GILLETT, Wis. (WFRV) – After powerful storms swept through northeast Wisconsin Wednesday night, cleanup crews were out Thursday cutting down trees and assessing the damage caused by high winds and heavy rain.
In Gillett, wind speeds reached over 90 mph, ripping the roof off a business and pushing in its doors — damage the National Weather Service (NWS) in Green Bay is using to assess whether a tornado touched down.
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“If we determine it is a tornado, then we will try to assess how strong the tornado was,” said NWS meteorologist Kurt Kotenberg. “So we will take a look at this building behind us. We’re taking a look at this building to see, you know, like the winds were strong enough to cave in the doors. That’s indicating to us, through the data chart that we have, that probably 90-mile-per-hour winds caused this damage.”
Survey teams stopped in Keshena, where an EF-1 tornado was confirmed, and continued into Gillett, giving Kotenberg a closer look at the destruction.
“We look at the degree of the damage, and the degree of damage translates to a wind speed, and that will give us the rating of a tornado — which is so far an EF-1 tornado through Menominee and so far Oconto County,” Kotenberg added.
Several trees were downed, some landing in yards and on rooftops. Many residents took shelter in basements when warning sirens sounded.
“It was kinda scary, because the basement was right towards where the tree fell down, so I pretty much flipped the couch — I got scared,” said Tamara Jennings, a Gillett resident.
Her father, Jerry Ankerson, was not home during the storm, but had warned his daughter to take shelter. His home suffered minimal damage, except for a tree that knocked loose a power line.
Ankerson says he’s grateful the damage wasn’t worse — and even found something unexpected in the aftermath.
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“I know it must have been blowing pretty good because we got cushions for outdoor furniture in our yard, and don’t know where they are from,” he joked.
As of 4:45 p.m., the National Weather Service confirmed an EF-1 tornado struck near Gillett.
