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American Morning

Ladysmith, Wisconsin Heavily Damaged by Tornado

Aired September 03, 2002 - 09:17   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the curfew has finally been lifted -- as you can see here, lots of damage here -- the people of Ladysmith, Wisconsin, are going through the debris, trying to get a fix on what happened to their homes and their businesses. With little or no warning, a violent tornado ripped through the small town, leveling homes, injuring more than 40 people.
Reporter Maya Nishikawa, from our affiliate WCCO, is in Ladysmith right now, trying to get a sense of just how bad the damage is -- what have you found? Good morning.

MAYA NISHIKAWA, WCCO CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula. And we're in the hardest hit area. This is Lake Avenue along the business district here in Ladysmith. And you can see behind us here, the uprooted trees, the roof that was ripped right off this century-old church. There is debris everywhere, piles of bricks and board. You can see this part of the roof shot right through the windshield of this car.

They are estimating about 60 businesses and homes have been severely damaged. Luckily, no deaths have been reported. About 40 people injured and we are told most of those are minor injuries. This morning, police will be taking a look, trying to figure out just the extent of the damage, making sure that buildings are safe so they can go in and start the clean up. About 50 to 60 people have been evacuated, they will have to get the all clear before anyone comes back into town.

Reporting live in Ladysmith, Wisconsin, I am Maya Nishikawa -- back to you, Paula.

ZAHN: Maya, have you had a chance to talk with any of the folks who live there about what it was like to live through this?

NISHIKAWA: You know, they are still in shock right now. I talked to a couple of people who came here to check out what used to be their downtown. They have been through storms before, but this is worst they have ever seen. They had just seconds, really, to run for cover in their basement. A lot of them very much shaken this morning.

ZAHN: All I can say is you look at these pictures, its seems abundantly clear they were very lucky that the -- not only that the damage was not a whole lot worse, but that no one was killed here. Wow. Terrible.

NISHIKAWA: It is incredible if you look at all this damage.

ZAHN: Maya Nishikawa, appreciate your report. Thanks for joining us this morning.

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