From KELO land news and KOTA news– The cleanup has begun after tornadoes swept through parts of southwest and northeast South Dakota Saturday night.
It was a wild evening in Deuel County Saturday night.
“We just started getting reports of tornadoes on the ground north of Clear Lake., west of Clear Lake, later in the Gary area, Lake Cochran area. Then, later that evening, down in the Brandt and Toronto area,” Deuel County Sheriff and emergency manager Cory Borg said.
Borg says he knows of three properties that have been damaged by a tornado. One of them is near Gary. One building is destroyed and the roof of the house is damaged. The owner was not home at the time of the storm.
Nearby, there were trees that were uprooted and split.
Borg says there have been two reported injuries but no fatalities in the county. There was also a tornado that touched down near Kadoka Saturday night.
Governor Larry Rhoden stepped in to help with the cleanup in Kadoka after tornadoes wrecked several homes.
Rhoden posted photos on his X account, as well as writing “When South Dakotans face difficult situations, we step up and help each other’.
The National Weather Service has classified Saturday’s tornado, located five to six miles south-southeast of Kadoka in the White River Valley area, as an EF-2. The tornado had winds of 135 miles per hour.
The quarter-mile-wide tornado was on the ground for fifteen minutes and traveled three miles, ripping the roof off and collapsing the exterior walls of a home on County Road 29 just off South Dakota Highway 73.
There will be some events coming up in July that area residents should put on their calendars. July 19th is the City Wide Garage Sale. Interested parties can start contacting Midland News for the free advertising sponsored by the Valentine Chamber of Commerce. At the same time, a Goodwill donation truck will be in Valentine July 18th to the 25th.
Later in July will be the Nebraska Star Party on the 20th through the 25th at Merritt Reservoir Southwest of Valentine. There will be portions open to the local public. Go to nebraskastarparty.org for details. The theme this year is “Step into the darkness”.