Steve Quayle News Alerts

Sept. 3, 2002
By JESSICA HANSEN and TOM HELD of the Journal Sentinel staff

Ladysmith - Powerful thunderstorms spawned at least four tornadoes across the state Monday, including one that crashed through the center of Ladysmith, tore away roofs, toppled the water tower and destroyed at least one church.

Dozens of residents were treated at Rusk County Memorial Hospital for cuts, bruises and more serious injuries, Nursing Director Jan Neuman said. The overwhelmed hospital diverted patients to other area trauma units, she said.

"We're treating them in several areas of the hospital, and they're still bringing them in," she said about three hours after the storm struck.

Later, hospital administrator Mike Shaw said 30 people were treated at the hospital; 18 were dismissed and the other 12 had non-life-threatening injuries. He said he spoke with sheriff's deputies late Monday and was informed there had been no reports of fatalities.

Four patients were brought to Lakeview Medical Center in Rice Lake with non-life-threatening injuries, Nursing Supervisor Cindy King said. Two others were flown to Luther Hospital in Eau Claire, but officials wouldn't release their conditions.

Ladysmith Police Chief Norm Rozak said about 40 people were injured in all.

Gov. Scott McCallum declared Ladysmith a disaster area Monday night and planned to visit the site today, spokesman Tim Roby said.

Emergency crews worked without electricity, and some areas of the city were evacuated because of gas leaks, witnesses said. Residents were asked to stay off the streets after 8 p.m. to help the cleanup.

Law enforcement officers went house to house checking on residents. Two people reported missing were accounted for several hours later, Rozak said.

He said one of his officers first saw the tornado about 4:15 on the western city limits, and it plowed right down the city's main drag.

After the first tornado struck Ladysmith, the storm system moved east and dropped two tornadoes in the Wausau area around 6 p.m., said Teri Egger, a meteorologist in the National Weather Service office in Green Bay.

There were reports of trees, power lines and poles knocked down, and unconfirmed reports of four to six homes damaged, according to the Marathon County Sheriff's Department.

A funnel cloud was also reported near Aniwa in northwestern Shawano County about 7 p.m. The cloud was spotted near Highways 45 and 52, but had not been confirmed as a tornado as of 8:30 p.m., Egger said. Shawano County reported no damage.

Finally, about 9 p.m., a tornado was reported on the ground briefly near Brandon, about 17 miles west of Fond du Lac. No injuries or tornado damage were reported, the weather service said,though the Sheriff's Department reported minor storm damage elsewhere in Fond du Lac County.

Afternoon storm

The storm approached Ladysmith subtly, first sending clouds to cover the early afternoon sunshine and a few sprinkles of rain, said Cheryl Nussberger, who noticed the slight change as she arrived at a wake for her cousin at Nash-Jackan Funeral Home.

"All of a sudden, this strong wind was there, and then the rain, then boom, it was just there; there wasn't any warning or any indication," Nussberger said.

"Once it had passed, we all went outside and could see the devastation from where the funeral home is."

That devastation in Ladysmith, a city of about 3,900, astounded those who walked through the debris.

"It's unbelievable. What a wreck," said Mike Mirr, owner of Mirr's Gateway Lodge in nearby Bruce. "It looked like it was bombed - windows all out, roofs off. Poor Ladysmith. I feel so bad."

Mirr waited out what he thought was just a heavy rainstorm, which blew through Bruce about 4:30 p.m. When he heard what sounded like "hundreds of emergency vehicles" roaring toward Ladysmith, he knew the storm had been more serious than a heavy rain.

Arriving in the neighboring city on the heels of emergency workers, Mirr said that what he saw floored him.

"I was in grief," said Mirr, also a member of the Bruce Town Board. "The water tower blew down, hotel's wrecked, old folks home's wrecked, Main Street devastated. Terrible. Everything is just twisted metal."

Mirr said state Highway 8, the commercial center also known as Lake Ave., appeared hardest hit.

He said the roof was blown off the Davis Hotel and Lounge, 820 W. Miner Ave., about a block south of Highway 8. The Quality Quick Lube across the street from the hotel was "leveled," Mirr said.

Windows were blown out of virtually all buildings along Highway 8 in Ladysmith. Part of the Rusk County Courthouse, also on Miner Ave., appeared to have lost part of its roof, Mirr said.

"The east side of the courthouse was crumpled, and that's a brand-new, strong brick building," he said.

At the Rusk County Tourism Center, about two blocks south of state Highways 8 and 27 in Ladysmith, several antique train engines were flipped over. A trailer park in Glenflora, northwest of Ladysmith on Highway 8, was also damaged.

"She's one terrible mess," said Dan Hansen, who drove into Ladysmith just after the tornado.

"It destroyed, I would say, better than 50 percent of the business places on Main Street, then it took a lot of them out on Highway 8. It even took our water tower down."

Hansen said the tornado scattered mobile homes across Highway 27, just south of Highway 8. Roofs were blown off the Greenwood Manor Apartment building, the Congregational Church-UCC and more than a dozen other buildings. Buchholz Feed Store Inc. was flattened, Hansen said.

Highways 8 and 27 leading into Ladysmith were closed, said State Patrol dispatcher Donna Gisicki.

Power was out in the city, and crews were sent to the scene to assess the damage, Xcel Energy spokesman Brian Elwood said.

Dozens of power lines were knocked down, as were three transmission towers east of Ladysmith, Elwood said. About 4,000 Excel customers were without power late Monday night, more than half of them in Ladysmith, he said.

After midnight, an eerie quiet enveloped the city, except for a few generators providing power for klieg lights, so that utility workers could try to restore power. Brick buildings had been reduced to rubble, and cars lay twisted on the streets. Corrugated siding was twisted like girls' hair ribbons.

Asked what the mood of the city was, chief Rozak said: "I'm sure everyone is going to come tomorrow and they'll see a lot of damage and they'll say 'Oh man, this is going to take a while.' "

Meg Jones reported from Ladysmith; Tom Held and Jessica Hansen reported from Milwaukee. The Associated Press also contributed to this report.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/sep02/71208.asp