The southern portion of Wessington Springs was destroyed by a tornado Wednesday night. Dozens of homes were destroyed and a handful of businesses were damaged.
Homes were ripped open. Trailers were overturned. The twister brought plenty of destruction, but no one was killed, and only one woman received minor injuries.
After light turned to dark, Governor Dennis Daugaard, still dealing with flooding in Union County, came to oversee the disaster.
'We know that there are three businesses that were here that were destroyed and I've heard reports of 12 to 20 homes that were either severely damaged destroyed or likely uninhabitable,'said Governor Dennis Daugaard.
The governor ordered 100 national guard troops to assist with the clean up.
'In a way it helped that so many of them were on alert because of the flooding situation. so they were able to respond more quickly,'said Daugaard.
The Wessington springs fire chief says the destruction is overwhelming on the south side of town, and is appreciative for all the support from neighboring communities.
'It's pretty humbling we had guys here that we didn't even call you know like Miller Fire and them guys I never made contact with them here and they showed up,'said Jim Favra of the Wessington Springs Fire Department.
Wessington Springs is a close community, and first responders says it's tough seeing a part of their city destroyed.
'You know a lot of them are all your friends an you pull up and your friends house is gone,'said Favra.
The cleanup starts Thursday, but with trees mangled by debris, and homes turned inside out.. The Wessington Springs community will have a lot to bounce back from.
Entities 0 Name: Wessington Springs Count: 3 1 Name: Dennis Daugaard Count: 2 2 Name: Union County Count: 1 3 Name: Wessington Springs Fire Department Count: 1 4 Name: Miller Fire Count: 1 5 Name: Jim Favra Count: 1 6 Name: Daugaard Count: 1 7 Name: Favra Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/1uEuDaH Title: Damaging tornado hits South Dakota town Description: South Dakota officials say a tornado damaged homes, farms and businesses in a small town in the central part of the state Wednesday evening. National Weather Service meteorologist Todd Heitkamp told the Associated Press that law enforcement in Wessington Springs reported that a tornado passed "through the heart of town" shortly before 8 p.m.
