MADISON, Wis. (AP) — In a dramatic 20-minute assault on northeastern Wisconsin, a tornado tore through the region, wreaking havoc on homes, tossing vehicles, and bringing down power lines, leaving a scene of near-total devastation in its wake.
Miraculously, there have been no fatalities or disappearances reported following the tornado’s destructive path on Monday through the Fox Cities, including Appleton, Menasha, and Neenah, located about 100 miles northwest of Milwaukee. Although the authorities haven’t disclosed the number of injuries, eyewitnesses recounted stories of people being pulled from debris-laden buildings, visibly injured and distressed.
According to the National Weather Service’s briefing on Tuesday, this tornado landed in the early afternoon and relentlessly carved its way through 12 miles of land, offering a grim reminder of nature’s unpredictability despite prior warnings issued for residents to seek safety.
As it cut a swath across neighborhoods, the tornado dismantled roofs of both homes and businesses, overturned cars, sheared trees to stumps, and downed power lines. Consequently, over 15,000 residents in Winnebago and Outagamie counties experienced blackouts that may endure for several days, based on reports from PowerOutage.us.
In response to the widespread structural damage, shelters have opened their doors to house displaced families. Additionally, a segment of Fox Crossing’s water system, affected by pressure loss, prompted authorities to issue a boil water advisory, urging residents to safeguard their health.
“All indications are that this was a devastating system that has caused extensive damage,” said Tom Nelson, the Outagamie County executive.
It was a relatively powerful twister
The twister was spun off by a large storm system that moved through the Great Lakes, fueled by a buildup of heat and humidity, the weather service said.
Weather service officials were assessing the damage Tuesday, said Roy Eckberg, an agency meteorologist.
“To get that kind of tornado is pretty rare in northeast Wisconsin, but they do happen from time to time,” he said, adding that it was unusual that the twister moved southward instead of to the east or northeast.
Preliminary data indicates it was an EF3, meaning it packed winds of 136-165 mph (219-266 kph), the weather service said.
Residents describe terrifying moments as tornado barreled through
Heather Schroeder said she heard cracking and popping all around her as the twister tore apart a laundromat, bakery and tavern along a street corner in Menasha.
Rescue workers pulled someone out of one of the buildings and it wasn’t clear if they had survived, said Schroeder, who works nearby. Cars were turned upside-down, and there was a gas leak at the laundromat, she said.
“There’s nothing left,” Schroeder said.
Aerial video Tuesday showed homes in Menasha without roofs or that had been completely hollowed out.
Greg Van Driest was working in downtown Appleton when the sky got as dark as night.
“The word we all were using was ‘ominous,’” he said. “It’s like, ‘Whoa, look at that.’ … You looked outside and you thought it was three in the morning, it was that dark.”
Gordon Hintz, Winnebago County’s top elected official, said he received multiple reports of buildings destroyed and vehicles overturned. All storm warnings that could be made ahead of time to get people to safety were activated, he said.
“Obviously when you look at the damage, Mother Nature doesn’t really care,” he said.
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Mayes-Osterman reported from Chicago and Seewer from Toledo, Ohio. Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut; Christopher L. Keller in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Laura Turbay in Little Rock, Arkansas; Sophie Bates in Jackson, Mississippi; Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City; and Michael R. Sisak in New York contributed to this report.