)But several stormchasers caught these beautiful & terrifying tornados near the Dupree area.
Video 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48EfUzmhdJQ&hd=1
Video 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8ivuVO0oRg&hd=
Video 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BynuK4zArmw
Heres the Story
DUPREE -- Judy Stout was alone when she saw the shambles that was her home Thursday morning.
While her husband J.T. slept in their daughter's home, Judy walked the short distance to the site of their home on the northeast edge of Dupree at 4:30 a.m.
That's when she shed the first of many tears.
The roof covering the Stouts' living room and bedroom is gone. A portion of the chimney rests buried in the deck. The garage roof rests on the couple's Cadillac. A nearby shop is gone. Two pickups, an SUV and golf cart sit surrounded by debris.
While friends and family packed up the remnants of the Stouts' lives, Judy and J.T. helped where they could and attempted to collect their thoughts.
"I don't think it's really sunk in yet," Judy said.
Like the Stouts, most of Dupree's approximately 480 residents were too busy picking up the remnants of their lives Thursday to allow the shock of Wednesday night's storm to sink in.
A giant storm began gathering southwest of Dupree late Wednesday afternoon. The slow moving giant spawned at least 10 tornadoes and dropped between 2.5 inches and 8 inches of rain over portions of Ziebach County.
The heavy rain caused additional problems. Every depression on the prairie filled and overflowed with excess water turning lazy streams into gushing torrents.
Water flowed over U.S. Highway 212 in several spots forcing the closing of the highway for several hours. Plows were called out to clear debris from the roadway early Thursday morning.
The storm moved slowly, according to Susan Sanders of the National Weather Service. Its sluggish progress was unique, she said.
"It stayed in one place for a long time," Sanders said. "That's quite unusual."
The weather service plans to send a storm survey team to the Dupree area Friday to survey damage and gather more information on the paths of the tornadoes.
Ziebach County Sheriff Bob Menzel has nothing but praise for the weather service, which sent the warning out early. Menzel was notified about 4:30 p.m. that the storm was taking shape. He headed west of town to watch the sky as the giant wall of clouds slowly marched out of the southwest toward Dupree.
"It took it about two hours (for the storm) to get to 212," Menzel said. During that time, he watched a large funnel cloud form, disappear back into the clouds only to reform as two rope-like funnels.
Tornado sirens were activated at least twice, he said.
The weather service has not determined whether tornadoes or straight-line winds caused the damage that was scattered randomly across Ziebach County on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation. Wind speeds of 60 mph were recorded 18 miles north of Dupree at an official reporting station.
Tornadoes of varying sizes were spotted all around the tiny community. The Stouts saw three to the north and three to the south of their home along Highway 212 before taking shelter in the basement.
"We watched and it didn't look that bad; we finished eating supper," J.T. said.
Then the wind died. It turned hot and calm.
"Then, I heard the train coming," J.T. said. That's when he grabbed the dog and summoned his wife to the basement.
During a brief respite in the storm, the Stouts took a van from the garage and hurried to their daughter Rhea Stevens' home to check on her family.
"It was so black and raining so hard you couldn't see," Judy said. While Judy and J.T. huddled in the basement, they knew part of the house's roof was gone.
Sirens sounded twice in town, and friends called friends or knocked on doors to alert them. Earlier Wednesday, Menzel posted signs on several buildings in town designating them as emergency shelters in preparation for the town's 100th birthday.
Dupree's Centennial celebration is planned for the second weekend in July, and the town was busy preparing for visitors.
But, the headquarters for that celebration was destroyed Wednesday night.
Pioneer Hall, a 60-foot by 120-foot steel building with a breezeway, was going to be the centerpiece for the celebration. The building's roof is destroyed and the walls are tiled inward. Insulation sucked from the structure is scattered across the community.
The storm crumpled grain bins at the Northern Plains Cenex Harvest States Service Center on the western edge of town. Two 100,000 bushel grain bins and two 20,000 bushel bins were destroyed along with a storage building. The office building sustained significant roof damage, but no one was hurt.
General manager Todd Oster said the goal is to have the grain marketing center back in operation in time for harvest.
Menzel wasn't sure how much damage rural residents sustained.
Pauling Webb, pastor of the United Church of Christ said a family living north of Lantry, Ted and Lori Berndt, reportedly lost their new home and most of their outbuildings.
This is the third storm to blast the community in recent years.
Hugs were exchanged before the cleanup work started. Chainsaws attacked splintered trees. Crews of volunteers hauled away debris and cleared city streets. Families and friends salvaged what they could.
Mobile homes fared the worst - some were tossed around like toys, others lost their roofs. Several were destroyed in Dupree and three at Lantry.
Norma and Larry Haskell's mobile home sat in the heart of Dupree. The couple sought refuge in a dump truck when their home started to shake.
Their home apparently flew over their small pickup before crashing down on its roof across the street.
"It was there and then it was gone," Norma Haskell said.
Another family member, Dana Haskell, lost a beauty shop and had a hole ripped in the roof of her home.
Four of the 10 mobile homes in Jackie Joens' mobile home court were destroyed. At least three of the mobile homes housed families with several children.
Insurance will probably not pay to replace the structures, Joens said.
"It's a sad situation," Joens said. "We try to provide homes for these people, but I don't think we'll be able to do it anymore."
Down the street, an unidentified Native American man was injured when a mobile home hit the car he had taken shelter in, Menzel said. The victim was taken to Eagle Butte and transported to Bismarck, N.D., the sheriff said. Another man was also injured and taken to Eagle Butte, Menzel said.
"It's amazing, in some areas there's nothing and in others; it's devastation," Kristi Farley said. Farley lives southeast of town and had come to town with her husband, Rick, to assess the damage at the Dupree school. Portions of the school's roof were damaged.
The American Red Cross arrived early to set up an emergency shelter at the school.
Webb loaded up with groceries in Eagle Butte Thursday morning. She and Rhea Smith fed a steady stream of hungry people Thursday.
It was a challenge because the power was out. The storm snapped poles supporting transmission lines and distribution lines in Moreau Grand Electric's sub-station in Dupree. It will take a few days to fully restore power to the area.
"We're taking it a pole at a time," member services representative Roger Lawien said.
The loss of power was felt as far away as Faith where water restrictions were put in place. Pump stations on tribal water system that supplies the community with water were couldn't were not operating.
Tribal authorities mobilized emergency response teams Thursday to assess damage across the reservation.
Menzel said offers of help started coming in early Thursday.
"We declined most of it," Menzel said.
While she cared for the physical needs of her congregation and the community, Webb couldn't help but worry about their spiritual needs.
People had barely recovered from the ravages of a spring ice storm that left much of the area without power for three weeks.
"People are hurting and now they're coping with another tragedy," Webb said.
The Black Hills Area Chapter of the American Red Cross responded to the disaster by assisting residents with food, clothing, shelter, counseling, and other needs. Red Cross volunteers will be establishing a shelter in the area. Residents affected by the tornado and in need of assistance can contact (888) 271-3130.
The chapter will be deploying its Emergency Response Vehicle and eight volunteers to establish a shelter and conduct a damage assessment.
Anyone who would like to donate time or money to the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, please call (605) 342-4010 or visit the Black Hills Area Chapter at 1221 N. Maple Ave., Rapid City, S.D. 57701.