A tornado destroyed an oil company crew camp near Watford City Sunday night – injuring 9 people.
One person was taken to a Minot hospital. The others were treated and released.
McKenzie County emergency manager Jerry Samuelson says the tornado touched down at around 8 pm.
"I was the master of ceremonies for the Memorial Day service in Watford City," said Samuelson. "We were getting reports of large hail over by Alexander. So we rushed our program along. And just as we finished, it started hailing. It wasn't much later before the tornado hit."
"There was no severe thunderstorm or tornado watch at the time," said Bismarck National Weather Service meteorologist Patrick Ayd. "But we issued multiple severe thunderstorm warnings."
Ayd says the Weather Service was in contact with law enforcement and trained spotters in the area.
"A couple of minutes before the tornado touched down, we were able to get a tornado warning out," said Ayd. "Then we got reports the tornado had touched down and moved into the man camp."
Samuelson says eight mobile homes were destroyed. He says the crew camp used to be a lot larger.
"There were a lot more trailers there at one time," said Samuelson. "Now we're down to eight. And they were all destroyed."
Ayd says National Weather Service damage assessment crews will be on the ground in that crew camp after daylight.
