July 9, 2008-Minot Daily News (Tornado in Rolla and Belcourt)
By ELOISE OGDEN, Regional Editor
ROLLA AND BELCOURT Sheri Leas said she really didn’t know where to begin, as she picked up pieces Tuesday of her home in Rolla that a tornado hit and demolished the day before, scattering much of it about the area.
On Tuesday, Leas, along with others in Rolla and the Belcourt area whose homes were destroyed or damaged, were trying to clean up the debris and save what they could from their homes.
“It’s quite the devastation,” she said.
Leas said they weren’t home when the tornado hit. They’re living at another place now “and cleaning up,” she said.
Tom Allard, Rolla chief of police, said Tuesday that six to eight homes in Rolla were destroyed and 20 homes were damaged. Allard was the first emergency person who arrived at the scene of the damage in that community Tuesday afternoon.
At Belcourt on the Turtle Mountain Reservation, about 19 structures were affected, said David “Doc” Brien, chairman of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa. That number was a preliminary assessment, and tribal officials were continuing their assessment of the area Tuesday.
Gov. John Hoeven and several other state officials visited the Rolla and Belcourt areas Tuesday to view the damage. During a news conference in the Rolette County Courthouse in Rolla Tuesday morning, Hoeven extended his sympathy and concern to those who have been impacted by the tornados.
The 19 structures in the Belcourt area included Martin Peltier’s home northeast of Belcourt, which was considered a total loss. The tornado’s force moved his home off the foundation. Peltier was trapped in the basement, rescued and then flown to Trinity Hospital in Minot where tribal officials said, to their knowledge, he’s in stable condition.
Another injury as a result of the storm was a firefighter in Rolla who sustained minor injuries when his vehicle was struck by a tornado when he was observing the storm approaching the city.
Brien said 18 people on the reservation were affected by the tornado’s damage and rooms were provided for them Monday night at the casino at Belcourt.
“To our knowledge there might have been three tornados that folks saw,” Brien said, referring to the west side of the reservation between Belcourt and Dunseith, although the number hasn’t been officially confirmed.
Brien told the group attending the news conference in Rolla that a grandmother with several grandchildren and a mom saw a tornado coming, went inside their mobile home and hid in the bathtub. “That’s actually the wrong thing to do,” he said. He said people die from being in mobile homes and cars. He said the tribe needs to work on warning people of approaching storms and also make sure people get the right advice on where to go and what to do.
He said that family’s mobile home was lifted up. The grandmother said it was “just like her guardian angel said, ‘no, you’re not taking that trailer’ and pushed it back down. We’re very grateful that family was not injured,” Brien said.
Anita Blue of tribal Emergency Management in Belcourt said all the homes that were destroyed or damaged on the reservation belong to people who are poverty stricken and have no insurance. She said officials were working on getting help for them.
Shaiyan Davis of Belcourt was at the Anishinabe Learning, Cultural & Wellness Center north of Belcourt, attending a cultural camp there when a tornado hit Monday afternoon. She said about 20 kids, 20 mentors and 10 more adults were there at the time. “It just came out of nowhere,” she said. She said it had been sunny but then got really dark. She said the noise was like big gusts of wind and then complete silence. Davis took cover with others in the main building. A straw-insulated building on the property was damaged.
Hoeven and other officials Tuesday commended all the emergency responders for their coordination and short-notice actions Monday afternoon.
Agencies including Red Cross officials from Minot and Bismarck were on the scene to help with the work, along with other people.
Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Rolla has been set up as a relief facility. Erma Mickelson said the American Legion Auxiliary is using the church as a site to serve food. The auxiliary had served supper Monday night and was serving meals Tuesday to those whose homes were destroyed, she said.
As the cleanup gets under way in both communities, Adam Hamm, North Dakota Insurance commissioner, said people need to take steps to prevent further damage, to take photographs or videotape of their property and save all receipts of work, which will help to expedite insurance claims.