Shawano and Menominee counties are recovering from a powerful thunderstorm that swept through last night.
As homeowners begin the work of cleaning up downed trees, emergency management officials and the National Weather Service (NWS) want to know if the extensive damage was caused by straight-line winds or a tornado. A woman from Menominee County, which was hardest hit by the storm, was killed after a tree fell on her car.
In Shawano County, the Town of Bonduel appears to have gotten the worst of it. Shawano County Emergency Management Director Natalie Easterday says it’s a mess.
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“We have a lot of trees down this morning,” she says. “We have a lot of power lines down. At least 11 homes right now … had some sort of damage to them from the trees.”
Easterday says the Department of Natural Resources is conducting a flyover to assess the extent of the damage while an NWS team looks for evidence of a tornado. “Last night there was some indication that people had seen a funnel cloud but we weren’t able to confirm a touchdown, which is why the NWS is out evaluating.”
Easterday says now it’s time to clean up but she urges homeowners to be on the lookout for downed power lines and unstable trees.
“We’re just reminding everyone to be safe when they’re cleaning up debris,” she says. “Everyone needs to be careful while they’re cleaning up from the storm”.
The final word from the NWS on whether a tornado actually touched down is expected later today.
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