Heavy Rain Swamps Southern Sioux Falls

SIOUX FALLS, SD - Whether it's a small town like Shindler or a big city like Sioux Falls, four or five inches of rain causes problems.

What appears to be a lakeside view is actually Tuthill Park in southern Sioux Falls. It didn't take long for the heavy rain to send the Big Sioux out of its banks again. The river rose from four feet to 12 in less than an hour.

The entrance to Lions Centennial Park looks like a road to nowhere. Basketball courts are underwater and the port-a-potties are out of commission for a while.

Depending where they started, many people on their way to work were forced to drive around and sometimes through flooded streets. Others were surprised by misplaced manhole covers.

The heavy downpour also turned ditches into raging rivers and caused more problems for a stretch of railroad tracks near Southeastern Avenue. This is the second time in a week that the rushing water washed-out the bed underneath the tracks stopping service until it's fixed.

The city's greenway system was built to take on floods like this and it worked perfectly. Unfortunately, Leif Erickson Day camp is also along the river. Campers got quite a wakeup call Thursday night. The rising water forced kids to evacuate. Now camp counselors are wondering how much work is ahead of them once the water recedes.