Deadly storm leaves trail of destruction across Midwest

A powerful tornado hits Whitney, Texas

May 13, 2000
Web posted at: 11:34 a.m. EDT (1534 GMT)

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(CNN) -- On Saturday, a day after a deadly storm packing tornadoes and high winds cut a swath from Texas to Michigan, residents in several states started cleaning up and assessing damage.

A 70-year-old man was killed and a woman seriously injured in Texas on Friday in a home that was leveled by the storm. A 4-year-old Kansas girl died in the aftermath of the storm..

The woman was flown by medical helicopter to Parkland Hospital in Dallas. At least five others were treated for minor injuries.

The tornado touched down over Lake Whitney, Texas, and moved on to Bosque County, about 50 miles south of Fort Worth.

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Bosque County Sheriff Tim Gage told CNN at least 20 homes were destroyed and many others were damaged. A marina was also struck by the twister.

Pat Small, who lives near Whitney, Texas, said he captured a tornado on videotape.

"I just walked out the back of my house and saw a black cloud coming back down to the ground," he said. "I knew that was a tornado forming, so I went back inside and got my video camera. I saw it take several different shapes, and it appeared at one point to be sucking water out of the lake."

As the line of storms churned eastward, severe thunderstorm and tornado watches were posted early Saturday from Texas to New York.

Forecasters said so far there have been over 18 tornado reports, almost 150 reports of hail, and over 44 reports of wind damage.

In St. Nazianz, Wisconsin, straight-line wind gusts up to 110 mph and baseball-size hail heavily damaged a mobile home park Friday night, where several people were injured, said Nancy Crowley, with the emergency agency in Manitowoc County.

"It looks like you went along the sides of the buildings and just busted them up with a baseball bat," Sheriff Tom Kocourek said.

About 28 people were injured as the storm hit east-central Wisconsin. One person was in critical condition.

"All of a sudden it started raining and the hail came and then it got bigger and it just blasted through the windows," said St. Nazianz resident Don Orth, sweeping up shattered window glass at his business.

About 3,000 customers of Wisconsin Public Service Corp. of Green Bay were left without electricity.

Across Arkansas, trees were downed and electricity knocked out in several counties, and some homes were damaged near Pine Bluff, authorities said. The National Weather Service said it received a report of a funnel cloud from a storm spotter at Magnet Cove.

Storms also swept through Illinois with rain, high winds, hail and at least two tornadoes in the southern part of the state.

Storms in the Chicago area contributed to flight delays and cancellations at O'Hare and Midway airports. There were reports of minor damage throughout the region.

Thunderstorms pounded the northern half of Michigan's lower peninsula, leaving behind a few downed trees. Several counties reported hail, with the most extreme reported in Huron County.

Earlier Friday, a 4-year-old girl in Tonganoxie, Kansas, died after a porch roof collapsed onto her. The roof was believed to have been damaged by a tornado that hit Thursday evening.

Gov. Bill Graves declared a disaster emergency Friday for the area, which could lead to federal assistance, a spokesman said.

In Kansas City, Steve Okenfuss, managing partner of a Toyota dealership, looked at piles of twisted metal and said the tornado "demolished the building and everything inside it."

"It looks like a big foot just smashed it," he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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