This increase in flood waters caused several roads to be closed, including I-29 by the Bridgewater/Canova exit, Madison Street south of Brandon, and Aspen Blvd in Brandon. Highway 11 was closed from 246th St to 486th Ave north of Garretson, as well as at Palisade Street and Highway 11 south of Garretson. Highway 11 near Cherry Rock Farm south of Brandon was also closed. Road closures meant that travel became difficult, and commuters had to check road conditions prior to leaving for work.
All the floodwater meant that local farmers were also impacted.
“It sucks, but what can you do, you can’t control mother nature,” said Nathan Braun, owner of Braun Farms & Trucking. “We certainly didn’t expect this kind of thing. Talking it over with some other farmers, we haven’t had anything like this since 1986, when there was some serious flooding statewide.”
In total Braun said he had about 140 acres of corn flooded and about 200 acres of soybeans flooded. He holds out hope to salvage some of his corn crop, but isn’t sure about the beans.
“One fella said that it’s good that the corn is still green in most places, and that might be a good thing,” he said. “Sure, we might have been a month behind before all this even started, but if it’s still green and alive there’s less chance of it moldering. Even so, it’s not what we wanted in the fall.”
Braun has fields planted in both South Dakota and Minnesota and said that he was amazed by the depth and swiftness of the flooding.
“I was headed for Canby on Wednesday morning last week and right east of Sherman there the water was getting pretty high. Sure enough, when I came back water was over the road. It’s pretty bad around here, though there are a lot of other places that are worse off. Down by Yankton and along the James River, it’s just crazy.”
Braun said he expects a very late harvest and a very wet crop, a lot of late nights and early mornings for local farmers for the foreseeable future while they try to salvage what they can.
“It’s going to put a lot of stress on all of us and our families, but we’ll make it through,” he said. “We always do, no matter what. I’m still going to hope for a good harvest, even though it’s going to be a late one. Wet spring and wet fall, means a lot of extra steps to the process. I’d be remiss if I didn’t say this while you’ve got me on the spot. Make sure everybody watches out for slow moving vehicles on the roads and byways. Watch out for slow moving vehicle signs and the flashing lights. With all the extra-long hours and the stress everybody’s going to feel it, and so give us the room we need to work, every spring and fall but this fall especially. All of us want to go home at night to our families.”
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Campsite 2 in Splitrock Park campground. First photo is flooding at the site at approximately 11:00 am on Sept 12, second photo is at approximately 3:30 pm.
