Authorities say the victim who died Tuesday when a tornado destroyed a mobile home park in northwestern Wisconsin was 45-year-old Eric Gavin.
At least 25 other people were injured when a storm leveled the Prairie Lake Estate Mobile Park on State Highway 53 between Chetek and Cameron.
The National Weather Service reported a touchdown in the area just after 5:30 p.m.
First responders searched through the rubble overnight, according to a statement from Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald. All other residents of the mobile home park are accounted for.
The park had about 50 to 60 trailers and several were destroyed, Fitzgerald said. The Red Cross and Salvation Army are assisting those who lost their homes.
Chetek Mayor Jeff Martin told a Minneapolis TV station on Tuesday night that numerous emergency vehicles had gone to the trailer park. Martin also says several turkey barns in the area were hit hard.
A trained weather spotter told the National Weather Service that trailer homes were hit and walls were on top of people.
Several tornado warnings were issued as severe thunderstorms moved east across northern Wisconsin.
Chetek is 40 miles north of Eau Claire.
Another tornado flattened much of a subdivision on the southern fringe of Elk City, Oklahoma, about 110 miles west of Oklahoma City. Fire officials say at least one person died and that dozens of homes have been destroyed or severely damaged.
by Meg Jones and Associated Press
May 16, 2017
