Woman Prays as Tornado Touches Down Near ND Oil Patch: 'Oh Jesus, We've Got Nowhere to Go' [VIDEO]
A recent video uploaded to YouTube shows a woman's heartfelt plea to Jesus for protection as a tornado approached North Dakota's oil patch on Monday, ultimately injuring nine people and destroying 15 trailer homes belonging to oil workers.
The tornado, which injured nine at an oil workers' camp near Watford City, North Dakota, had winds that peaked at 120 mph, according to the National Weather Service. The natural disaster hit the small workers' camp, located 50 miles southeast of Williston, at 7:50 p.m. and was categorized as an EF-2 in strength.
In the video, uploaded to YouTube by BreakingNewsYouTube, a woman can be heard offering a panicked plea to God for safety, saying that she has nowhere to go if the tornado strikes her home. "Oh Jesus, Father God in Heaven … Oh my Jesus. We've got nowhere to go," the woman can be heard saying.
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"Lord Jesus, protect us, Lord God," the woman adds, as a man, presumably her husband, runs outside to warn his neighbors of the approaching tornado.
According to The Weather Channel, Watford City and other similar oil patches are heavily populated by oil workers who often live in hastily-built trailer parks or workers' camps that may lack proper shelters and alert systems for tornadoes, especially in the area of Watford, where such natural disasters are rare.
According to the Associated Press, the recent tornado that hit Watford has prompted safety discussions for the oil patch towns, as no siren warning system was deployed to warn the RV camp of the approaching tornado. Additionally, there are few places to seek cover in the wide-open plain area and hastily-constructed workers' camps.
McKenzie County Emergency Manager Jerry Samuelson told AP that he is currently in discussion with oil companies about adding shelters to the oil camps and possibly adding conditions to zoning laws in case of natural disasters.
"We never had zoning laws in McKenzie County before the oil boom and now we do," he said. "And maybe that's something that needs to be incorporated into our zoning – if you're going to put up a big man camp up there, where is the shelter?"
According to AP, tornadoes are rare in Mckenzie County, where Watford is located, and there have only been 14 tornadoes since 1950, with no fatalities.
Adam Jones, meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said the site of the destruction will be investigated Tuesday to clarify how many times the tornado touched down, as some reported seeing it touch down three times.
"We heard there were three touchdowns. But we haven't heard if that's three separate tornadoes or the same tornado touching down three different times," Jones said.
