NORTH SIOUX CITY, S.D. (KELO) — Hope is on the horizon for people affected by the June floods this year.
Twenty-five South Dakota counties will receive federal help repairing damage, and in Davison, Lincoln, Turner and Union counties, home and business owners will also receive support.
For McCook Lake and the area surrounding it, it’s been a difficult summer dealing with the aftermath of June’s flood.
“It’s been eight weeks this weekend and it has been a long, drawn-out process, a lot of cleanup, a lot of unsure what’s going to happen with the future,” Cares for Nonprofit on McCook Lake, Renae Hansen said.
But with the disaster declaration signed on August 15th, there will finally be aid for those who need it.
“It’ll help the private citizens. We do have some businesses that need aid. It will help them also. And then it also, like I said, helps the public side, which is fixing roadways, bridges, levees, things like that,” Union County emergency manager Jason Westcott said.
People affected by the flood have less than 60 days left to fill out paperwork online. However, there will be another option.
“Probably within about a week or two, we’ll be looking at setting up what’s called a DRC. It’s a disaster recovery centers. Basically what that does is it’ll be a place where people can actually go in, sit down with the FEMA representative, fill out paperwork with them and file it with them so that if they’re not comfortable with using a mobile app or using a computer, you’re able to actually go sit down with the FEMA app face to face,” Westcott said.
Residents are finally getting relief after 8 long weeks of waiting.
“It’s been a long process and we understand that people are hurting right now. People are just waiting for some sort of financial assistance. And this will help, you know, in that realm to get people some money, kind of get them back on their feet and get them back to where they used to be,” Westcott said.
“But now that we have the FEMA declaration, hopefully, some of these people will be able to get some of those answers that they’ve been longing for,” Hansen said.
How South Dakotans can apply for FEMA disaster funds
