Renner Residents Continue Cleanup

RENNER, SD - Floodwaters have finally gone down in the city of Renner. But many homeowners are still cleaning up the mess left behind.

It took Tim Wenzel more than a day and a half to pump water out of his basement. Now that the water is mostly out, he’s getting some of the damage fixed.

"When the water comes up and there are appliances down there, there's not much you can do," Wenzel said.

The more than two feet of water that seeped into his basement took out his furnace and water heater. Despite that, he's fortunate he didn't lose more.

"There's nothing really critical down there we can't live without. A lot of it is just clean-up, getting stuff out of there that needed to go anyway," Wenzel said.

Residents are left cleaning up what floodwater damage is left behind, but many residents say it could have been a lot worse had residents not come together to help each other out.

"Neighbor helping neighbor was a great thing; everyone helped out everyone," Wenzel said.

The flooding brought neighbors closer as they helped each other save homes from more serious damage, and some also learned a few lessons along the way.

"More than one sump pump, that's the big thing.  More than one sump pump. Went out and bought a pair of waders because I didn't have anything as far as walking around in this stuff," Wenzel said.

Supplies he's sure to have on hand should the waters come again.

"We just kind of move on from here.  Wait for the next one because you know it's coming," Wenzel said.

Wenzel says he's thankful the city decided to dump sewage into the river because had they not, the losses would have been much worse.