I did't see this in my round of news sites, but South Dakota has been hit with a winter storm during the week which left 15-20 inches of snow on the ground, sandwhiched between two sets of ice that are as thick as two inches themselves. Entire towns lost power (and the ability, obviously, to obtain food), and larger towns like Sioux Falls and Pierre are running huge operations to help them out.

About 17,000 people were without power and unable to leave their homes as of Friday morning.

This picture is from before the massive snowfall began. The ice that fell beforehand just destroyed this tree.



This is nuts too.









I love that last picture. That fucker's probably going to school or work. "Call off school? What for a little snow?!" South Dakota is fucking crazy.

Finally, here's a powerline post that literally broke in half from the weight of the ice, before the snowfall:



It always amazes me, and I don't know why, how places like SD can get through this stuff and it doesn't make national news stations. 17,000 people without power isn't insignificant. I remember the year before I moved away there were 34 tornados in one day in a fairly small section of the state, doing millions of dollars in damage and killing somebody, and the headline on CNN the next morning was "12 tornados strike Illinois." Nobody was hurt in either case, thank goodness, and little damage was done in Illinois.

Anyway, go fucking figure, but keep those 17,000 in South Dakota in your minds today as you're going about your Saturday activities.

Pictures remind me of the ice storm we had in SE Quebec in 1998 where we lost power for two weeks. Hope those guys stay warm.

That looks like serious shit, which is why it's not on the news. Sad, I'm sure you'll agree.

Those icicles look good .

-Sunny

15-20 inches, that is just a dusting

Yeah, the snow itself is no big whoop. It's the ice that laid on thick enough to collapse a couple of roofs and snap powerline poles like twigs before the snow even began that really cause the problem.

SD doesn't get phased by much. They're fucking crazy there, though. All of the scariest moments of my life have to do with SD and their crazy-ass ways of thinking.

The media is tired of covering weather-related disasters this year. Besides, the media wouldn't go to South Dakota unless Paris Hilton gave all four dudes on Mount Rushmore a blow job.

But I hope everything works out for S. Dakotans--especially those poor bastards that have to reconnect the power and the cable lines so S. Dakotans can get their Paris Hilton news.

My family is from Lennox, SD and still lives in that area.

15-20 inches of snow isn't much, but areas that get more likely don't get the extreme wind chills, blowing snow, and ice. Winters there are no bullshit.

i think we had this on the front of the site for a day or two when it happened.

North Dakota wants to change its name because they feel that it makes it sound like its colder there than in South Dakota. They think it detracts from their tourism potential. So, if this is the weather in South Dakota, is there a layer of permafrost in the North?

17,000 w/o power? That's NOTHIN! No wonder no one noticed.

Tornadoes and snow in the same state?! Then again I suppose Texas and Britain have had both...

There's a SOUTH Dakota?!

No, there isn't.





Oh wait, there IS!

That's close to the entire state . . .

Pfft! Get a population.

*noticed this thread*

Yeah, that's the problem.



If North Dakota (or South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, etc...) wants to increase tourism, they should open their highways to tourists who want to drive their cars as fast as they will go. No tickets, just flat out autobahn shit right across the plains. North Dakota would be a much more interesting place if it could be driven across in five hours instead of ten.

I have a feeling they'll lose some Federal funding if they do that. Damn you Uncle Sam! Damn you to hell!!!