My reputation proceeds me

La Crosse Trib

MJS on the La Crosse tornado damage.

"Certainly our heart goes out to everyone affected," [Gov.] Walker told reporters trailing along with him. "We're grateful there were no injuries or deaths."

La Crosse, a city of 51,000 about two hours southeast of Minneapolis, is known for its scenic bluffs, Mississippi River access and its hard-partying nightlife.

Local legend has it a tornado won't touch down here because the city stands at the confluence of three rivers - the Mississippi, the Black and the La Crosse - but the National Weather Service apparently has debunked that myth. Preliminary field assessments showed the storm was in fact in a tornado and was part of the same massive storm system that spawned deadly twisters around the Midwest, the service said.

Edward O'Connor, 32, called the legend "a big fat lie" as he stared at his flattened garage.

Indian Legend Fail.

We were not even in La Crosse at the time of the storm.  My sister who lives with us called us at the in-laws and asked us if we heard about the tornado.  We came back through town after it was dark out which was a mistake.  We have to drive past the storm path to get home, and all the street lights are out.  All police personnel were called in(my dad had to drive back from the Twin Cities as soon as he heard) and were directing traffic.  It was a big mess as there was no good way to get through to the south of the tornado path.  The damage was about 8 blocks from our house.  WKBT Channel 8 had great coverage while other news outlets in the area were not as good.  I heard on the radio "complete devastation."  Ummm, no.  Joplin, Missouri has complete devastation.  La Crosse can count their blessings - no deaths or injuries.  I tweeted this video yesterday which made me realize how blessed we really are. Let's remember to pray for all those affected by the storm and all the workers and volunteers, especially ongoing efforts in Joplin.  Also say a prayer for a friend of mine who had his farm ripped apart in Minnesota by a tornado. 

But back to La Crosse's party town status.  Is there a ranking here?  Madison #1, La Crosse #2?  I think this has to be just ranked by how the amateurs behave when a couple buddies decide to drink a 30 pack of Busch Light before they go downtown.  Is there any other places in Wisconsin known as party towns?  Milwaukee has alot going on, but it doesn't really strike me primarily as a party town so to speak.

When I read "hard-partying nightlife" in a story about a tornado I got a visual of drunk college kids chucking empty bottles into the tornado vortex and having to do a shot if the bottle touches the ground.