State emergency office pulling coordinator from S.F.

Sioux Falls is losing its state emergency management office in a move that South Dakota public safety officials say will better position them to respond to crises and disasters. But Minnehaha County Commissioners and emergency personnel aren’t sold that reorganization efforts are the right move for South Dakota’s most densely populated metropolitan area.

The South Dakota Office of Emergency Management (SDOEM), responsible for coordinating with local and county first responders during and after disasters both manmade and natural, is doing away with two regional offices by moving its Sioux Falls and Pierre branch responders to Mitchell and Rapid City.

The boundaries of South Dakota’s six emergency management regions won’t change, and an SDOEM coordinator will continue to oversee Minneheha and the seven other counties that make up Region 1 in the same capacity. However, that position will be housed in Mitchell’s Region 6 office, putting SDOEM’s closest regional office nearly 50 miles from Minnehaha County and more than 60 miles from Sioux Falls.

“I think having a person here would be better,” Commissioner Jeff Barth said during a commission meeting Tuesday. “The potential for disaster is greater here than it is in, let’s say, Harding County. With our population and the transportation issues, the infrastructure issues that we have — we could easily have some incredible disasters out this way.”

While Minnehaha County and Sioux Falls might be more prone to man-made disasters than less populated areas of the state, the large population base also means South Dakota’s largest county and city are well suited to address emergencies without the immediate help of the state, said Tina Titze, SDOEM Director. The reorganization efforts, she said, are aimed at increasing efficiency and better positioning the department’s six regional coordinators to assist smaller communities that might not have the local resources needed for emergency response.

“Minnehaha County and the city of Sioux Falls are very well prepared, probably our most prepared county in the state with the resources they have available to them,” Titze said. “What we find is it’s the other counties, some of the smaller populated counties, that need us to respond more quickly to assist them because they just don’t have those resources available.”

The interstate highway system that runs through Mitchell and Minnehaha County allows for quick response times to be maintained between Region 1 and Region 6, Titze said.

The pending retirement of Region 1 Emergency Management Coordinator Tom Welch will delay the closing of the Sioux Falls office until his replacement is hired.

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