LAKE POINSETT – The water is still rising at Lake Poinsett – now just short of a historic flood – and putting people in danger, said Dave Schaefer, Emergency Management director for Hamlin County.

“We’re less than a foot away from the 2011 record flood elevation at Lake Poinsett,” he said Friday. “There are a number of homes at the lake that are totally surrounded by water.”

Schaefer’s top priority during this time is keeping everybody safe.

“The safety of people is our primary concern,” Schaefer said. “Up until this point, we haven’t had any injuries, neither minor or serious, and we’d certainly like to keep it that way.”

He’s advising no travel in the area due to the flooded roads.

“In the last two days, we’ve had to close two additional county highways because they went under water,” Schaefer said.

“Roads that were under water a couple weeks ago and came out, (Friday) morning, they’re back under water again,” he said, mentioning roads near the Hamlin school, west of Hayti.

“Water continues to threaten U.S. Highway 81. It gets a little higher every day,” Schaefer said, adding the South Dakota Department of Transportation has placed sign boards on highways 81 and 28 and will activate them to warn motorists when the water goes over the highways.

The Emergency Management office’s Facebook page has a number to report damage, 605-690-4850, in case they need to apply for funding. A volunteer is collecting the damage information, and it will be shared with Brookings County, Schaefer said.

Topography counts

Lake Poinsett straddles the border of Hamlin and Brookings counties and is at the bottom of the chain of lakes in Hamlin County that drains into the Sioux River.

“All the water that comes through that entire chain starting north of Hayti, all has to go through Lake Poinsett at some point,” Schaefer said, naming lakes Park, Marsh, Norden, John and Albert that send water into Poinsett.

That water is still running through those lakes, which means it is still on its way to Lake Poinsett. That’s not the only water Schaefer worries about. The blizzard last week gave the area 2 1/2 inches of moisture, and rain a few days ago added another half inch.

“That’s obviously what’s causing our issues with the roads at this time,” Schaefer said. More rain would only exacerbate the problems.

“We are so at the mercy of weather at this point,” he said. 

No wake zone issued

The South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks department has activated a no wake zone on Lake Poinsett. That means no wake within 300 feet of the shoreline.

“Boats are restricted to no more than 5 mph in that no wake zone,” Schaefer said.

Having a no wake zone helps minimize damage to the shoreline and the property that’s close to it, Schaefer said.

The second reason is to keep people on the lake safe.

“There is a tremendous amount of debris in the lake,” Schaefer said. “In years past, during floods, we’ve had boats strike debris, whether it was poles, landscape timbers or things, even had people end up in the water. We want to try to avoid that,” Schaefer said. 

Damage minimal – so far

About 60 percent of the people at Lake Poinsett are permanent residents, and Schaefer said about a dozen homes have suffered varying degrees of damage. Unfortunately, as the lake rises, so does the potential for more damage.

Schaefer is grateful the weather’s been cool, which slowed down the melt, and there hasn’t been a lot of strong winds, which kept damage to a minimum. 

He hasn’t seen any water in the homes, but there has been some damage to homes due to ice breaking windows and patio doors, as well as some structural damage like boat docks. But it could have been a lot worse, he said.

Many homes were raised after the 2011 flood. 

“People have taken the personal responsibility to protect their property,” Schaefer said.

Sandbags and fill are available at both Lake Albert and Lake Poinsett. Some people are putting in other barriers, as well, in an effort to protect their homes.

Another thing he’s worried about is utilities. Lake Poinsett has a sanitary sewer district, and most of the electrical utilities are buried.

“Some of those electrical transformers are way out in the water,” he said, adding they are working with the utility companies in Hamlin and Brookings counties.

No unnecessary travel

He said the residents appreciate the folks that have come out to help with clean-up and sandbagging, but he advised no unnecessary travel.

“The people that live in these areas, they have no choice, they have to drive sometimes in flooded roadways. That, of course, damages the road,” Schaefer said.

“If you’re not here to help … then please stay off the access roads,” he said. “If you want to come up and look at the lake – we can’t stop anybody – but please stay on a highway then.”

Not over yet

In some places, flood waters are gone in a few days.

“That’s not the case at Lake Poinsett,” Schaefer said.

“Lake Poinsett is a fantastic lake and the people that live there are very proud of it, but they’re in a situation right now where they are trying to protect their homes,” Schaefer said.

“Those people have to deal with this for an extended period of time. It gets to be a lot of stress, so anything that we can do to help them out is really what we’re asking folks to do,” Schaefer said.

“They’ve put up with this for days and days and days on end, and they’re starting to get a little exhausted,” Schaefer said. “Safety – I cannot stress that enough, how worried we are about their safety.”

Contact Jodelle Greiner at jgreiner@brookingsregister.com.