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recovering Wednesday after a strong storm damaged several buildings and three homes.
• The National Weather Service in Rapid City sent an investigator to determine if the damage was caused by a tornado or strong winds that passed through Bennett County on Tuesday. Several structures reported roof damage in the storm.
• One of the buildings damaged was a church where an Oklahoma youth group was staying, though no one in the church was injured, said Michele Lewis, regional development coordinator of the Black Hills Chapter of the American Red Cross.
• The Red Cross was distributing food and water and providing lodging for people who needed it. The town is home to about 420 people.
• "We are in the process of meeting with the impacted families to verify their needs and offer their financial assistance," Lewis said in an email to the Rapid City Journal.
• Only the southeast corner of the county was hit by the damaging storm, officials said.
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Excerpts from recent South Dakota editorials
The Associated Press
• Argus Leader, Sioux Falls, May 23, 2013
• No thanks, FEMA, we're good
• Sioux Falls has a history of being self-sufficient and generous. This is a place where we don't ask for help unless we really need it.
• That's what makes a discussion over whether Sioux Falls should refuse federal money for an April storm cleanup so interesting.
• The storm caused millions of dollars in damage in the area, and Sioux Falls city officials have done a fantastic job of cleaning up an astounding amount of tree branches. In addition, people in the city voluntarily have helped neighbors and strangers who needed an extra hand to get their yards cleared of debris.
• Because the county was named a disaster area, officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency have been in the area this week to figure out what cleanup costs are eligible for reimbursement. Using a formula, the city of Sioux Falls could get paid up to 75 percent from the federal government and 10 percent from the state for some of those expenses.
• We urge the city to turn down the money.
• We can and have taken care of ourselves after this storm. And we've done a good job. The city can afford to pay the costs associated with the cleanup because we have $40 million in reserve funds. We recently came up with ways to spend $1.8 (Continued on page 21)
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