem’s attempt to stop her from graduating Saturday, while hundreds of people protested on the other side of the state where Noem received an honorary degree and delivered a commencement speech.

The international student is Priya Saxena, from India. She received two degrees from South Dakota Mines in Rapid City: a doctorate in chemical and biological engineering and a master’s degree in chemical engineering.

Noem’s U.S. Department of Homeland Security — which she has led since resigning as South Dakota governor in January — has been trying to deport Saxena since last month, asserting that Saxena’s permission to stay in the country should be revoked because she was convicted four years ago of failing to move over for flashing yellow lights, a misdemeanor. The action is part of a broader immigration crackdown by the Trump administration.

Saxena’s student visa is not scheduled to expire until 2027, and if allowed to stay in the country, she could apply for an extension to work in fields related to her degrees.

Saxena and her attorney, Jim Leach, of Rapid City, sued and won a temporary restraining order that assured Saxena’s graduation and will halt the government’s action against her until at least next week, when she has a hearing on her request for a court order to stop her deportation while the lawsuit proceeds. Saxena and her attorney have said in court filings that she has not committed a deportable offense, and have called the government’s actions “lawless.”

Saxena’s graduation went smoothly Saturday as she crossed the stage and received applause from the audience at Summit Arena in Rapid City. Her attorney and a university spokeswoman said Saxena preferred not to make any public comments.

Meanwhile in Madison

About 350 miles to the east at Dakota State University in Madison, Noem’s speech and her acceptance of an honorary doctorate in public service went off without a hitch inside the university fieldhouse, where she did not reference the protesters or make any comments about her official duties.

Outside, she was loudly opposed.

Students and community members lined the sidewalks chanting phrases including “no honor for Noem” and “due process.” Protesters said they were spotlighting Noem’s “cruel” immigration policies and the university’s decision to invite her to graduation.

“One thing that immediately came to my brain when I heard she was coming here was I was genuinely scared for the massive amounts of international students that we have on campus,” said student Maya Plummer. “That’s something we take pride in.”

The ceremony in Madison included foreign students from countries such as Vietnam and India.

Noem’s department has pursued enforcement actions against more than 1,000 international students. It has also removed temporary protected status for immigrants who fled danger in their home country, wrongly deported a Maryland man to a notorious prison in El Salvador, aired TV ads warning migrants to self-deport or avoid coming to the United States, and launched an initiative to provide up to $1,000 in “travel assistance” to immigrants without legal authorization who self-deport, among other actions.

This week, U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Connecticut, accused Noem of running a department that’s “out of control,” saying it’s at risk of spending all of its $65 billion in funding before the end of the fiscal year.

The Dakota State University student senate and general faculty both voted against the honorary degree for Noem, citing concerns over Noem’s policies and the message her recognition would send to international students and marginalized communities.

University spokespeople said they extended the invitation for Noem to speak and receive the honorary degree while she was still governor of South Dakota. The invite was based on her longstanding support of the university’s nationally recognized cybersecurity programs.

Dakota State President José-Marie Griffiths said in her speech that Noem is among “a number of individuals who were instrumental in changing the trajectory of this institution” in recent decades. She said the university was transformed from one that was losing enrollment to one that’s thriving as a flagship institution for computer technology.

“And by the way, there were protests for that decision, too,” Griffiths said.

Noem gave students a five-point bullet list of advice during her approximately 10-minute speech.

She told students their education is important, “But I will tell you that the world still revolves on relationships. People will be successful based on the people that they know and the people that they spend time with.”

Her other advice for students included, “You believed in Santa Claus for many years, at least believe in yourself for five minutes.”

Attendees react

Among attendees, there were conflicting views about the protest. Some family members of graduates expressed frustration that the controversy overshadowed the event.

“Honestly, it’s shocking because I feel like we should be here just celebrating the graduates,” said Anico David of Sioux Falls, whose sister graduated. “People are making it bigger than it should be with all this protesting. In my opinion, it’s kind of out of pocket and unnecessary.”

Max Lerchen, who earned a master’s degree, said honoring Noem “does not reflect the values that are held by the university,” such as inclusion. He said university officials should have expected opposition, and protesters should not be blamed for pushing back.

“They knew it was going to be an unpopular decision to begin with,” he said. “I think that’s similar to being picked on by a bully, and you decide to fight back, and then people go, ‘Why did you fight back?’”

Andrew Sogn, a spokesman for Dakota State University, said the institution hoped for “a celebratory atmosphere, and recognition of the graduates and their hard work.”

When asked about the students and faculty who opposed Noem’s honorary degree and speech, he said it was welcome, “because I think that we encourage open conversation and freedom of expression.”

South Dakota Searchlight is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. South Dakota Searchlight maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seth Tupper for questions: info@southdakotasearchlight.com.

BRANDON — South Dakota’s lone congressman defended some of the Trump administration’s mass firings and funding freezes as needed “disruptions” while acknowledging “there are methods that can be improved.”

South Dakota Searchlight interviewed U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-South Dakota, on Feb. 28 when he visited the Brandon Valley Area Chamber of Commerce.

Johnson did not know how many federal employees in the state had been fired, or how much federal funding had been frozen or eliminated in the state.

“Certainly, we would like the information on employees impacted,” Johnson said, “and so I’m looking forward to getting that information as soon as I can.”

He added that funding freezes at the beginning of an administration are not unusual, and that “Joe Biden never gave me any of those dollars about how much had been frozen.”

“Now, I do have the sense that was smaller in size and scope than maybe the funding freezes we’re dealing with now, but it’s not the kind of thing the last administration provided either,” Johnson said.

The Trump administration, acting through its Department of Government Efficiency led by the world’s richest person, Elon Musk, has fired more than 30,000 federal employees, according to some reports. The administration has also frozen or attempted to freeze or eliminate trillions of dollars’ worth of grants, loans and foreign aid, sparking litigation from some states and affected organizations.

‘Waste, fraud and abuse’ in SD?

Searchlight asked Johnson if he approves of the Trump administration’s approach.

“I mean, clearly, there have been some disruptions,” Johnson said. “Now, a lot of these disruptions have been needed for a long time. Clearly this is not exactly how I would have done it. I mean, there are methods that can be improved. And we’ve been talking with the administration about how they can make things more effective in the weeks to come.”

Regarding the need for the disruptions, Johnson said it was self-apparent.

“Can’t everybody agree that when you’re releasing millions and billions of dollars, there would be waste, fraud and abuse?” he said. “And that we should look for it?”

Searchlight asked Johnson if he could name a specific example of federal “waste, fraud and abuse” found in South Dakota.

“I would tell you I am aware of funding that I just can’t understand how that could be beneficial,” Johnson said. “Millions of dollars was provided to, I think, some protest organizations in the state that I have not seen any real track record of deliverables from those grants.”

He added later, “I don’t want to attack a particular organization.”

At the chamber of commerce event, Johnson took questions from attendees. Some expressed concerns about the mass firings. Johnson described them as harsh but necessary course corrections for the country.

“These are very standard HR disruptions in the private sector,” he told attendees. “I get it, they are far less common in the public sector.”

Senators react

The offices of Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Sen. Mike Rounds, both Republicans from South Dakota, did not respond to similar questions sent via email to their spokespeople.

Thune recently told CNN that while “the objectives” of DOGE are “right,” he would go about achieving the objectives differently.

“DOGE is going about this and doing the big scrub,” Thune said. “But now that you’ve got — this is why we worked so hard to get Cabinet people in place — is hand it off to these leaders, these managers, who are going to be making decisions. And I think they’re probably better attuned to the individual programs.”

Sen. Mike Rounds recently joined News Nation and said Republicans will do whatever they can to help the president reduce the size of the federal government.

“They’re doing it so rapidly that they are making some mistakes,” Rounds said. “Where we find them, we’re going to do our best to repair them.”

South Dakota Searchlight is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. South Dakota Searchlight maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seth Tupper for questions: info@southdakotasearchlight.com.