One person died and more than 20 other people were injured, when a tornado swept through a mobile home park between Chetek and Cameron in northwest Wisconsin.
According to the National Weather Service, the tornado landed at 5:35 p-m Tuesday — and by late evening, Barron County sheriff’s deputies were still going door to door to check on residents at the Prairie Lake Estates mobile home park. Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald said he saw “total destruction” of up to eight homes in a row, unlike anything he’s seen in more than two decades of law enforcement.
Wisconsin Emergency Management reported that 40 mobile homes were destroyed along with a turkey barn in the same area.
The Weather Service reported three other tornadoes at 6:15 near Weyerhaeuser in Rusk County, and at 7:00 near Ladysmith and Conrath, also in Rusk County. Seven homes were destroyed by one of those twisters, with no reports of injuries — and the Weather Service said numerous trees and power lines fell from Ladysmith to Cornell.