BARRON COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – One person was killed after a tornado ripped through parts of Barron County. It happened late Tuesday afternoon.
Much of the damage is at the Prairie Lake Estate Mobile Home Park in Cameron. That’s just north of Eau Claire.
46-year-old Eric Gavin was killed, and officials say 17 people were taken to the hospital.
All residents of the mobile home park have been accounted for.
The mobile park had 50 to 60 trailers. Several of them are destroyed. A nearby turkey farm was also destroyed.
The Barron County Sheriff issued the following news release:
May 17, 2017 “Thank you to all for the prayers, water, food, offers for help. This was a tragic incident only made easier to deal with because of the support and effort I saw tonight from the Emergency Responders and Businesses and Citizens of Barron County-Thank You Sheriff Fitzgerald. On Tuesday May 16, 2017 at 5:33pm the Barron County Sheriff’s Department received a report of a possible tornado touchdown in the Prairie Lake Estate Mobile Home Park. This is unconfirmed and we are waiting for the National Weather Service to confirm this. The Barron County Sheriff’s Department along with all local area law enforcement agencies in Barron County and 12 area ambulances and 6 area fire departments responded to the scene. The mobile home park contained 50-60 trailers and several of them are totally destroyed. 17 people were transported from the scene to area hospitals with approximately 5-10 more with minor injuries that refused treatment. One 46 yr old male subject was found deceased. All area residents of the mobile home park have been accounted for. We will continue to assess area damage in the mobile home park and other parts of the county.
We have several reports in the county of other structures down, trees down and damaged vehicles. I want to thank all the area emergency personnel for their response and the out pouring of support for the resident’s who are displaced-Special thanks to Mosaic Telecom, The Red Cross and the Salvation Army for setting up a shelter and providing food and clothes for these families. There are several more people and businesses to thank for the support, food, water etc and in the coming days I hope to be able to thank them. Chris Fitzgerald, Barron County Sheriff.
Barron County Authorities are asking community members to please not bring any further donations to the emergency shelter located at Mosaic Telecom in Cameron Wisconsin. Many donations have already been received. Due to limited space we are asking community members to please wait to donate until needs can be assessed. The care and concern from the community has been overwhelming. Additional needs will be shared with the community when known. Please monitor the Barron County Sheriff’s Department Facebook Page for further updates.”
Officials say they will spend today doing any needed rescue and recovery operations before assessing the damage in the county.
