Thread: A RECORD-SETTING BLIZZARD KILLED 75,000 COWS AND YOU MIGHT NOT HAVE EVEN HEARD ABOUT

A RECORD-SETTING BLIZZARD KILLED 75,000 COWS AND YOU MIGHT NOT HAVE EVEN HEARD ABOUT IT

Oct. 10, 2013 9:39am
Liz Klimas

Ranchers are still digging out thousands of their cattle that became buried in a record-setting snowstorm in South Dakota late last week and over the weekend.
One would think the death of 75,000 cows by upwards of five feet of snow might get some national attention, but as one blogger observed, it has taken some time for the news of the precipitation massacre to reach outside of local media.

A pickup drives on Highway 44 as heavy snow falls in Rapid City, S.D., Oct. 4, 2013. A rare fierce October snow storm rolled out over the central Rocky Mountains on Friday, downing trees and forcing closures of state offices and more than 200 miles of Interstate 90 across parts of Wyoming and South Dakota, state highway officials said. Up to 30 inches of snow was forecast to drop in parts of the Black Hills region of western South Dakota from the storm, the National Weather Service said. (Reuters/Chris Huber/Rapid City Journal)

“I searched the national news for more information. Nothing. Not a single report on any of major news sources that I found. Not CNN, not the NY Times, not MSNBC,” Dawn Wink wrote Tuesday. “I thought, ‘Well, it is early and the state remains without power and encased in snow, perhaps tomorrow.’ So I checked again the next day. Nothing. It has now been four days and no national news coverage.”
Wink dubbed it “The Blizzard that Never Was.”
National syndicated photo services also yield only a few results documenting the storm. The Weather Channel, taking photo submissions from locals, seems to have the most dramatic pictures of the scene.

Snow rose up to the mail boxes in Spearfish, S.D. (Image source: iWitness guzva84/The Weather Channel)

At least four deaths were attributed to the weather, including a South Dakota man who collapsed while cleaning snow off his roof.
Gary Cammack, who ranches on the prairie near Union Center about 40 miles northeast of the Black Hills, said he lost about 70 cows and some calves, about 15 percent of his herd. A calf would normally sell for $1,000, while a mature cow would bring $1,500 or more, he said.
“It’s bad. It’s really bad. I’m the eternal optimist and this is really bad,” Cammack said. “The livestock loss is just catastrophic. … It’s pretty unbelievable.”

A front door of a home covered in a drift in Rapid City, S.D. (Image source: iWitness Jeanne Apelseth/The Weather Channel)

Cammack said cattle were soaked by 12 hours of rain early in the storm, so many were unable to survive an additional 48 hours of snow and winds up to 60 mph.
“It’s the worst early season snowstorm I’ve seen in my lifetime,” said Cammack, 60.
“As the days warm, more and more carcasses are exposed. So many have lost so much,” Wink, the blogger, wrote of her mom saying.

“It’s the worst early season snowstorm I’ve seen in my lifetime.”

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Early estimates suggest western South Dakota lost at least 5 percent of its cattle, said Silvia Christen, executive director of the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association. Some individual ranchers reported losses of 20 percent to 50 percent of their livestock, Christen said. The storm killed calves that were due to be sold soon as well as cows that would produce next year’s calves in an area where livestock production is a big part of the economy, she said.
“This is, from an economic standpoint, something we’re going to feel for a couple of years,” Christen said.

Homes outside of Ellsworth Air Force Base. (Image source: iWitness Rob Griffith/The Weather Channel)

Some ranchers still aren’t sure how many animals they lost, because they haven’t been able to track down all of their cattle. Snowdrifts covered fences, allowing cattle to leave their pastures and drift for miles.
“Some cattle might be flat buried in a snow bank someplace,” said Shane Kolb of Meadow, who lost only one cow.
State officials are tallying livestock losses, but the extent won’t be known for several days until ranchers locate their cattle, Jamie Crew of the state Agriculture Department said.
“This is absolutely, totally devastating,” Steve Schell, a 52-year-old rancher, told the Rapid City Journal. “This is horrendous. I mean the death loss of these cows in this country is unbelievable.”
Ranchers and officials said the losses were aggravated by the fact that a government disaster program to help ranchers recover from livestock losses has expired. Ranchers won’t be able to get federal help until Congress passes a new farm bill, said Perry Plumart, a spokesman for Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D.
NBC News reported that State Agriculture Secretary Lucas Lentsch said ranchers should keep a accounts of their loss with photos to use in later claims.
More than 22,000 homes and businesses in western South Dakota remained without power into this week, according to utility companies. National Guard troops were helping utility crews pull equipment through the heavy, wet snow to install new electricity poles.
At least 1,600 poles were toppled in the northwest part of the state alone, and workers expect to find more, Grand River Electric Coop spokeswoman Tally Seim said.
“We’ve got guys flying over our territory, counting as they go. We’re finding more as we are able to access the roads. The roads have been pretty blocked on these rural country roads,” Seim said.
“One of our biggest challenges is getting access to areas that are still snowed in,” added Vance Crocker, vice president of operations for Black Hills Power, whose crews were being hampered by rugged terrain in the Black Hills region.
In Rapid City, where a record-breaking 23 inches of snow fell, travel was slowly getting back to normal.
The city’s airport and all major roadways in the region had reopened by Monday. The city’s streets also were being cleared, but residents were being asked to stay home so crews could clear downed power lines and tree branches, and snow from roadsides. Schools and many public offices were closed.
“It’s a pretty day outside. There’s a lot of debris, but we’re working to clear that debris,” said Calen Maningas, a Rapid City firefighter working in the Pennington County Emergency Operations Center.
In South Dakota, the 19 inches of snow that fell in Rapid City on Friday broke the city’s 94-year-old one-day snowfall record for October by about 9 inches, according to the National Weather Service. The city also set a record for snowfall in October, with a total of 23.1 inches during the storm. The previous record was 15.1 inches in October 1919.
Watch this report about the extreme snow storm:

Video at Link.
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013...eard-about-it/

1. Poor Animals

2. But but but its only October

3. Where's the Global warming

South Dakota ranchers reel after 'catastrophic' storm leaves up to 100,000 cattle dead

By Joshua Rhett Miller
Published October 11, 2013FoxNews.com

VIDEO AT LINK

• 
  Oct. 7, 2013: Frozen cattle are seen along Highway 34 east of Sturgis, S.D., another casualty of the early October blizzard. (AP/Rapid City Journal, Kristina Barker)
  
• 
  Oct. 7, 2013: Major roads are plowed, but piles of snow are melting causing potential flood hazards in Rapid City, S.D.. (AP/Rapid City Journal, Benjamin Brayfield)
  
• 
  Oct. 7, 2013: Josh Schumaker, 27, left, and Karl Knutson, 25, ride through pasture east of Sturgis, S.D., along Highway 34. Knutson and Schumaker were checking on cattle at Knutson's father's place. "This is the worse than I've ever seen for loss of livestock," said Knutson, who was born and raised in Belle Fourche. (AP/Rapid City Journal, Kristina Barker)
  
• 
  Oct. 7, 2013: This photo shows the TMone building in Spearfish, S.D., which collapsed onto itself from the weight of snow and pounding winds brought on by this weekend's blizzard. (AP/Rapid City Journal, Kristina Barker)
  
• 
  Oct. 4, 2013: Zack Ruml, 20, of Rapid City, S.D, lifts a heavy crab apple tree branch off of his 1998 Pontiac Gran Prix. The branch smashed the rear window and dented the trunk of the car. Trees in the city are still fully leaved and the heavy snow is breaking trees throughout the city. (AP/Steve McEnroe)
  

Next SlidePrevious Slide


Ranchers in South Dakota fear they may lose everything after a freak storm dumped up four feet of snow in parts of the state last week, killing as many as 100,000 cattle.

Matt Kammerer, a 45-year-old rancher whose family has operated in South Dakota’s Meade County since 1882, told FoxNews.com that he lost 60 cattle in the storm, or one-third of his entire herd.

" ... It’s just dead cow after dead cow, where they’ve gotten caught in dams, streams, fences, you name it. They’re dead everywhere."

- Rancher Matt Kammerer

“You’re talking about $120,000 of assets that are just gone,” Kammerer said Friday by phone. “And we still owe the banks, too. It’s like driving a brand-new pickup off a cliff and still having to make payments.”

Kammerer painted a gruesome scene north of Rapid City, where a record 23 inches of snow fell.

“It’s just unreal,” he said. “There are cattle that are 8 or 9 miles away from the pasture they were in, just lying dead. And within that whole stretch, it’s just dead cow after dead cow, where they’ve gotten caught in dams, streams, fences, you name it. They’re dead everywhere.”

Carcasses of mature cows as well as calves were floating downstream local waterways in droves, Kammerer said, stoking fears of a potential outbreak of disease.

“If you don’t get those picked up and buried, you’re looking at the possibility of disease or possibly contamination,” he said. “You’ve got to get them all picked up.”

Most ranchers in the state lost anywhere between 50 to 75 percent of their herds, according to Silvia Christen, executive director of the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association, which represents 1,500 ranching operations.

“We’re certainly looking at tens of thousands if not pushing 100,000 at this point,” she said of the dead livestock.

Aside from the economic losses, which will be severe once finally tallied, the unprecedented storm has left an “incredible emotional burden” on the state’s ranchers, Silvia said.

“They know dependent these livestock are on them and they’re absolutely emotionally devastated at the losses they’re seeing,” she said. “It’s been extremely difficult.”

In the days since the storm, Silvia said ranchers are now focusing on providing medical care to the animals that did survive.

“That really has to be the priority before we start counting loss,” she said. “They need to make sure they’re safe and that they stay healthy now.”
Complicating matters is this weekend’s forecast, which calls for heavy rain and strong winds just a week after the early fall blizzard. Crews in South Dakota and North Dakota are also still working to restore power to thousands of customers left in the dark.

The storm also killed a man in the Lead-Deadwood area of South Dakota and damaged numerous buildings, causing at least one to collapse from the weight of snow and relentless winds.

South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard and U.S. Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., flew over the affected areas during an aerial assessment Thursday afternoon. The state’s congressional delegation has also vowed to push ahead for quick passage of the stalled farm bill to provide immediate financial relief to ranchers.

“We need to be doing everything we can to help the livestock producers whose livelihoods have been endangered by this storm,” Thune said in a statement. “Last weekend’s devastating storm is another example of why we need to complete work on the Farm Bill for our farmers and ranchers.”
Christen said passage of the legislation is critical for the region.

“It’s a disaster situation here, like a hurricane in other parts of the country,” she said. “We’re not looking for a handout or any kind of special subsidy, however, we’ve had a devastating loss to our industry. It’s critical to our economy in South Dakota and frankly the entire agriculture industry that we pass that. These cows feed a lot of this country.”
Gary Cammack, a 60-year-old rancher near Union Center in Meade County, said he lost about 15 percent of his herd, including 70 cows and some calves, which normally sell for $1,000. A mature cow usually brings in $1,500 or more, he said.

"It's bad. It's really bad. I'm the eternal optimist and this is really bad," Cammack told The Associated Press. "The livestock loss is just catastrophic ... It's pretty unbelievable."

Livestock were initially soaked by 12 hours of rain before 48 consecutive hours or snow and winds up to 60 mph, Cammack said.

"It's the worst early season snowstorm I've seen in my lifetime," he continued.

Kammerer said his ranch will be able to recover, but he’s more worried about his fellow cattlemen.

“We just had one of the worst droughts ever and now we take a hit like this,” Kammerer said, his voice cracking with emotion. “It’s just catastrophic. I’m going to be fine; it’s my counterparts … it’s my neighbors, my friends, the people you can’t even look in the face to tell them that you’re sorry.”

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/10/11...test+-+Text%29

A.P. / FOX NEWS

South Dakota ranchers reel after 'catastrophic' storm leaves up to 100,000 cattle dead

By Joshua Rhett Miller
Published October 11, 2013
FoxNews.com

• 
  Oct. 7, 2013: Frozen cattle are seen along Highway 34 east of Sturgis, S.D., another casualty of the early October blizzard. (AP/Rapid City Journal, Kristina Barker)
• 
  Oct. 7, 2013: Major roads are plowed, but piles of snow are melting causing potential flood hazards in Rapid City, S.D.. (AP/Rapid City Journal, Benjamin Brayfield)
• 
  Oct. 7, 2013: Josh Schumaker, 27, left, and Karl Knutson, 25, ride through pasture east of Sturgis, S.D., along Highway 34. Knutson and Schumaker were checking on cattle at Knutson's father's place. "This is the worse than I've ever seen for loss of livestock," said Knutson, who was born and raised in Belle Fourche. (AP/Rapid City Journal, Kristina Barker)
• 
  Oct. 7, 2013: This photo shows the TMone building in Spearfish, S.D., which collapsed onto itself from the weight of snow and pounding winds brought on by this weekend's blizzard. (AP/Rapid City Journal, Kristina Barker)
• 
  Oct. 4, 2013: Zack Ruml, 20, of Rapid City, S.D, lifts a heavy crab apple tree branch off of his 1998 Pontiac Gran Prix. The branch smashed the rear window and dented the trunk of the car. Trees in the city are still fully leaved and the heavy snow is breaking trees throughout the city. (AP/Steve McEnroe)

Next Slide Previous Slide


Ranchers in South Dakota fear they may lose everything after a freak storm dumped up four feet of snow in parts of the state last week, killing as many as 100,000 cattle.

Matt Kammerer, a 45-year-old rancher whose family has operated in South Dakota’s Meade County since 1882, told FoxNews.com that he lost 60 cattle in the storm, or one-third of his entire herd.

" ... It’s just dead cow after dead cow, where they’ve gotten caught in dams, streams, fences, you name it. They’re dead everywhere."

- Rancher Matt Kammerer

“You’re talking about $120,000 of assets that are just gone,” Kammerer said Friday by phone. “And we still owe the banks, too. It’s like driving a brand-new pickup off a cliff and still having to make payments.”
Kammerer painted a gruesome scene north of Rapid City, where a record 23 inches of snow fell.
“It’s just unreal,” he said. “There are cattle that are 8 or 9 miles away from the pasture they were in, just lying dead. And within that whole stretch, it’s just dead cow after dead cow, where they’ve gotten caught in dams, streams, fences, you name it. They’re dead everywhere.”
Carcasses of mature cows as well as calves were floating downstream local waterways in droves, Kammerer said, stoking fears of a potential outbreak of disease.
“If you don’t get those picked up and buried, you’re looking at the possibility of disease or possibly contamination,” he said. “You’ve got to get them all picked up.”
Most ranchers in the state lost anywhere between 50 to 75 percent of their herds, according to Silvia Christen, executive director of the South Dakota Stockgrowers Association, which represents 1,500 ranching operations.
“We’re certainly looking at tens of thousands if not pushing 100,000 at this point,” she said of the dead livestock.
Aside from the economic losses, which will be severe once finally tallied, the unprecedented storm has left an “incredible emotional burden” on the state’s ranchers, Christen said.
“They know dependent these livestock are on them and they’re absolutely emotionally devastated at the losses they’re seeing,” she said. “It’s been extremely difficult.”
In the days since the storm, Christen said ranchers are now focusing on providing medical care to the animals that did survive.
“That really has to be the priority before we start counting loss,” she said. “They need to make sure they’re safe and that they stay healthy now.”
Complicating matters is this weekend’s forecast, which calls for heavy rain and strong winds just a week after the early fall blizzard. Crews in South Dakota and North Dakota are also still working to restore power to thousands of customers left in the dark.
The storm also killed a man in the Lead-Deadwood area of South Dakota and damaged numerous buildings, causing at least one to collapse from the weight of snow and relentless winds.
South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard and U.S. Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., flew over the affected areas during an aerial assessment Thursday afternoon. The state’s congressional delegation has also vowed to push ahead for quick passage of the stalled farm bill to provide immediate financial relief to ranchers.
“We need to be doing everything we can to help the livestock producers whose livelihoods have been endangered by this storm,” Thune said in a statement. “Last weekend’s devastating storm is another example of why we need to complete work on the Farm Bill for our farmers and ranchers.”
Christen said passage of the legislation is critical for the region.
“It’s a disaster situation here, like a hurricane in other parts of the country,” she said. “We’re not looking for a handout or any kind of special subsidy, however, we’ve had a devastating loss to our industry. It’s critical to our economy in South Dakota and frankly the entire agriculture industry that we pass that. These cows feed a lot of this country.”
Gary Cammack, a 60-year-old rancher near Union Center in Meade County, said he lost about 15 percent of his herd, including 70 cows and some calves, which normally sell for $1,000. A mature cow usually brings in $1,500 or more, he said.
"It's bad. It's really bad. I'm the eternal optimist and this is really bad," Cammack told The Associated Press. "The livestock loss is just catastrophic ... It's pretty unbelievable."
Livestock were initially soaked by 12 hours of rain before 48 consecutive hours or snow and winds up to 60 mph, Cammack said.
"It's the worst early season snowstorm I've seen in my lifetime," he continued.
Kammerer said his ranch will be able to recover, but he’s more worried about his fellow cattlemen.
“We just had one of the worst droughts ever and now we take a hit like this,” Kammerer said, his voice cracking with emotion. “It’s just catastrophic. I’m going to be fine; it’s my counterparts … it’s my neighbors, my friends, the people you can’t even look in the face to tell them that you’re sorry.”
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/10/11/south-dakota-ranchers-reel-after-catastrophic-storm-leaves-up-to-100000-cattle/