Jim Leonard, Matt Biddle and I (Charles Edwards) escorted a film crew around so they could get storm footage for an upcoming movie. We started the day in Rapid City, SC. Our target for the day was NE of Mobride SD. As we were heading north on 83, a nice looking storm developed to our north. Reports we heard said it was moving east. We discovered that it was actually moving north. some nice towers developed to our east and exploded. The film crew stopped a couple of times to get some structure shots. We went east on 11 in ND. We dropped south on 281 and then went east on 10 from Barnard. Rain was blowing from the north and a few large hail stones hit around us. Then a white column lit up by the sun appeared ahead of us. The part at the ground was obscured by a large debris cloud. I turned the van around on a side drive to point the back at the tornado so that the film crew could film. The camera was set up in the back for quick set up. The ground was a little softer than I realized and The van got stuck in the mud. At this time, we were nine miles east of 281. The tornado was about 1/10 of a east of us. Jim and Matt were in a separate vehicle, A Jeep Cherokee. It was loaded with our luggage. Two of the three people from the film crew ran to the jeep. The producer and I stayed with the van as I tried to rock it out of the mud. Then a house exploded and it became obvious that the tornado had turned and was moving west towards us. At first, we assumed it was moving east away from us, but soon realized the rope tornado was rotating cyclonically around the meso and was briefly moving back westward towards us. We all jumped out of the van and piled in the jeep. The we were crammed in so tight that the doors didn’t close. We backed down the road to safety leaving the van behind. When the tornado dissipated, we returned to the van to get it out. Some locals helped to get it out of the mud as debris rained down around us. Jim went to survey the damaged house. One person was in the basement when it hit. He was unhurt. Jim estimates the damage to be high end F3. All Pictures were taken with a wide angle adapter on the video camera. It was much close than it appears.
