{"id":19750,"date":"2026-07-28T10:36:37","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T05:36:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=19750"},"modified":"2026-07-28T10:36:37","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T05:36:37","slug":"wisconsin-tornado-causes-extensive-damage-and-cuts-power-to-thousands-of-homes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=19750","title":{"rendered":"Wisconsin tornado causes extensive damage and cuts power to thousands of homes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"prism-article-body\">\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao MvWXB TjIXL aGjvy ebVHC \"><span class=\"oyrPY qlwaB AGxeB  \">MADISON, Wis. &#8212; <\/span>A tornado struck northeastern Wisconsin on Monday, blackening the midday sky and sending workers sheltering in office basements as fierce winds splintered homes, scattered twisted metal across a highway and knocked out power to more than 30,000 people.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">There were no reports of fatalities or injuries as of Monday evening, but emergency officials were still searching, said Gordon Hintz, Winnebago County\u2019s top elected official.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The National Weather Service confirmed a tornado in Winnebago County, about 90 miles (145 kilometers) northwest of Milwaukee. Damage was reported in cities including Appleton and Menasha, where Police Chief Matt Albrecht said some homes and businesses were \u201cseverely impacted.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The twister was spun off by a large storm system that moved through the Great Lakes, fueled by a buildup of heat and humidity, National Weather Service meteorologist Scott Berschback said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Hintz said it could be several days before power in the stricken area is restored.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Heather Schroeder said she heard cracking and popping all around her as the tornado tore apart a laundromat, a bakery and a neighborhood tavern that were clustered around a street corner in Menasha, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) south of Green Bay.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Rescue workers pulled someone out of one of the buildings, said Schroeder, who works nearby. She said it wasn\u2019t clear if the person had survived. Cars were turned upside-down, and there was a gas leak at the laundromat, she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cThere\u2019s nothing left,\u201d Schroeder said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The twister ripped roofs off homes and flipped vehicles in one neighborhood in Menasha, just blocks from the shores of Lake Winnebago. Video showed a trail of destruction, with some homes reduced to their outer walls.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Greg Van Driest was working in downtown Appleton when the sky got as dark as night.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cThe word we all were using was \u2018ominous,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s like, \u2018Whoa, look at that.\u2019 &#8230; You looked outside and you thought it was three in the morning, it was that dark.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Hintz said he\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cObviously when you look at the damage, Mother Nature doesn\u2019t really care,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Weather service meteorologist Holley Kamba said the agency was receiving reports of damage in southern Outagamie County and eastern Winnebago County, <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cWe have been receiving calls of damage with a lot of trees down, power lines down,\u201d Kamba said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been searching for some pictures of the structural damage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said the state \u201cis ready to assist communities however we can.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Weather service meteorologists in Green Bay issued a tornado warning at 11:59 a.m. for the Fox Cities region, which includes Appleton, Menasha and Neenah. It warned of flying and dangerous debris, damage to mobile homes, vehicles and trees, while warning people to seek shelter.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The area had already been under a severe thunderstorm warning for about 45 minutes, and meteorologists indicated the storm was capable of producing winds up to 60 mph (97 kph).<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Images on social media showed extensive damage in Appleton, including homes stripped of roofs, a car tossed onto a lawn, and streets littered with tree limbs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The Appleton Police Department <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/story.php?story_fbid=1357941206521530&amp;id=100069169900853&amp;mibextid=wwXIfr&amp;rdid=j5jecQ5AR49YkhTZ#\">said on social media<\/a> that it was aware of \u201cseveral downed trees and large tree limbs throughout the city.&#8221; Traffic signals were out and some roads were \u201cheavily backed up,\u201d the department said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson said he didn&#8217;t have any confirmation of fatalities or injuries in the county, which includes Appleton. But he said there was \u201cextensive and severe damage\u201d in Menasha and Fox Crossing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cAll indications are that this was a devastating system that has caused extensive damage,\u201d Nelson said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">In Menasha, the electric utility said the entire city of about 18,000 people was believed without power. Authorities were opening a shelter at a church.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The storm hit Menasha and the east side of neighboring Fox Crossing at around 12:20 p.m., Albrecht said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cAt this point, we are unaware, unsure of how bad the damage is because many roads in those same areas are impassable,\u201d Albrecht said, adding emergency crews were seeking to enter the affected area to \u201clook for injuries, look for victims\u201d and clear the roads.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">He urged people to stay away from the hard-hit areas: \u201cRight now, there are many downed power lines, downed trees, multiple hazardous situations. Please stay out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Later Monday the storm was clearing out of Wisconsin and moving south of Milwaukee through the Chicago area as it began to dissipate, he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">__<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC eTIW sUzSN \">Mayes-Osterman reported from Chicago and Seewer from Toledo, Ohio. 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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MADISON, Wis. &#8212; A tornado struck northeastern Wisconsin on Monday, blackening the midday sky and sending workers sheltering in office basements as fierce winds splintered homes, scattered twisted metal across a highway and knocked out power to more than 30,000 people. There were no reports of fatalities or injuries as of Monday evening, but emergency&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19751,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/ba3c244f-1328-4582-852e-40aa9a2f3ce5\/wirestory_854e3fa75280bb316f6081eaf0443798_16x9.jpg?w=1600","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pics-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19750\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}