Wiped Right Off the Map

"The sky was yellow and green," recalled Judy Anderson. "You could hear the momentum and roar. It was all over in 20 seconds." And when the tornado was all over, so too was Anderson's home town, Barneveld, Wis. (pop. 580)—literally wiped off the earth in a matter of seconds by a twister that left nine of its residents dead, 77 hospitalized and only three of its buildings standing intact.

The rubble of the once placid farming town 25 miles west of Madison looked like the aftermath of a prolonged military bombardment: the bank was split open, the fire station was smashed, 120 homes were ruined, the Lutheran church was leveled, yet its bell tower still stood grandly over the rubble as did the bulbous water tower emblazoned with the name Barneveld. Said Wisconsin Governor Anthony Earl: "It's the worst disaster I've ever seen. There are many, many people who are going to need long-term help."

The twister was one of 49 that spun off from a storm system that swept across the Midwest last Thursday night. At least 16 people died and hundreds were injured. "In my 25 years here, I don't remember a storm that has been so widespread," said Wayne Ellingson of the National Weather Service in Des Moines.