Storm Crushes Homes, Shreds Trees in Hammond, Wisconsin

HAMMOND, Wis. - Shirly Rode took shelter in her kitchen, ducking shards of glass as severe storms ripped through Hammond, Wis. and surrounding western Wisconsin communities Wednesday afternoon.

"All of a sudden the one window went out, the second went out,” Rode said.

All of her cats were accounted for, but the storm crushed her greenhouse and shredded 100-year-old trees.

"I don't know nothing about meteorology but it looks like straight line winds to me,” Rode said.

The winds that passed through the region were so powerful, they knocked two semi trucks off interstate 94 near Baldwin, Wis. In Hammond, the wind tore straight through a new development.

A garage sale planned by the Richter family now seems unnecessary.

"It created a vacuum inside the wall, folded the door inside and then blew the wall out,” Josh Richter said.

A neighbor’s garage down the street sustained an equal amount of damage.

"We all three were sleeping,” McKenzie Richter said. “My sister screaming to get downstairs there's a tornado. We didn't believe her because she does that to wake us up."

But Wednesday’s storm was no dream, no drill, and in the end -- no tornado, just a simple testament to the power of wind.