Tornado Injures 16, Causes Extensive Property Damage
A tornado swept through part of Milwaukee on Wednesday, injuring at least 16 people, damaging a commercial area and lifting some homes off their foundations.
The twister touched down on Milwaukee’s far south side, damaging areas there and in the neighboring community of St. Francis, not far from Mitchell International Airport.
The Milwaukee County Sheriff’s office said none of the 16 injuries appeared to be life-threatening.
Damage, however, was extensive. Homes were pushed off foundations and others lost their roofs. Cars were tossed upside down and a semitrailer wound up on its side in an intersection.
The storm damaged a line of shops. Some of the injured were inside a fast food restaurant at which the window was blown in.
The storm struck at 6:10 p.m. CST following several days of unusually warm weather across the Midwest that pushed temperatures to levels that were 30 degrees or more above normal.
The storms occurred along a cold front which was sweeping across the region, bringing more seasonal late-winter temperatures.
A 15-square-block area was evacuated because of the possibility that natural gas leaks and downed power lines might lead to explosions.
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