South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem has issued an emergency declaration after strong winds and at least one tornado on Thursday caused widespread damage, leaving at least one person dead and 45,000 homes without power at one point.
No details have been released on the death other than it occurred in Sioux Falls. Winds gusted above 100 mph in multiple parts of the state, damaging a nursing home and a school. A tornado was confirmed in Castlewood about 6 pm.
No one in Castlewood was seriously injured and Gov Noem came to town later in the evening to speak at a community briefing.
She said she’d called up 50 South Dakota National Guard members to respond to communities across the state and that she would have more details on her Facebook page.
The governor said she’d ordered personnel and resources to hard-hit communities and that she will be visiting some of them including Arlington, Madison, and Sioux Falls.
Brookings was hit by an extreme dust storm called a haboob with winds estimated at 100 miles an hour blowing debris through the town, and uprooting trees. Several semis along Interstate 90 between Brookings and Sioux Falls were overturned by winds