Residents in one of the hardest hit communities from the flooding along the Missouri River are expected to be back in their homes by the end of the month. Several hundred homes surrounding a country club in Dakota Dunes, South Dakota — located just west of Sioux City — were evacuated in late May.
Jeff Dooley is manager of the Dakota Dunes Community Improvement District. “Like any community that goes through a disaster, things don’t get back to normal right away. But, you have to take steps to get them back there and we’ll be taking those steps over the course of the next year to two years and try to get everything back to where it was and even better,” Dooley said.
Levees that successfully held back the floodwaters are being removed and water and sewer services are being returned to many Dakota Dunes residents this week. “A lot of the houses didn’t have any impact to ’em, other than nobody living there for a while,” Dooley said.
Dakota Dunes is a planned community owned and developed by Des Moines based MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company. The development is home to golf course designed by Arnold Palmer.
By Josie Cooper, KSCJ, Sioux City
