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Tornado Touches Down in NE Corner of Montana, Kills Two

By KFBB News Team

Story Created: Jul 27, 2010 at 9:18 AM MST

Story Updated: Jul 27, 2010 at 9:26 PM MST

A Powerful tornado struck a Northeast Montana farmhouse Monday night, killing two people.

At 7:20, reports of tornados started pouring into the Sheridan County dispatch office. By 7:27, the sheriff's office issued a tornado warning.

Five minutes later, a tornado touched down nearly ten miles west of the town of Reserve in Northeast Montana.

Quickly, it became the deadliest tornado to hit the state in more than 80 years.

After the storm passed, neighbors found Barbara Smith, 71, clinging to life in the basement of her farmhouse. It was all that was left of her home.

Her 10-year-old grandson Robby lay dead, several feet away. Her nephew, Steve was also killed. He was found 200 yards from the house, buried in rubble.

A neighbor and long-time friend of the family, Eugene Tefre was on the property right after the storm.

The national weather service has labeled the tornado an ef3, with winds whipping up to 150 miles per hour. The last E-F3 in Montana was in 1988. There are only four E-F3s on the state's record books.

"It was very surreal,” Tefre added, “it was something you see in tornado alley, not northeast Montana."

Dozens of animals were reported dead or badly hurt in the tornado. A barn and a mobile home were also ripped to shreds.

Crews are now dealing with six miles of downed power lines and about 100 broken power poles.

And now, Tefre is worried it could happen all over again.

"We're supposed to have more of the same weather tonight and it's scary," he said.

Meanwhile, the community will start picking the pieces out of their fields, cleaning up, and helping each other move on.

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