A tornado cut a miles-long path through rural northeastern Wyoming, destroying two homes and several barns and spawning damaging hail, officials said Tuesday. There were no reports of injuries. The twister touched down Monday night and demolished a ranch house and a mobile home and damaged a third residence near the community of Farrall,

Tornadoes downed trees, damaged roofs and overturned boats late Tuesday afternoon in west-central Minnesota, residents and the National Weather Service said. No injuries were reported. One tornado was reported on the ground in Spicer, 110 miles west of Minneapolis in Kandiyohi County, about 4:40 p.m., and on Green Lake, which is in Spicer, about 4:50 p.m., the Weather Service said.

The North Carolina House voted 89 to 27 yesterday to approve a measure designed to re-establish the state’s coastal insurance provider, the Beach Plan, as a market of last resort and cap the liability of private insurers for any shortfall in Beach Plan funds at $1 billion.

Dave Hammerschmidt was selling fruit and vegetables Tuesday afternoon at the Country Stop outdoor stand in Spicer when he heard the approach of a tornado. “When they say roar, that’s what it does,” he said. He told his three customers at the fruit stand to run for their vehicles. There was just enough time for him to grab the money box and dive into his pickup truck before the storm hit.

Louisiana Commissioner of Insurance Jim Donelon announced that the Louisiana Automobile Theft and Insurance Fraud Prevention Authority (LATIFPA) within the Department of Insurance has launched a new Web site with information and statistics about insurance fraud and vehicle theft. The site can be found through the Department’s Web site at www.ldi.state.la.us.