Severe weather swept from the Rockies into the Plains on Wednesday, with a tornado leveling a farmhouse in western Nebraska, snow closing roads in Colorado and Wyoming and rain flooding parts of the Midwest.

Two people, a husband and wife, received minor injuries as the tornado near North Platte destroyed their home and severely damaged five others, said Lincoln County emergency management director Deb Bertrand

Farm equipment, vehicles, livestock and buildings were destroyed.

''This is stunning,'' Bertrand said. ''Every single family that I stopped and talked to was utterly in shock and trying to carry on.

''It broke your heart to see the destruction that happened so quickly and so completely.''

Farther west, snow and rain closed down roads in Colorado and Wyoming, snapping tree limbs, knocking out power and forcing streams out of their banks. The closures included Interstate 80 between Cheyenne and Laramie, where 6 inches of snow fell Wednesday and another 6 inches were possible overnight, and Loveland Pass, 70 miles west of Denver.

Tornadoes swept across Colorado's northeastern plains, but no injuries were reported.

In Wisconsin, heavy rain produced flash flooding. In Vernon County, along the Minnesota and Iowa state lines, authorities fearing high water moved 300 schoolchildren who were camping at Sidie Hollow Park while intersections were swamped in La Crosse.

The children, who attend various Waldorf schools throughout Wisconsin, were taken to a nearby school to spend the night, said Shane Nottestad, a sheriff's dispatcher.

Deep drifts of hail piled up in Kasota, Minn.

''It was just like a blizzard. It kept going and going and going. First nickel-sized, then pea-sized,'' said Dale Larson of Door Engineering and Manufacturing.

A flash flood warning was issued for parts of Minnesota after creeks and streams rose 2 feet or more Wednesday afternoon. Mudslides also were reported in the steeper terrain closer to the Mississippi River.

Winds gusting to 70 mph snapped limbs and trees, downed power lines and tore part of the roof off a hotel in Brookings, S.D. A trampoline and two boats up for sale were blown across a parking lot.

''It was a surprise to us to see something like a boat blowing across the road because we didn't really see much wind here,'' said Chris Quinn who watched as the storm rolled into town. ''But when we saw that trampoline coming across the lot, we knew it was pretty strong wind.''