Baseball-sized hailstones fall on S.D.

LEMMON, S.D., July 10 (UPI) -- Farmers in a 30-mile stretch of South Dakota said baseball-sized hailstones caused heavy damage to crops, buildings and equipment.

Art Pederson, city foreman of Lemmon, S.D., said the freak storm Wednesday night knocked out west and south facing windows in about 90 percent of homes and businesses in the town, the Bismarck (N.D.) Tribune reported Friday.

Pederson said he and other locals were on the streets until midnight clearing storm sewers to release water that in some places reached above curb-level and boarding up broken windows.

Pam and John Weaver, who live three miles north of Hettinger, S.D., said their entire neighborhood experienced a 100 percent loss of crops.

The National Weather Service said a tornado was sighted in Billings County during the storm, but reports indicate it did not cause any damage.