Tornado Damages Homes In Northern North Dakota

ROLLA, N.D. (AP) _ A tornado tore through several towns in northern North Dakota on Monday, destroying at least one building, damaging others and injuring at least two people, authorities said.

The National Weather Service said the tornado was reported in Rolla at 3:30 p.m. Monday.

Rolette County Commissioner Eldon Moors, who also is the county's acting emergency manager, said he followed the tornado as it traveled eastward about 20 miles from Dunseith to Rolla. He said it cut a swath of damage about 1 1/2 blocks wide and hit up to 15 homes. He said one home had only walls standing and at least two had roofs blown off.

Moors said everyone in Rolla was accounted for, but that the north end of the town was ``quite a mess.''

``We were lucky,'' he said.

A man from Belcourt, 6 miles west of Rolla, was reported to have been flown to a hospital in Minot after being trapped in his home, Gov. John Hoeven's office said. The man's name wasn't released. A firefighter in Rolla was treated at a hospital for minor injuries and released, a county official said.

``We were under our basement for about 10 minutes before the tornado actually hit,'' Rolla resident Sheila Zinke said. ``I was watching it from my basement, and I actually saw it come across the north section of town. We could tell that it probably did some damage because we saw some things flying up in the air.''

Zinke said the town's tornado siren went off well before the tornado hit, giving her and family members visiting from Arizona and Texas time to get to the basement.

Power was shut off to the area as a safety precaution.

Zinke, a teacher, said she text-messaged two of her students and they told her the roofs were blown off their homes but no one was hurt.

Hoeven, who planned to tour the damage Tuesday morning, said state resources would be available to help the area hit by the twister. An emergency operation center has been set up at Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Rolla.

The weather service said the Towner County sheriff's office reported two tornadoes late Monday afternoon, near Rocklake. Warnings and watches were out for a number of counties.

In southeastern Wisconsin on Monday, severe storms produced at least one tornado, toppling trees and power lines and setting a condominium on fire with a lightning strike.

A 16-year-old boy was reported to be hospitalized after a lightning struck near Watertown. The Jefferson County Sheriff's Department had no immediate information on his condition