The State of South Dakota and the Federal Emergency Management Agency have requested the S.D. Wing of the Civil Air Patrol to provide aerial photography of flooding below the Missouri River main stem dams in the state. The S.D. Wing will also transport FEMA officials.
Due to heavy rains and snow melt in Montana, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is releasing record amounts of water from the Oahe Reservoir north of Pierre, S.D. In the past few days, areas of Pierre and Ft. Pierre have been flooded, with other areas of the state either likely to flood or threatened with flooding.
The CAP will fly aerial photography missions along the Missouri River from Pierre to Yankton, concentrating on the area below the dams’ discharge. The photos from these sorties are then used at the S.D. Emergency Operations Center by the state of South Dakota and other agencies to help them respond to changing water and flooding conditions. The S.D. Wing will also transport FEMA officials to assist them in their flood planning, assessment, and recovery efforts.
Friday morning, May 27, an aircrew from Pierre was activated for a sortie from Pierre to Yankton. Weather permitting, additional aircrews will fly out of Sioux Falls and Pierre Saturday and until further notice. The length of the mission is indeterminate, depending upon continuing discharges from the Missouri River dams and rainfall.
Earlier this spring, the S.D. Wing flew numerous flooding photo mission sorties over the James and Big Sioux River valleys, glacial lakes in east central and northeast S.D., and over the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
For more information: SDcap.us
