Driving Through Pierre SD

We were interested in driving through Pierre on Monday on our way to the Hills as we had yet to see our state's capital after it made national news earlier this summer with all the water released in the Missouri River.

Pierre sits along the banks of the Missouri River. Many campgrounds, ball fields, golf courses are also along the Missouri River. We didn't see any of them...they are all underwater.

This is what we did see as we drove through town and stopped for lunch.

The Fed Ex building sits along the major highway through Pierre.

It is about 4 blocks from the river.

 Hardee's is in the same area.

 A block or two closer to the river is the Capital Journal,

the local newspaper. This is the protection around that building.

Can you imagine the smell if those bales had gotten wet?

This boat is ready for any emergency, 

sitting a couple of blocks from the river.

 We stopped at Perkins for lunch.

This was the sandbagging along the front of the building.

It was closed for a month, during the worst of the flooding threat.

 Perkins is very near the river.

It did not have any water damage as the dikes have done their job.

But the sand bags were never intended to last several months.

They are beginning to deteriorate. What a mess that will cause!

More about the Missouri River in a future post.