Presidential Disaster Declaration Approved For December Storm

Govenor Dennis Daugaard says 24 South Dakota counties and two tribes may receive federal funding assistance to help recover from a late December storm that did more than $9.1 million in damage to public property.

The public assistance is made available through a Presidential Disaster Declaration signed Wednesday, February 1, by President Trump.

Counties involved are Butte, Clark, Codington, Day, Deuel, Dewey, Edmunds, Fall River, Faulk, Grant, Haakon, Hamlin, Harding, Jackson, Jones, Marshall, McPherson, Meade, Pennington, Perkins, Roberts, Stanley, Sully and Ziebach. Also included is the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe within Dewey and Ziebach counties and the Oglala Sioux Tribe within Jackson County.

All of the counties and tribes included in the declaration were those included in the Governor’s request to the President earlier this month.

The storm started Dec. 24 and continued through Dec. 26. Blizzard conditions, high winds and freezing ice led to broken power poles, downed electrical lines and stranded motorists. Three deaths were associated with the storm.

Gov. Daugaard requested a disaster declaration on Jan. 23 after public property damage information was verified by FEMA, state and local officials.

A disaster declaration authorizes the federal government to provide recovery assistance for up to 75 percent of the eligible costs.

The Office of Emergency Management is part of the Department of Public Safety.