Walker Tours Storm-Damaged Northeastern Wisconsin

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Gov. Scott Walker toured storm-damaged areas of northeastern Wisconsin and met the family of a public servant who was killed during the cleanup today.

The governor’s first stop was in New London, where a church was toppled during the storms on Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning.

The National Weather Service confirms three tornadoes, one in New London, one north of Appleton, and one in Wrightstown.

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Tod Pritchard, a spokesman for the Wisconsin Department of Emergency Management, says the only storm-related fatality was the town chairman of Porterfield in Marinette County.

“Eugene LaCombe was out with a public works employee and they were trying to clear Bagley Road off of Highway 64 and unfortunately a vehicle came and struck them, says Pritchard. “It’s still under investigation, but it appears that probably the glare of the headlights and the weather conditions at the time contributed to lack of visibility.”

Crews from We Energies and Wisconsin Public Services (WPS) worked overtime to restore power in the Fox Valley. Pritchard says most customers should be back online by this evening, but some may be without electricity until this weekend.

“WE Energies lost over 50 poles,” says Pritchard. “I think WPS lost over 100 poles. That’s a lot of poles and wires down and a lot of man hours to get those back up and online.”

Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson met with Walker today and asked for support from the Wisconsin National Guard.