PIERRE, S.D. – On Aug 15th, Governor Kristi Noem announced that South Dakota has received a presidential disaster declaration due to the historic 1000-year flooding event that occurred between June 16 and July 8, 2024. 25 counties have received disaster assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and four of those counties have qualified for individual assistance for residents and business owners.

“South Dakota has worked tremendously hard to get to this point and will continue working to rebuild our communities. I am so proud of our people,” said Governor Kristi Noem. “This event was unprecedented, but our response was exactly what South Dakota always does. We work together to get our neighbors back on their feet.”

Residents and business owners in the following four counties qualified for individual assistance: Davison, Lincoln, Turner, and Union. Residents must contact FEMA to register.

Disaster Recovery Center dates & locations will be announced very soon. It is not necessary to go to a center to apply for FEMA assistance. Impacted individuals located within one of these counties can go online to disasterassistance.gov, call 800-621-3362 or use the FEMA mobile app to apply.

In addition, federal funding is available to state, tribal, eligible local governments, and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by the flooding in the following 25 counties: Aurora, Bennett, Bon Homme, Brule, Buffalo, Charles Mix, Clay, Davison, Douglas, Gregory, Hand, Hanson, Hutchinson, Jackson, Lake, Lincoln, McCook, Miner, Minnehaha, Moody, Sanborn, Tripp, Turner, Union, and Yankton.

As Governor Noem reiterated many times throughout this historic flooding event, for those local communities, the cost share will be 75% federal, 15% state, and 10% local. These local entities will work with state and FEMA officials to obtain this assistance.