WPS and We Energies: Storm damage could leave some Wisconsinites without power for days

Wausau Daily Herald

Severe weather including thunderstorms, tornadoes, gusty winds and flooding caused damage to cities and towns across Wisconsin Friday evening and into Saturday.

The threat of severe weather passed Saturday afternoon in north central and northeast Wisconsin after another round of storms barreled through the region, while a bout of scattered storms were expected Saturday night for the Milwaukee area.

Much of the storm damage, including downed trees and power lines, is located in north central and northeastern Wisconsin where storms were most severe Friday and Saturday.

More than 175,000 people were without power Saturday afternoon from Wausau and Green Bay to Milwaukee. As of Saturday afternoon, around 88,000 Wisconsin Public Service and 68,000 We Energies and 21,000 Alliant Energy customers were experiencing outages. About 1,500 of those customers were in the Milwaukee area.

We Energies' Fox Valley customers and some Wisconsin Public Service customers could be without power for days.

“The extent of the damage is so severe that we will be rebuilding portions of our networks in those areas,” WPS and We Energies spokesman Matt Cullen said Saturday afternoon.

He cited the “multiple waves” of severe storms that came through, with wind gusts in excess of 50 mph, for the damage. Crews are finding broken utility poles, trees that snapped and splintered in half and even downed wires that are still energized.

The utility is seeking help from other utilities in the Midwest.

The town of Grand Chute opened a charging site at its town hall, 1900 Grand Chute Blvd., for residents without power to charge their cell phones until midnight Saturday.

While north central and northeast Wisconsin residents began to clean up from storms there, southeast Wisconsin may see some scattered storms Saturday evening into Sunday morning. They are not expected to be severe. An excessive heat warning for the area also expired Saturday evening.

One tornado was confirmed Friday night and multiple funnel clouds were spotted. An EF-1 tornado was on the ground for nine miles about 8:30 p.m. in Knowlton, south of Mosinee in Marathon County, according to the weather service. It crossed over Interstate 39, destroyed a barn and damaged hundreds of trees and several roofs.

Funnel clouds were spotted in Prentice, Weyauwega, Dale and Greenville Friday and Saturday as well.

At 11:12 a.m. Saturday, the weather service confirmed a tornado over New London, 16 miles northwest of Appleton.

Winds were strong as the storms rolled through the state. The weather service reported an 84-mph gust Friday in Cushing, Polk County, and an 86-mph gust Saturday in Plover, Portage County, that knocked the doors off a Menards store.

And Green Bay broke a daily record from 1903 for the most rain on July 20, with 1.43 inches of rain recorded.

Winds reached 50 mph Saturday afternoon in Mequon in southeast Wisconsin, which saw fewer reports of storm damage than north central and northeast parts of the state.

The weather service issued tornado warnings for Outagamie and Waupaca counties until 11:30 a.m. Saturday, in the Green Bay, Appleton and De Pere areas until noon and in Kewaunee County until 12:30 p.m.

Wood County officials issued a disaster declaration Saturday for Wisconsin Rapids amid extensive property damage.

Officials in Langlade County, Marathon County, Wood County, Winnebago County, Green Bay, Stevens Point, Appleton, Sheboygan and Manitowoc all reported fallen trees and power lines. They advised residents to avoid traveling and to steer clear of areas with downed lines.

Many municipalities asked residents to stop calling 911 to report power outages at their homes unless it is an emergency situation and instead report it to their power company.

Downed power lines over roads Saturday evening closed some highways in Brown and Outagamie counties. State 96 at County U near Wrightstown and State 76 near County JJ were closed in both directions as crews worked to clear the roads.

In Grand Chute, Capitol Drive at Greves Court and Lynndale Road over I-41 are impassible because of downed power lines. Emergency responders in the town got more than 30 reports of fallen trees and power lines Saturday and had cordoned off all areas with damaged utility lines by the evening.

U.S. Forest Service officials closed multiple campgrounds and trails in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest due to extensive damage. The number of downed trees have made roads impassible, they said in a statement. And they closed all roads, trails and recreation sites within the forest in Oconto County.

In Wood County, some uprooted trees pulled up gas lines, causing leaks, said Steve Kreuser, Wood County Emergency Management director. Utility crews were working on stopping the gas leaks and repairing downed power lines, he said Saturday afternoon.

Kreuser recommended people stay in their homes if possible and wait for crews to do their work.

Green Bay police advised people to call 911 to report fallen power lines, especially if they are sparking or on fire. Green Bay police also asked residents to report fallen trees and, if safe to do so, check to make sure nobody was injured, especially if the tree fell on a house or car.

The Outagamie County Sheriff's Office said it received over 600 calls for service since the storm first hit Saturday. Appleton officials released a map of all the traffic lights affected by power outages.

Officials in both Green Bay and Appleton advised drivers to treat all stop lights as four-way intersections until they are working again.

The weather service placed the Wausau, Stevens Point, Wisconsin Rapids, Green Bay, Appleton, Oshkosh, Manitowoc, Shawano and Sturgeon Bay areas under flash flood warnings until 2:45 p.m. Saturday.

High rainfall rates could lead to flooding in areas under the advisories, especially in urban areas on highways.

The weather service advises people to monitor forecasts and be prepared should floods happen in their area. Drivers should turn around on flooded roadways and not drive on water-covered roads.

"Flash flooding is a very dangerous situation," the weather service said.

And residents who are using alternative power sources in the outages should practice safety, officials said. Keep generators outside and away from buildings to avoid carbon monoxide buildup. And use flashlights instead of candles to limit the risk of fire.

Karen Madden and Peter Frank of the USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin contributed to this report.

Contact Natalie Brophy at (715) 216-5452 or nbrophy@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @brophy_natalie or Facebook at facebook.com/bynataliebrophy.