A tower on Skyline Drive in Rapid City was damaged during a mid-December wind storm in 2025. (National Weather Service photo, courtesy of Candyse Arivett)

Estimates of public infrastructure damage from a historic windstorm last month in western South Dakota now total $4.6 million, according to Gov. Larry Rhoden, who said Tuesday that he has requested a presidential major disaster declaration.

A news release from Rhoden’s office said the damage tally is from Custer, Fall River and Pennington counties. If approved, a presidential declaration would provide 75% federal funding for repairs to public infrastructure, with local governments paying 15% and the state paying 10%. Rhoden started the process toward a presidential declaration earlier this month when he signed his own state emergency declaration.

Rhoden’s office said damage was done to roads, power systems, parks, recreation areas, trails and public facilities, with Custer County experiencing particularly devastating per-capita impacts.

The National Weather Service logged the highest wind gusts in recorded history at the agency’s monitoring sites in eastern Rapid City and the Rapid City airport during the Dec. 17-18 storm, at 91 and 94 miles per hour, respectively. The top wind gust recorded by the agency during the storm was 101 miles per hour at a location 4 miles south of downtown Rapid City.

Some residents in the Black Hills experienced power outages that lasted a week, according to the weather service.