Storms disrupt power near Milwaukee

A storm -- some reports said tornado -- caused damage in Wisconsin

March 9, 2000
Web posted at: 2:36 a.m. EST (0736 GMT)

MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin (CNN) -- Storms produced high winds and hail, blew down trees, and blew out windows near Milwaukee on Wednesday.

Officials said at least one tornado was sighted. The National Weather Service had earlier posted a tornado alert for the city. Local video showed a funnel cloud.

The worst damage appeared to have been a broken gas main and a tipped-over tanker, said Marge Santi, of the St. Francis Police Department. St. Francis is just east of downtown Milwaukee.

But, she added, there were no injuries "that we know of."

Debris, overturned vehicles and shattered glass covered parts of Milwaukee after the storm

Power was disrupted to about 80 customers, said a spokeswoman for Wisconsin Electric. Most of the customers were commercial. "The damage we're seeing is in a very smallish area," said Margaret Heffernan. But, she said, phone service was also cut to several neighborhoods. "It's possible there are people without electricity who can't contact us."

The outage occurred late Wednesday, she said. Power was briefly lost -- and then restored -- at Mitchell International Airport, she said.

A spokeswoman for the Milwaukee police department said she was not aware of any major damage in the city. A spokesman for the Milwaukee Fire Department, too, was aware of major damage.

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