If you are, like me, an old Midwesterner, you've experienced severe storms and tornadoes. In the summer of 1980, somewhere in Kansas, I had a small twister come right up the highway behind me. Realizing that I wasn't about to outrun it, I put my motorcycle in the ditch and got down behind it - and the tornado veered to the north, tearing off across the fields. I stood my old Honda back up, started the motor, and got the heck out of there.
Unfortunately, it's not always that easy to escape the really big twisters. On Friday, a swathe of the upper Midwest was hit by severe storms and tornadoes, causing considerable damage but, at least so far, no fatalities.
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 that 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, on Friday.
It's a tad early for weather this severe and widespread, but it's happened before. What's not unusual is the widespread property damage storm belts like these can cause.
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.
Marathon County Sheriff Chad Billeb said he had not seen this much devastation during his 34 years in law enforcement.
“A lot of people are going to need a lot of help,” Billeb said of the Wisconsin storms.
There is as yet no dollar estimate of damage, but it's a safe bet it will be in the millions. This storm front appears to have been a real sockdologer, and there's nothing like a huge spring thunderstorm with a few tornadoes to make one realize how puny most human efforts really are.
Read More: Weak Tornado, Strong Message: Solar Panels Shredded in Indiana
Watch: Wall of Dust Swallows Chicago As Storms Ravage Midwest; Multiple Casualties
People in the upper Midwest may be facing another round of storms on Saturday.
Another round of severe thunderstorms is forecast across parts of the Southern Plains, Mississippi Valley and Great Lakes on Saturday afternoon and into the night, according to the National Weather Service. Twenty-eight million people are under the threat of severe weather Saturday.
The largest threats are from damaging winds. Storms may also cause isolated hail and flash flooding, and a tornado is possible. The storms will reach the East Coast overnight.
Not to mention that hundreds of households are reportedly still without electricity after Friday's storms. That may actually be a blessing in disguise should a serious tornado hit those areas again, as the dead power lines will at least reduce the possibility of fire if a building is hit.
Hunker down, folks. It ain't over yet.
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