Tornadoes Smash Way Through Wisconsin
As many as 18 tornadoes ripped through Wisconsin Thursday afternoon. One man died and many homes were destroyed. Wisconsin Public Radio's Shamane Mills reports.
ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Robert Siegel.
In south-central Wisconsin, people are picking up the pieces today. A series of tornadoes spun through the area last night. At least one person was killed. The damage is still being tallied. Wisconsin Public Radio's Shamane Mills reports.
SHAMANE MILLS reporting:
The National Weather Service had reports of two dozen unconfirmed tornadoes. Meteorologist Stu Ireland in the city of La Crosse helped track the storm.
Mr. STU IRELAND (Meteorologist): It was a pretty good setup for tornadoes, and they actually developed rather quickly, given the atmospheric conditions we had yesterday. So it looks like there were probably about 20 to 25 touchdowns across the state of Wisconsin altogether.
MILLS: One man was killed when a chimney fell on him. State officials say 30 others were injured. The twisters demolished homes and flattened cornfields. What nature didn't completely destroy, man had to finish. Trees splintered by the storm had to be taken down with chain saws.
(Soundbite of chain saw)
MILLS: The tornadoes spun through three south-central counties, touching down in the early evening as people were on their way home from work. Josh Nelson had the painful job of telling a friend that the home he left that morning was no longer there.
Mr. JOSH NELSON: He thought I was kidding about it. He didn't know nothing about it yet. So he went on and drove out here and called me back, and he's like, `Well, I guess you were right.'
MILLS: That occurred in Stoughton, one of the hardest-hit areas in southern Wisconsin. It's a predominantly Norwegian community known for an annual festival featuring lefse and lutefisk. The same community spirit also binds residents in the aftermath of the tornado. Dan Mayhew(ph) literally helped a neighbor pick up the pieces left of his family's house and all that was once in it.
Mr. DAN MAYHEW: Big mess. Whole house got sucked up, spit to the side. And, amazingly enough, we're finding--found a wedding ring, which is very good.
MILLS: Mayhew used to live in the old two-story farmhouse. All that remained were parts of the cellar.
Mr. MAYHEW: A lot of memories in this house. This is where my family grew up, most of them, except for the littlest one. And so it's pretty hard on us to see this house like this.
MILLS: Others had barely lived in their homes long enough to accumulate memories. Across town, tornadoes also struck a new subdivision on a golf course. Stoughton public information officer Brent McHenry.
Mr. BRENT McHENRY (Stoughton Public Information Officer): As you can see, the finish coat is still not even on the blacktop in this neighborhood yet. So these homes had barely been lived in by some people before this incident occurred.
MILLS: Governor Jim Doyle has declared a state of emergency in two counties, where it's estimated 200 homes were damaged or destroyed. All the cleanup took place under hot, muggy skies. It was the same kind of situation that spawned the deadly storm from blue skies the day before. Weather officials monitored possible storm conditions, while residents kept worried eyes to the skies. For NPR News, I'm Shamane Mills in Madison, Wisconsin.
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