DAKOTA DUNES, SD -
Congressional hearings on flood control, that's what one South Dakota Senator says he's calling for when he gets back to Washington.
For South Dakota Senator Tim Johnson, it was a first look at the inside of the Dunes since flooding began in late May.
A chance to see the damage first hand, and to start making plans for where Southeastern South Dakota goes from here.
"It is obvious to me, that there is a huge amount of damage," says Johnson.
Getting a first hand look at what some are calling, and hoping will be a once in a lifetime event.
"(He can) actually see what the river did to the river banks and homes and the public infrastructure that was out there," says Jeff Dooley, Manager of the Dakota Dunes Community Improvement District.
More than 1,000 people, 340 homes, have been evacuated.
In that evacuated zone, it's business as usual. National Guard members are still patrolling the miles of levee.
The number of soldiers in the Dunes is down to 71 members from slightly more than 200 a month ago.
It's a sight to behold, and it's raising questions. Senator Johnson's calling for hearings once he returns to Washington.
"This is an immense amount of water, and it's hard to understand why they did not see this coming," says Johnson.
He's leaving with a warning and urging caution, for when those water stopping barriers begin to disappear.
"Don't take the berms and dikes down too soon," says Johnson.
It's a community realizing that moving back may not be an end, but the beginning of a long process.
"Our first objective is to get people home, get them back living in their house, and then we'll decide what to do, where do we go from there," says Dooley.
If all goes according to plan, removal of the northern, innermost levee, should begin in early September.
Plans are also in the works to move residents back home, but it's still too early for specifics.
When groundwater levels go down in the evacuated area, crews will start to restore utilities.
Depending on where your house is, residents should be able to move back in anywhere from late September to early November, it all just depends on Mother Nature.
