Tornado and storms cause serious damage in Elk Mound and Town of Wheaton

Considerable damage occurred in the Elk Mound and Town of Wheaton areas due to the storm and tornado last night. Reports came in throughout the evening of semis blown over on Highway 29, trailer homes that were turned over, and some more serious damage. 

The drone video below shows considerably more devastation than was initially reported. Multiple homes appear to be destroyed along with some storage units. Chippewa County Emergency Management reports serious damage to 15 homes, 13 of which were mobile homes. The LeaderTelegram has detailed reporting on one of the homes that disappeared during the tornado. The Wheaton Storage Units on Cty X have been reported as completely destroyed, along with injuries. As far as can be determined at the moment there were no fatalities or life-threatening injuries. 

Elk Mound High School has been set up as a staging area for people who have been left homeless.

The weather service has not yet determined that this was an actual tornado, but storm spotters throughout the area reported a funnel cloud on the ground during the event. 

The Chippewa County sheriff is asking that people stay out of the area of damage, and that there are currently enough volunteers to handle immediate needs. The sheriff's office requests that people follow their Facebook page for further information and for instructions for debris removal from the storm.

Power outages occurred last night throughout Dunn and Chippewa counties. Power at our office went out this morning for some apparently unrelated reason. Most power has now been restored except in the Town of Wheaton, which was hit hardest by the storm. Dunn Energy currently reports 526 power outages in the Town of Wheaton. 

Our thanks go to OnFocus for providing the detailed drone footage included in this story.