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• The Red Cross has set up a shelter and expects to serve nearly 400 meals to displaced residents, spokesman Richard Smith said.
• The Rev. Jim Friedrich said the community was thankful that nobody was seriously hurt.
• "We do see our blessings right away," said Friedrich, who's been preaching at St. Joseph's Catholic Church for eight years. "It was very serious damage. What it hit, it hit very hard. That's just why we are thankful that there was good warning."
• The tornado did not strike the church.
• National Weather Service meteorologist Philip Schumacher said two other tornadoes touched down; one near Lane and another near Alpena. He said another tornado touched down in Marshall, Minnesota.
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Cities fight Big Sioux River flooding in 3 states
DIRK LAMMERS, Associated Press
DAVID PITT, Associated Press
• SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) -- Record Big Sioux River flooding prompted residents in three states to hurriedly prepare for the rising water Thursday, with people lining up for sandbags and moving museum artifacts and other items to higher ground.
• The fast-moving Big Sioux has been swollen by days of thunderstorms and is expected to crest Friday more than a foot above the previous record level set in 1969, threatening homes and businesses in Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota.
• In North Sioux City, South Dakota, dozens of National Guard soldiers were rushing to fill sandbags for residents of the McCook Lake neighborhood, where up to 400 homes were in danger of flooding.
• Residents including Ashley Caskey waited for hours in a line of pickup trucks that inched toward the sandbag-filling stations.
• "We are just happy to get sandbags at this point," Caskey said.
• Tim Webster, who lives in an upstairs apartment on McCook Lake, said he wasn't worried about his place but was helping friends.
• "Anybody who knows me knows I've got a truck, so let's do this," he said.
• This is the worst flooding the region has seen since 2011, when the Missouri River remained high for months, causing tributaries to back up and testing the levee system. The fact that the levee held for long at that time showed it's effective, said Jade Dundas, assistant city manager for public works for Sioux City, Iowa.
• This time, the Big Sioux should begin receding Saturday and stop flooding even nearby agricultural land by Monday morning.
• "This kind of a quick up and down does give us some sense of confidence," Dun (Continued on page 17)
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