Heavy rains and subsequent flooding near Belle Fourche turned creek beds into raging rivers twenty feet deep at some points - that's according to Butte County Sheriff Fred Lamphere. Several motorists were stranded and two women were also reported missing.
Lamphere says he responded to a call 33 miles north of Belle Fourche near Battle Creek Bridge - when he got on the scene one vehicle was nearly submerged in water and four young men were standing on top of it waiting to be rescued.
“We were able to get Search and Rescue and some county maintenance vehicles on and get the four retrieved off the top of that pick-up truck. We got them back into Belle Fourche and then returned back up here and started getting more daylight and the water was receding and I could see the top of the other vehicle. Upon inspection there was nobody in the vehicle so we started a search at that time,” says Lamphere.
Lamphere says one of the women, 57-year old Roxanne Bleinbaum, made her way to Highway 85 and is being treated at the Belle Fourche hospital. He says search and rescue efforts are still underway for the other missing woman, 24-year old Kristen Lakin.