Heavy storm damage in Wittenberg

Was it a tornado that went through Wittenberg late this afternoon.

The Shawano County Sheriff’s Department says “it’s a mess” after the storm Tuesday evening knocked down trees around Wittenberg.

People in Wittenberg reported seeing funnel clouds but there’s no confirmation whether there was an actual tornado. Still, there was a path of damage.

A big mess sits in the front of Ralph Bell’s house. An even bigger mess was behind it.

“Just heard wind and snap, crackle, pop and down it went. Scared the hell out of her,” Bell said.

The Shawano County Sheriff’s Department is unsure if there was a tornado or straight-line winds that caused widespread damage.

“Some of the homes were damaged, windows knocked out, flying debris,” Sergeant Greg Trinko said.

“The camper was there, and you can see the lines in the grass,” Larry Monnot showed us.

Monnot’s 10,000 pound camper flipped multiple times in a storm people say  lasted only minutes.

“I was running around the house trying to get in the basement, and it happened so fast I never made it to the basement,” Monnot said.

“Rain and windy so bad that the water you could see it up in the air,” Jessica Haecker said.People in town tell us there’s also damage to the high school.

The Red Cross is in Wittenberg staging at the fire department for anyone who needs help.

Power could be restored to Wittenberg late Tuesday night, but other parts of the county will most likely be black until morning. (Source: WBAY)

Or was it straight-line winds?

The storm also caused part of a barn to collapse. The family who runs the farm says wind and rain came through around five o’clock Tuesday evening, part of the barn collapsed on the milking cows. The owners say the building fell in on the animals, and they had to put down about 60 cows.

We also talked with one many who was at the local race track, on the east side of Wittenberg.

“The rain was just coming so hard and fast you could hardly see,” explained Craig French. “And we wanted to try to get the truck off of the hill and before we even got to the gate, it just picked the – it literally stopped us and started pulling us backwards and the trailer just went up in the air and flopped right over on its side, just like it spun right in the air. Luckily my truck didn’t tip, never rolled, but the back wheels were four feet up in the air from the hitch holding it up in the air and it was scary.

“The wind kept blowing harder and the truck kept rocking and then the rain and the hail hit us and the hail was just loud,” French continued. “We had barrels that came blowing across from the other side of the track that were hitting the side of the truck, but fortunately there’s not a scratch on the truck or a dent that we can find. But not for the trailer, we took a little damage. (Source: Fox 11)

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Storms rip through Fox Valley

It was a rough evening across parts of Northeast Wisconsin this evening.  The Fox Valley had storms rip through the area.

Parts of the Fox Valley were cleaning up the mess Tuesday from a fast-moving thunderstorm that dumped torrential rains, ping-pong-ball-size hail and gusty winds.

The storm, which moved rapidly across central and northeastern Wisconsin late in the afternoon, caused damage to houses, flooded streets, uprooted mature trees and knocked down power lines.

Winds topping 60 mph were reported in some areas. At 6:52 p.m., a trained weather spotter reported a 65 mph wind gust in New London.

Golf ball-sized hail was reported in Greenville at 7:05 p.m.

Power was out for two hours in New London before it was restored at 8:50 p.m.

Power was out in several portions of Appleton, too, where the storm arrived about 7:15 p.m.

Rainfall totals were not immediately available, but the downpour came in the wake of rains that dumped 2 inches of rain on the Appleton area on Monday. Excluding Tuesday’s amount, the city has had more than 15 inches of rainfall since June 1, according to the National Weather Service.

Tuesday’s damage was on full display at Appleton’s central neighborhoods.

Branches from two trees blocked off the intersection at W. Summer and N. Appleton streets.

Neighbors in the 200 block of W. Hancock Street rallied to remove a large branch that fell on top of a station wagon, and in the next block over, a house had escaped major damage from a branch that fell within inches.

Firefighters trying to move quickly before night fell to cordon off streets where power lines dangled loose.

Both Jackman Street and Prospect Avenue were closed indefinitely while city crews inspected damage to the Jackman Street bridge. (Source: Post Crescent)

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Severe Weather billboards

Interesting way to get the “Be prepared” message out.

Four new billboards in Brown County are getting the message out about severe weather.

The billboards with the message, “Be Prepared for Severe Weather” are located on Military Ave., Scheuring Rd. near Hwy. 41, Ashland Ave., and the corner of E. Mason and Lime Kiln.

Brown County Emergency Management is also encouraging people to develop a severe weather plan for home, work, school, and when outdoors. (Source: Fox11)

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