It was a very rough weekend for those living in central and eastern Wisconsin as a massive storm hit the state. Wisconsin Public Service called the storms some of the most powerful to hit the area in the past 20 years. Wind speeds measured in at around 80 MPH, causing about 110,000 WPS customers to lose power. The area’s most severely impacted included Appleton, Stevens Point, Wabeno, and Green Bay, but all the surrounding areas also received massive damage. Damage was so bad, that an emergency reception center was set up at the Mishicot Fire Station. The high winds caused the branches of several trees to snap off, which in turn knocked power lines to the ground. We have not received any word on any injuries suffered by these downed lines, but we have been told of some branches narrowly missing cars that were traveling on the roadways. It took a while for WPS to return power to a lot of their customers, but Dan Salm, the Key Accounts and Meter Services Manager at the Manitowoc Public Service says that all customers were back up and running by 4:30 Saturday afternoon. The National Weather Service has also confirmed the touchdown of 9 tornadoes in the area, including an EF-1 near New London.
