The water levels along Lake Poinsett in Hamlin County have dropped by more than four feet this year.
This is allowing road crews in the area to fix Highways 21 and 28 near Hayti, South Dakota that have been closed to traffic for nearly three months because of flooding.
"We had to travel south on 21 over to Lake Norton, and then out to 81 and around, back up to 21 and then into Hayti," Hayti Resident Ernie Gatchell said.
Ernie Gatchell lives only one mile from the town, but over the last three months Gatchell has been forced to take a 36 mile detour to make his way into town.
Gatchell owns a full sized ford pickup truck and says its taken a big hit on his wallet.
"Well it affected the checkbook because of buying all the extra fuel, and doing all of the extra traveling every day." Gatchell said.
But today is a new day and resurfaced roadways on state Highways 21 and 28 have allowed for travelers to run their normal routes once again.
"We just take it for granted I think a lot of times, how often we go somewhere, we're just a traveling society now, but it's a great improvement to have the state highway system reopened again in the county," said Emergency Manager David Schaefer.
Gatchell says it couldn't have come any sooner.
"It's great, it's really great to have the road back, you can get into town in a couple of minutes and do your business and back home in ten."
Now that it's back to business as usual, Gatchell's pickup truck and wallet are both enjoying a well-deserved break.
Emergency manager David Schaefer also said the road closures nearly tripled response times for first responders in Hamlin County.
