WINONA, Minn. — Wicked storms rampaged across a multi-county landscape. Several tornadoes touched down. There were no initial reports of injury. in Winona County. Damage was severe in a residential area in the south Rochester suburb of Stewartville. Roofs were torn apart, patio decks ripped up, garage doors sucked out. t wasn’t immediately clear whether the damage was tornadic or from incessant straight winds. Hail fell at scattered points in the region, some stones bigger than golf balls. Sirens sounded everywhere with overlapped wailing. People at home headed to basements, interior rooms and other pre-designated safe spots. The stiorm cells moved at 35 to 45 mph from southern Minnesota and northern Iowa and continued with unabated fury across the Mississippi River into Wisconsin. To say the least, the northeast-ward path was disruptive:
> Schools went into lockdown and delayed boarding children on buses for home, in many cases for an hour or more.
> Big-box stores herded shoppers into storerooms to be ess vulnerable to flying glass and debris if roofs collapsed.
> Broadcasters pre-empted scheduled programming with live updates based on National Weather Service radar observations.
> Counties dispatched volunteer tornado-spotters to identify emergencies and summon first-responders.
Eight touchdowns in preliminary mapping. The most severe storm events are twisted icons in red. At dawn the National Weather Service will send out assessment teams from its Rochester and LaCrosse stations to confirm touchdowns. Their reconstructions will categorize tornadoes on the Fujita intensity scale with paths, width, speeds, time on ground, and damage.
Near village of Cream. On Wisconsin State Highway 88 between Waumandee and Praag in central Buffalo County. Image: Kevin Glander