South Dakotans React To Rose Hill Dam Washed Away by Flood

by Melissa Payne
July 30, 2010


A Beadle County man is in a Sioux Falls hospital Friday after a dam burst near Wessington Springs.

Heavy rainfall swept away two campers at the Rose Hill Dam around 3:30 Friday morning.

The Hand County Emergency Management director says the dam was swelling with water from the nearly seven inches of rain that fell.  All that water took a toll on the damn.

The water had no where else to go, and the swelling dam was pushed to it's breaking point. In an instant, without any warning, the dam collapsed.

"Everybody just kind of dropped their jaw, there was a loud bang and everybody couldn't believe what they were seeing," said Brian Duxbury, Hand County Emergency Management.

"Now it's gone. I don't know, it's hard to see," said Cindy Eilers, who visits the dam often.

"We just couldn't believe it, so we had to come see it.  It's unbelievable," said Marilyn Eggleston, who brings her family to the dam.

Water now flows freely, without the security and boundaries of the dam walls.  A gaping hole is all that is left of what use to be a road running over the dam.

"This is going to be a whole lot of nothing here for awhile," said Duxbury.

"Once you see that big hole, you just go, oh my gosh! It's terrible," said Eggleston.

In a matter of seconds, the dam was swept down the creek. But for people who have been visiting the dam for the past 20 years, the memories made, can not be washed away.

"It's just really sad, because our family use to come over here with our kids and even my husband and I still come over for a picnic," said Eggleston.

"Well, I grew up three miles down the stream, so I was up as a kid, all through high school, and my grandpa helped build it," said Duxbury.

"We spent so much time here as a family. When our kids would fish down here, and we'd ice skate, there's a lot of picnics," said Eilers.

For the community, it's a void, but hopefully not for long.  Many want the dam to be re-built, so many more memories can be made for years to come.

The water from the Rose Hill Dam is now flowing into the James River and will be heading downstream toward Mitchell. The James is already well above flood stage.