Bonilla Needs Large Pump To Keep Water Away

Bonilla, SD

The worst flooding can usually be found along rushing rivers and streams or rising lakes, but this summer that's not the case.

The northeast South Dakota town of Bonilla is the latest place to fall victim to the floodwaters. Sandbags are being shipped in and a pump is working to keep the water at bay. Just four roads lead into the town of Bonilla, and all of them are under water.

"All of them are going under a little bit. You need a truck to get through. A car might get a little deep," Bonilla resident Andrew Stupka said. 

The town has seen nearly seven inches of rain in just two weeks, and all of that water has nowhere to go. That's why the National Guard has brought in a large pump, and residents hope it gets the water moving. 

"It's a good deal to have some of that out of there. It helps," Bonilla resident Nick Grehl said. 

"We went and looked at it today and it looks like it's pumping a lot out. Seems like it's going down a little bit," Stupka said. 

A pipe stretching through the town of Bonilla is preventing the flooding from getting worse and residents hope all of the water that's coming out of the end of the pipe will help keep their basements from getting wet.

Grehl and Stupka were moving a fridge out of their basement Friday to keep it high and dry. Their home is not flooded, but it's starting to get wet and they don't want to take the chance, because the water isn't moving out of town as quickly as it came in.

"It just keeps rising every time it rains. It just keeps getting higher," Grehl said. 

"It's just sitting and starting to smell bad and it just gets hot during the day, but then it makes it rain at night so it's not going anywhere," Stupka said. 

And all they can do now is plow through the ponds in the streets and hope the pump prevents the water from getting any deeper.

Some of the sandbags that are coming into Bonilla are coming from Woonsocket, because officials think they now have the upper hand there.