Strong winds, hail cause damage in Wis., Minn.
Strong thunderstorms storms swept across Minnesota and Wisconsin on Sunday, bringing strong winds, hail and reports of tornadoes and damaging homes, barns, power lines and trees.
No deaths or injuries were immediately reported from Sunday's storms.
In Wisconsin, officials reported that homes were damaged in the northern town of Merrill and near Hamburg in Marathon County after reports of tornadoes there. A trained spotted reported a tornado with trees and power lines down near Little Chicago in Marathon County around 6:15 p.m., according to the National Weather Service.
In western Wisconsin, a spotter in Trempealeau County reported many windows broken and cars dented from what appeared to be wind-blown debris around 5 p.m. in Osseo. Law enforcement in Juneau County reported a funnel cloud with a garage and trees down in Necedah around 6 p.m.
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In southeastern Minnesota, three barns were blown down and a mobile home was knocked off its foundation by high winds in Houston County, said Kurt Kuhlers, the county's emergency management director. Kuhlers said there was no confirmation of a tornado in the county, but he said the storm packed strong winds when it blew through around 4:30 p.m.
The storm knocked the county's 911 phone system off line for about an hour, Kuhlers said. Softball-sized hail was reported between Hokah and Brownsville, he said.
Tornado watches and warnings stretched across the nation's midsection from Oklahoma and Arkansas in the South up to the Canadian border.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)