KOTA Territory NewsTornado destroys 3 NE Wyoming homes, no injuries
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Meredith Garofalo
It was a noise they've never heard before.
"It was loud, like a freight train kinda," said Taitlin Betcea, who lives in the neighborhood.
"I thought it was a blow horn, blow horns going off," added another neighbor. "So I ran downstairs. Apparently it was the tornado."
And a weather event they never imagined possible.
"They're really not common in the Black Hills," said Jack Floyd, who saw the tornado from the highway.
"Some of the people said they thought this would be the last place a tornado would hit but it can, it did," said Duane Queen, who lost his house.
Last evening a tornado touched down near Beulah, Wyoming. I'm on Queens Road and you can see the damage of the path of the tornado. This is all that's left, but it doesn't even start to explain the story of the neighbors who lost their home. This is all that's left of Alice and Duane Queen's home.
"It's a very heartening mess and we feel lucky that we're both here," Duane's wife, Alice, said.
Mrs. Queen was in here last night when the tornado moved over her home.
"I don't think I was really afraid, I didn't like the insulation blowing into my face but it didn't last only a few minutes," Alice said.
Some parts were completely destroyed and others, spared. Outside? A battlefield. Mr. Queen didn't know about the tornado. He was in Belle Fourche when he received horrible news.
"The first thing I asked, is my wife okay? He said yes so that was the main thing. Then we came over and I seen this, it was terrible," Duane said.
And emotional.
"I just gave her a big hug. That's all I could do."
Today, the Queens try to be strong and pick up the pieces left behind.
"I don't know what we're going to do," said Duane. "Clean up and try to start over, I guess."
The tornado also destroyed a mobile home and flattened trees in various areas. Based on the damage, winds were estimated to be 120 to 130 miles per hour giving it an EF2 rating.
