The Reporter from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin • 1

-A 8 pages toistar pSnfts, stories How you can help Oakfield, Marytown residents clean up, stock up or recover from the storm Pages Bl, B6 'TP- nrTTTTTP LL .11 11 LJ i FOND DU LAC WISCONSIN JULY 19, 1996 CALL 922-4600 "K-Jth vear i (MS UOITDTI Mm taltaiA Vfc-l ti 19 hurt in FdL County; governor declares state of emergency -an is:" -I: 1 t. 1v 1 1 4fc aj, 0 ft) 'It looks like ground zero -like the bomb was dropped' By Peggy Breister Of The Reporter Staff OAKFIELD As the skies over Oakfield began to clear about 9 p.m. Thursday, the silhouette of broken trees in the glow of sunset served as an eerie reminder of the tornado that passed through town less than two hours before. Village residents who lost their homes in less than two minutes wandered the streets, most with only the clothes on their backs and dazed looks on their faces. Today, Gov.

Tommy Thompson put their once tree-lined community in a "state of emergency." Victims met with emergency government officials in the high school at 10 a.m. to learn how to get help. "It's gone." "It's gone." "It's gone," was the response one young man gave to a woman who asked about homes of three people she knew. The village, of just over 1,000 people, was dark, except for the flashing lights of emergency vehicles that were parked in front of the Oakfield Fire Department on See Tornado Page A2 -7' i 57 Don Carson The Reporter This was the devastation caused by the tornado that hit Oakfield Thursday evening. Officials today said 47 homes and four major businesses were destroyed, and 55 homes were extensively damaged.

A rough estimate of storm damage was $15 million. FULL COVERAGE: 0 Map shows storm's path through county PAGE A2 Oakfield begins clean-up PAGE Bl Storm chaser follows funnel PAGE B3 Town of Byron couple rescued PAGE B4 Assistance funds set up PAGE B4 BL Aerial view of twister's path PAGE B4 Oakfield, Marytown injury report PAGE B6 0 More photos of tornado damage PAGES CI, Dl Photo by Don Lloyd Storm chaser Don Lloyd, a Lomira dentist, and his family captured the tornado on film as it dropped from the sky at 7:12 p.m. Thursday northwest of Oakfield on County Trunk Y. on mm uddu Business A4 Classified D3 Comics A6 Dixon C3 Landers C2 Lotteries A2 Movies C4 Obituaries B6 Opinion A7 Records B2 Sports C5 TV Tonight C4 Firefighter army rallies for village after tornado cuts a brutal swath WEATHER By Richard Roesgen Of The Reporter Staff tornadoes could aim, you might say the monster that smashed, leveled otherwise obliterated much of Oakfield on have reminded oldtimers of a World War I battlefield: The silhouettes of jagged, broken tree trunks poking into the darkening red-blue sunset; a crushed or overturned car or pickup or boat here and there; the ground barely visible in places under heaps of wood, sticks, walls, boards, metal, bricks, glass, roof tiles, carpeting, furniture and porcelain that were the remains See Hill Page A2 lights were still out, broken tree branches cluttered the yard, and the wooden sign advertising "authentic Mexican food" was snapped from its post. Not so bad.

But as you walked south up the hill, the damage turned uglier and grimmer. At the top, the destruction looked downright evil. IBB On both sides of Main Street, the upper part of the hill might I 01 JLL. or Tomorrow: Partly cloudy. Highs in the mid to upper 70s.

Extended: Chance of showers and thunderstorms late Sunday through early Tuesday. Lows 55 to 65, highs 75 to 85. Thursday showed mercy toward the northern end of Main Street. That's where De La Rosa's Restaurant sits. And there, roughly 45 minutes after the twister hit about 7:15 p.m., the Brian Fairbanks The Reporter Jeff Smith of Oakfield hugs his daughter Katie, 9, as his wife Ann calls family and friends Thursday to let them know they are OK.

Ann said their two-story home was destroyed..