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Dramatic video shows the moment a group of travelers nearly got too close to twisters tearing through North Dakota on Wednesday.
Severe storms impacted the northern Plains, with the National Weather Service reporting at least one confirmed tornado near Steele, North Dakota. The agency said three potential tornadoes were reported in north-central South Dakota on Wednesday; two were reported in North Dakota.
Kash Traversie was traveling just south of Selfridge — which is about a two-hour drive from Steele and located in the Standing Rock Indian Reservation — when he pulled out his phone to capture the swirling clouds.
"Holy f***! Go! It’s a f***ing twister!" one rider in the vehicle shouted as they passed by ominous, dark skies and what appear to be tornadoes in the distance.
"Take a picture of it, and send it to the NWS!” another person urged.
Later in the video, Traversie says the tornado on the ground was south of Selfridge for about three minutes.
Strong winds gusted throughout the more than nine minute-long clip, and the group drove parallel to the tornadoes before getting out of the vehicle.
There was a tornado warning in the area on Wednesday evening, and a watch throughout parts of North and South Dakota, according to the NWS.
The agency said its team was heading to the Steele and Sterling areas to survey damage from the storms, which also brought two-inch balls of hail just south of Linton and sent a BNSF Railway train off its tracks in Steele.
Kendall Sloan, BNSF Railways director of external communications, said in an email that the train had been stopped there due to a tornado warning.
“Approximately 43 empty coal cars derailed. There were no injuries to the crew and no hazmat involved,” she said. Personnel were working to clear the scene “as quickly and safely as possible” on Thursday.
Steele police said on Facebook that the tornado appeared to have missed the city itself, but that there was preliminary reports of damage to some power poles.
In South Dakota, a video from storm chaser Sean Waugh showed a massive twister from a closer vantage point and over a grassy expanse.
“Daaaaaamn,” he said.
No injuries from the storms were reported and storm survey teams were trying to determine if damage was from the tornadoes or the winds. Systems were forecast to move out of the Dakotas on Thursday.
With reporting from the Associated Press
