Tornado Strikes North Dakota 'Man Camp'

A temporary housing camp for oil workers in western North Dakota—or "man camp," as it's known locally—was hit by a tornado last night; nine people were injured, one critically; he was airlifted to a hospital. More than a dozen trailers at the encampment about five miles south of Watford City were also destroyed, NBC News reports. The encampment is one of many that have sprung up in North Dakota thanks to the state's oil boom; the AP reports the "hastily-assembled trailer parks" sometimes "resemble military barracks."

The tornado—which came alongside baseball-sized hail—descended so quickly no one had time to take shelter, according to a Red Cross volunteer. "Obviously, we're very fortunate there are no deaths, to our knowledge," says the county emergency management director, who is confident no one is missing. One wife tweeted a crazy picture, taken by her husband, of the tornado as it approached, and Weather.com has even more images. (More tornado stories.)