In addition to Oglala County, located in the southwestern part of the state, Titze said the Emergency Operations Center is responding to resource requests in the southeast, in Minnehaha, Hanson, Union, Jerauld and Charles Mix counties.

Mike Gillispie, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service in Sioux Falls, said the Big Sioux River has seen water levels rivaling those of the state’s infamous 1969 flood, which resulted in 4,000 evacuations in the southeast and over $15 million in damages.

Though the eastern portion of the state isn’t expected to see more rainfall in the near future, Gillipsie said water levels may continue to rise, though not at the rate they have been. As temperatures continue to warm, he said snow more snow may melt upstream the Big Sioux and James rivers, gradually rising water levels further.

The western portion of the state holds a slightly different fortune, with rain in the forecast for the near future. Melissa Smith, a National Weather Service hydrologist in Rapid City, said the rainfall, in addition to more snow melt, will further exacerbate flooding in the west.

Both Smith and Gillipsie caution South Dakotans not to drive through or get too close to floodwaters, at the risk of drowning or being injured by debris.