A trail of damaged homes and buildings dotted a wide swath of the U.S. on Saturday after a burst of destructive winds and reported tornadoes tore off roofs, uprooted trees and rendered rural roads impassable with debris.
No deaths were reported following Friday’s storms, which barreled through the Upper Midwest and delivered the latest round of severe weather to batter the region. Officials braced residents for a long recovery in some rural communities.
“We are extremely fortunate that this storm did not result in loss of life or serious injury,” Stephenson County Sheriff Steve Stovall said of the storm that hit Lena, Illinois.
Officials in Wisconsin and Minnesota echoed those sentiments.
In central Wisconsin, a reported tornado that tore through the cities of Kronenwetter and Ringle left behind damaged homes and some residents briefly trapped in their basements, Ringle Fire Chief Chris Kielman told reporters.
