So... look outside - do you see an old lady on a bicycle flying by???

We had just finished breakfast and were enjoying a kick-back day.  We can't go west because of the blizzard conditions, so we are where we are.

Watching cable TV, the programming was interrupted for: Emergency Weather Notice - A Tornado WARNING for Davison County.  Not a watch, a warning.  I said to Joan, "We should probably get out of our jammies."

Barely got those words out, and the local emergency siren went off.  Joan moves faster than I do - she went to the cargo trailer to get Izzy's carrier.  I was putting shoes on when the campground manager knocked on our door and said, "You need to get out of the RV and come to the office."

It was just starting to sprinkle again as we walked to the office.  Other people were already in there, gathered around a TV.  There was a tornado reported on the ground - serious damage in the town where it hit (demolished a church, during services, many homes reported damaged) - about 9 miles south of us.

The weather weasel was predicting that the brunt of this would come right over Mitchell, where we are "hunkered down."  The mood in the office changed from mostly jovial to concern.  The manager got a call: We are going to move to the motel next door - it will be safer."

No kidding - we're in a stick built building.

The rain was getting heavier, mixed with some small hail when we made the move.  The directed us to a lower hallway...

You couldn't see anything in the hallway, so Joan went into a room that had been stripped to look out the window.  She was getting better information from her favorite weather app on her phone than the local weather weasels were showing on TV...

I turned on the TV.  The weather weasel looked grim - "This tornado has done damage in the town of Delmont.  No one is being allowed into that area.  Anyone in the Mitchell area needs to take shelter now..."

Yeah, he is pointing right at our motorhome.  The rain got heavier; fortunately, the hail didn't...

The sky had that "sickly" color to it.  The weasels announced that the Tornado Warning for Mitchell "has been extended for an additional 30 minutes."  Swell.  The emergency siren went off for a 5th time.  Swell.

Joan continued getting better info from her phone than the TV, and people came in to look over her shoulder at the progress.  She said, "We are almost in the clear - looks like the worst of it moved just east of us."

The weather weasel was showing "live cam" images, showing Cabela's as a place where there is potential "rotation activity"... That is about 6 blocks from where we are.

And then - the all clear; the worst of it has moved east and north of us.

The walk back to the coach...

No damage.  Some leaves stuck to the motorhome.  A lot of standing water throughout the campground.

There were 4 big dogs in the motel hallway during all this; and about 20 people; little Izzy was a champ through all of this.  She seems to know when things aren't "normal" and doesn't make a peep.

A guy drove into the park while I was visiting with a neighbor - "Just checking.  Any damage here?  There was a report of a tornado overhead that didn't touch down in the Wal-Mart parking lot."

That is about 4 blocks away.  There may be a joke in there about "the people of Wal-Mart" scaring it away.

Now, the quiet after the storm.

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Radar

Issued by The National Weather Service Sioux Falls, SD

Sun, May 10, 10:55 am CDT

• THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SIOUX FALLS HAS ISSUED A
• * TORNADO WARNING FOR... NORTHEASTERN DOUGLAS COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA... SOUTH CENTRAL DAVISON COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN SOUTH DAKOTA... NORTHWESTERN HUTCHINSON COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN SOUTH DAKOTA...
• * UNTIL 1130 AM CDT
• * AT 1054 AM CDT... A CONFIRMED TORNADO WAS LOCATED NEAR DELMONT... OR 8 MILES WEST OF PARKSTON... MOVING NORTH AT 25 MPH. DAMAGE WAS REPORTED IN DELMONT.
• HAZARD... DAMAGING TORNADO AND HALF DOLLAR SIZE HAIL.
• SOURCE... EMERGENCY MANAGER CONFIRMED TORNADO.

 TO REPEAT... A TORNADO IS ON THE GROUND. TAKE COVER NOW! MOVE TO A BASEMENT OR AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF A STURDY BUILDING. AVOID WINDOWS. IF YOU ARE OUTDOORS... IN A MOBILE HOME... OR IN A VEHICLE... MOVE TO THE CLOSEST SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER AND PROTECT YOURSELF FROM FLYING DEBRIS.