Twisters Pound Wisconsin

Twisters touched down in northwestern Wisconsin Monday, devastating Ladysmith - a small town of about 4,000 people north of Eau Claire, in northwest Wisconsin - and leaving a destructive trail in nearby Wasau, which took a less serious pounding.

A third funnel cloud passed over Aniwa, but did not touch down.

No injuries are reported in Wasau, and no deaths in either town, although at least 30 people in Ladysmith were taken to hospital emergency rooms for treatment.

"There's major damage everywhere," said Ann Ahneman, a dispatcher for the Rusk County Sheriff's Department, in Ladysmith. "I'm talking like our whole city."

Dozens of homes suffered serious damage.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott McCallum is to visit Ladysmith on Tuesday, at which time he will formally sign a disaster declaration making the area eligible for federal assistance in recovering and rebuilding.

Red Cross response teams have been sent to Ladysmith, to set up emergency shelter for those left homeless by the tornado, which hit at about 4:30 p.m. on Monday.

Eyewitnesses say the twister leveled a Baptist church, a gas station and the top floors of a motel and fire department.

Bill Bundy of CBS News Station WCCO-AM says the storm tore the entire roof off the motel.

"Most of the town is a disaster. There's buildings missing, down, torn apart - everything," said Christine Wright, an employee at the Holiday Station Store in downtown Ladysmith, shortly after the tornado hit. "They're shutting the town down."

Wright says the Amoco station was destroyed, and gas was leaking from the station, prompting the sheriff's department to clear the area.

Red Cross dispatcher Kathy Nelson said a four-block area of Ladysmith was destroyed.

Ollie Fink, an assistant editor at the Ladysmith News, said the tornado took a window out of the newspaper building.

Sandy Zajec, who owns a Ladysmith radio station, told KARE-TV in Minneapolis there was "extensive damage" to the downtown business district and a nearby residential area.

"There was like no warning," she said. "It was just there ... right in the center of downtown Ladysmith."

Much of Ladysmith was left without power because of the twister, according to Xcel Energy spokesman Brian Elwood.

In Wasau, a second twister tore down trees, power lines and utility poles and damaged as many as six homes.

About 2,800 customers were without power in Wausau Monday night because of tornado damage to power lines. That's according to Wisconsin Public Service spokesman Larry Matzke, who said crews were having trouble reaching the sites.

"There are a lot of people out and about looking at the damage," Matzke said.

The Gilman School District in Taylor County said the roof was torn off its school and classes were canceled for Tuesday and Wednesday.