Door County visitor states, “It’s a miracle that the big tree did not crush that house.”
Storms produce large hail, high winds and power outages
DOOR COUNTY, Wis. (WBAY) - Storms produced large hail and high winds Tuesday morning.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources says storms downed trees at Peninsula State Park. The park is open, but Eagle Bluff Lighthouse is closed.
Gibraltar Fire-Rescue posted on Facebook Tuesday that Highway 42 is back open after being closed between County Highway A and Gibraltar Road due to a live wire in the road. Tuesday afternoon, the Door County Sheriff’s Office said the road was estimated to re-open at 5 p.m., and crews are working to fix the road damage - earlier in the day, it was expected to be closed until 4 p.m. No other roads are closed as of this time.
Authorities said as of 3 p.m. there were about 600 customers without power, down from the peak of 4,500 earlier in the day. By 8 p.m., power had been restored to nearly all customers, with only a handful still being in the dark. Crews also made repairs at about two dozen sites. In addition, the Sheriff’s Office says most of the power failures were caused by tree damage.
“Due to severe storms in the area, there are multiple trees down blocking roadways in northern Door county. PLEASE BE PATIENT while crews are out working to clear roadways,” reads the post.
Ephraim Firefighters Association says there is “a lot of storm damage” in and around the community.
The National Weather Service reports 42 mph winds at Newport State Park in Ellison Bay.
A tree fell atop a home in Ephraim. No one was inside, and there was only minor damage to the roof.
“When the road opened up a little bit, we walked down and saw what was happening. It’s a miracle that the big tree did not crush that house. But it did the chimney, which saved the house. Not the chimney,” said George Melchior, an Ephraim visitor.
The tree removal service helping clean up the home’s damage told Action 2 News they received two other similar calls. They mentioned other tree removal companies were busy as well.
HAIL REPORTS
- Kimberly - 4 inches
- N Appleton - 3 inches
- Freedom - 2.75 inches
- Mackville - 2.75 inches
- Hortonville - 2 inches
- Wrightstown - 2.5 inches
- New London - 1.75 inch
- Two Creeks - 1.75 inch
- Appleton - 1.50 inch
- Greenleaf - 1.50 inch
- Kaukauna - 1.50 inch
- Little Rapids - 1.50 inch
- Wayside - 1.25 inch
- Black Creek - 1 inch
- Chilton - 1 inch
- Oshkosh - 1 inch
- Stephensville - 1 inch
- Valders - 1 inch
Viewers have sent in photos and videos of sizeable hail stones.
Outagamie County Emergency Management advises people with hail damage to take photos of the damage and file a claim with your insurance company.
Wisconsin Public Service lists about 1,400 customers without power.
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