Whitewood mayor Mike Weyrich has called an emergency meeting of the Whitewood city council at 5 p.m. today at Whitewood City Hall to discuss and assess damage from this week's flooding.

Lawrence County's emergency management director will attend the meeting and provide some options about what the town can do.

Residents of a mobile-home park have been allowed to return to their homes after the park was evacuated due to concern the homes could be pushed off their blocks, leading to a natural gas leak or fire.

Weyrich said in the Twin Parks subdivision, water washed dirt from under a road and left a lot of bumps and dips in the road, and some people can't get out of their driveways.

"That's probably our worst problem right now," he said. "If we do get any FEMA money or anything like that, it might be months before we get it. But we've got to go in there and do something with it as soon as it dries out."

Other damage in the Whitewood area includes some washed-out culverts and damaged roads.

Weyrich said the council will also have a meeting Friday, June 13.

"By then, we should have a good handle on all the damage and what it's going to cost," he said.

Water levels continued to recede on Saturday, but emergency managers throughout the region are still keeping an eye on the weather.

Paul Thomson, Lawrence County's emergency manager, said Saturday afternoon that it's much too early to know the full extent of damage in the county.

"I just did a preliminary pass through Spearfish, and things look like they'd dropped a little bit," Thomson said. "We've still got water over the roadway at Pheasant Lane, but people are going out the other way."

Thomson said things really hadn't changed since late Friday.

"Creek levels are still dropping slowly," he said.

In Meade County, emergency manager Kathie Grant said water is going down, and the Red Cross has closed the shelter at Douglas Middle School in Box Elder; no one needed to spend the night there Friday.

"We are beginning damage assessment to determine if we qualify for disaster declaration," Grant said. "With the number of counties, and the amount of damage, it's entirely possible."

Grant said the state began doing some preliminary assessments Friday. The full extent of damage to roads and bridges won't be known until the water goes down further, but most roads in Meade County have reopened unless there were obvious signs of erosion.

"If the road doesn't need major repair, it will be open, assuming the water is off them and they're dry. If there's erosion and damage, they will stay closed until the highway department can get them repaired," she said.

Grant said at least two bridges in Meade County had water over them and need to be assessed; one over the Belle Fourche river in the Elk Springs area, and another over Sulfur Creek in the northern part of the county.

In Butte County, several roads and bridges remained closed Saturday and a damage assessment center was set up to gather information about flood damage from affected residents. (See related story.)

On Saturday, the Black Hills chapter of the American Red Cross opened a shelter at Tankini School and Eagle Butte High School to assist more than 90 people displaced by flooding on the Cheyenne River reservation.

Residents affected by flooding should call 605-342-4010 for assistance. Residents can also register families at the Red Cross Web site, disastersafe.redcross.org, and use it as a point of contact for ensuring loved ones are safe.

The Red Cross is also offering free cleanup kits to people in Box Elder whose homes were damaged.

Kits will be available while supplies last from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. today at Douglas Middle School. Each household is allowed one free kit. Identification showing your address is required as proof that you live in the affected disaster area. Kits will also be available Monday, June 9, at the Red Cross Office at 1221 North Maple, Rapid City.

Contact Scott Aust at 394-8415 or scott.aust@rapidcityjournal.com.

How to help

The Red Cross has established a relief fund for people affected by the recent flooding. To contribute call 605-342-4010 or visit the Black Hills Area Chapter at 1221 N. Maple Ave. in Rapid City.

Total rainfall

The National Weather Service in Rapid City has released rain totals from the recent storms in western South Dakota.

The information totals rain, measured in inches, from Tuesday through Friday morning.

They include:

Automated Stations

Buffalo 1.23

Custer 0.17

Faith 4.67

Pine Ridge 1.32

Philip 4.06

Rapid City airport 1.53

Rapid City (NWS) 2.10

Winner 4.66

Gillette, Wyo. 1.56

Cooperative observations (measured Friday morning)

Cottonwood 1.95

Hoover 4.61

Mission 4.02

Newell 3.00

Oelrichs 0.30

Oglala 0.92

Oral 0.20

Pactola 1.33

Porcupine (11N) 0.55

NW Rapid City 4.19

Shadehill 2.70

Winner 4.56

Cooperative observations (measured Thursday evening)

Camp Crook 2.35

Dupree 4.89

Fort Meade 4.95

Hill City 0.73

Hot Springs 0.54

Lead 3.29

Lemmon 3.17

Medicine Mountain 0.34

Milesville 5.17

Mount Rushmore 0.68

Spearfish 5.78

Wind Cave 0.19

Gillette, Wyo. 1.67

Sundance 2.56