Wisconsin Tornado Flips Cars, Shreds Roofs, Knocks Out Power to 30,000

The Sky Turned Off First

Greg Van Driest was at work in downtown Appleton when it happened. "The word we all were using was 'ominous,'" he told The Guardian. "You looked outside and you thought it was three in the morning, it was that dark." That is not a metaphor for mood. That is what the sky literally looked like at noon on a July Monday in Wisconsin.

The National Weather Service office in Green Bay issued a tornado warning for the Fox Cities region at 11:59am. The area had already been under a severe thunderstorm warning for roughly 45 minutes. Meteorologists warned that flying debris would be dangerous, that mobile homes would be damaged or destroyed, and that winds could reach 60 miles per hour. By 12:20pm, the storm was already through Menasha and the east side of neighboring Fox Crossing.

What the Damage Actually Looks Like

The tornado ripped roofs off homes and flipped vehicles in Menasha, a city of about 18,000 people sitting just blocks from the shores of Lake Winnebago. Video circulating after the storm showed some homes reduced entirely to their outer walls. Twisted metal was scattered across a highway. Trees and power lines were down across entire neighborhoods.

Menasha Police Chief Matt Albrecht told reporters that some homes and businesses were "severely impacted" and that many roads in affected areas were simply impassable. First responders were working to cut through the debris just to reach the neighborhoods. "Right now, there are many downed power lines, downed trees, multiple hazardous situations," Albrecht said. "Please stay out."

The electric utility serving Menasha said the entire city was believed to be without power. Authorities opened a shelter at a local church for residents who couldn't safely remain in their homes.

No Confirmed Fatalities, But the Search Is Still On

Winnebago County's top elected official, Gordon Hintz, said he was not aware of any fatalities or injuries as of Monday afternoon, though emergency officials were still actively searching. National Weather Service meteorologist Holley Kamba told The Guardian that no injuries had been reported to the agency either, at least not yet.

"Obviously, the footage looks devastating," Hintz said. "Clearly some significant damage done with power lines down and things like that." He noted multiple reports of buildings completely destroyed and vehicles overturned, and confirmed that all storm warnings available were activated before the tornado hit. Then he said the quiet part out loud: "Obviously when you look at the damage, Mother Nature doesn't really care."

That is a county official essentially acknowledging that warnings, however well-executed, have hard limits. You can tell people a tornado is coming. You cannot make the tornado stop.

The Storm Wasn't Done by Afternoon

After ripping through the Fox Cities, the twister moved southward over Lake Winnebago toward Fond du Lac county at around 12:25pm, according to the National Weather Service. And the NWS was not issuing an all-clear for the broader region anytime soon.

Severe weather was forecast to continue across east-central and southeastern Wisconsin through Monday afternoon, with more strong winds, hail, and the possibility of additional brief tornadoes. The Guardian reports the tornado's confirmed path covered southern Outagamie county and eastern Winnebago county, the same stretch of the state where the damage reports kept piling in throughout the day.

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers said the state "is ready to assist communities however we can." Standard-issue disaster-response language, sure, but at minimum the machinery of state response appeared to be moving.