PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem says she plans to host a conference call with the families evacuated from their homes due to sinkholes that opened up in a Blackhawk subdivision.
During her daily conference call Tuesday, the governor said she’s getting a lot of questions.
Noem hasn’t said when she would host the call, but expects it to be soon.
The sinkholes are the result of an old gypsum mine beneath the subdivision. The mine is between 25 and 30 feet below the surface.
Meade County is applying for a FEMA grant that would pay families 75-percent of their home’s value pre sinkhole. The grant however is not guaranteed.
Under scrutiny is how a subdivision was allowed to be built over the old mine.
Documents from the early 2000’s, when the subdivision was in its planning stages, indicated the mine was there. Documents show Daisy Drive, where several homes have been evacuated, was caving into the mine in 2006. Planners at the time didn’t want to close the road and asked it be fixed properly.
