Vivian residents relate tales of massive hailstorm
VIVIAN — Vivian Fire Chief Keith Patrick can deal with the holes in his roof and the broken windows in his car, because he is still alive to tell about them.During last Friday’s violent hailstorm, all of the town’s 55 homes were damaged, and one mobile home received 25 holes in its roof. Vivian, a town of about 110 people, is located 50 miles west of Chamberlain along Interstate 90.
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VIVIAN — Vivian Fire Chief Keith Patrick can deal with the holes in his roof and the broken windows in his car, because he is still alive to tell about them.
During last Friday’s violent hailstorm, all of the town’s 55 homes were damaged, and one mobile home received 25 holes in its roof. Vivian, a town of about 110 people, is located 50 miles west of Chamberlain along Interstate 90.
Patrick was on his way to sound the town’s emergency sirens when the largest of the hail came through. He attempted to park next to a large shed and wait the storm out, but a large hailstone came through his windshield and his plans quickly changed.
“The hailstone blew a hole through my windshield and knocked my hands off the steering wheel, cut a gouge in my wrist, and I thought, ‘This isn’t good.’ ”
Patrick then pulled across the street to seek refuge in a neighbor’s machine shed.
“I turned around and pulled across the road and I thought I’d likely kill myself getting out of the car,” Patrick said. “Right about then, all my side windows exploded, so I took a rug off the seat, wrapped it around my head and ran for the shed.”
Patrick was hit in the leg with a hailstone before he reached the shed.
“It was like being kicked by a cow,” he said. “I don’t remember anything after that because I was just happy to be alive.”
Now able to reflect on the storm and the damage, Patrick knows that it could have been a lot worse.
“It’s just a miracle that nobody got hurt really bad,” Patrick said.
Absolutely Pheasants lodge owner Stowe Samco was in Presho during the storm and could see funnel clouds touching down sporadically in the West, near Vivian.
“There are 13 holes in the roof of my lodge, and one came straight through the drywall, so those were some big stones.”
Samco said hunting clients from across the nation have been calling after hearing about Vivian on the national news, just to make sure he and the hunting lodge are OK. One of the hailstones that fell near Vivian is believed to be a national record for its 8-inch diameter and 18.625-inch circumference.
“Every single home has a hole in it. You couldn’t hide from this one,” Samco said. “But this is all fixable. I can’t believe more people or livestock didn’t get hurt.”
Vivian residents for 51 years, Lois and Lonis Wendt said that this was the worst hail they have ever seen.
“I’ve been around South Dakota a long time, and the clouds were really spooking me,” Lonis said. “I realized that we were going to get some kind of a disaster, but I didn’t realize it would be this bad.”
A motor home that the Wendts have owned for 12 years had several holes punched through the roof and a shattered windshield. Several windows were broken on their house, and their vinyl siding was riddled with holes. In the front of the house, large craters from the hail made it look like a heard of cattle had run through the yard.
When asked what time the storm passed through, the Wendts had a pretty good idea. A clock in their motor home was knocked down and broken by a hailstone at 6:10 p.m.
“The hail stopped the clock,” Lois said. “From inside our house, when the hailstones hit the roof, it sounded like a gunshot. It was just a blast.”
The Wendts agree that going to the basement would have been a good idea, but the brunt of the storm came and went so quickly that there was not much time to decide what to do.
“The crescendo of noise sounded like a freight train,” Lonis said.
“The wind and the combination of hail, rain and trees breaking off and crashing was a giant sound — and it only lasted about 40 seconds.”
Besides the homes in Vivian that were damaged, several cars on nearby roads were totaled out by smaller hail that sent several motorists to nearby hospitals.
Shortly after the storm, residents from neighboring communities swarmed to Vivian to help fix the damage. Crews were up past 1 a.m. Saturday patching holes for neighbors. Many insurance adjustors have visited the community and many more are still to come for what Lonis predicted will end up being a multi-million dollar event.
“We hear about that in all small towns — neighbor helping neighbor,” Lonis said. “It makes small-town living really fun. There’s always something to do.”
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