I live and work in Madison, on the east side. Our sirens went off, but the tornado stayed about 10 miles to the south. A friend of mine, who lives in Stoughton, WI, has not seen his house yet. He and his wife are staying in a shelter located in town. The authorities have closed the roads in the worst hit areas, and you have to obtain a "pass" to enter the zone of destruction. From aerial photos I have seen, there are some houses that are totally destroyed, total about 20. There must be another 50 houses with some level of damage but they will be repaired. Only one person was killed, and he was taking shelter in his basement. I heard that the chimney collapsed on him.

There have been several images shown on our local news, taken by local people using their own cam-corders. The funnel was very impressive, about 1/2 mile wide.

We have thunderstorms, hail, heavy rain, and tornados every summer here in the midwest. Wisconsin is not "tornado alley," but we get a few every year. Usually, the damage is to cornfields and woodlands. You hear about it on the news, but it is not so dramatic.

Eric - as a national Disaster specialist.... my heart goes out to you all. I know the devistation/ and the hard part for these families is the waiting to go back and see what has happened to their homes and possessions. Know that there are many love and prayers to everyone involved. Stay safe. Jean in RI

Several pages back CantStopGardening wrote, my cyberfriends are REAL. Well, vonyon, this is an example of invisible gardeners and cyber acquaintances/friends on this board showing they truly care. (smiled when I read your message!)

Am glad ERic from Dane County/Madison jumped in with a message - and Navy Mom too. Our son lives in Stoughton and was down in the basement watching the twister from the basement windows in his rental townhome. Sirens blew 3x, power went out. His subdivision sailed thru okay, but the pictures in the newspapers showed a much different scene for many families. I saw the twisted trees and thought about dirt girl who was upset that her hubby took out the wrong ones... remember that conversation? I also felt for any animals kept in homes that were killed in the funnel's rampage. Papers, letters, building pieces from Stoughton were dropping in Waukesha/Milwaukee County yards, 60 miles away... We found tar paper scraps in our front yard. Our neighbor's dog was whimpering and very uneasy, 60 miles from the storm, during the time it occurred - unbeknownst to us humans yet; Chloe wanted down in the basement. I'm involved in a humane society education project that's gotta take priority for the next week. Will get back on track with the wildlife forum shortly. vonyon and all, please take care.

Tornados are noisy; I wonder if the dog could hear it from 60 miles. Smart dog.

hee hee. Love the reference. Hurricane Brad has been totally forgiven and no divorce lawyers were ever involved, but all joking aside, it breaks your heart to see such devastation, whether it be from a tornado, a hurricane, an ice storm (hi there CatherineT!) or an unscrupulous hub.

I hope things return to normal for everyone up there ASAP.

Furry........ ^ 5 for your work with animals. When setting up shelters the beloved pets are always a "concern" for us.. they are NOT allowed in shelters for health reasons.. thus families must seek alternatives for them. Many times a family will stay in their home vs. a shelter bec of animals. Many organizations are banding together to have disaster animal shelters, etc. Good luck!!

FCF: Glad to hear that you and your family are ok. It is funny how you start having a larger network of people that you get concerned about through the web. It is getting to be a very small world!! Keep up the good work with the animals.