Wisconsin's first February tornado leaves extensive damage in rural Evansville

After Wisconsin’s first February tornado ripped through rural Rock County Thursday evening, emergency crews and homeowners were out assessing the damage Friday.

All reported injuries were minor, Rock County officials said. But the damage near the city of Evansville — about 22 miles south of Madison, population 5,800 — was extensive.

The storm tore roofs off houses and barns, downed power lines and trees, and overturned tractors and other farm equipment in fields. Warped sheet metal, pieces of lumber and other debris were strewn across farms and roads east of Evansville.

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At one home toured by National Weather Service surveyors and a Journal Sentinel photographer, several windows were blown out. Shattered glass lay in the house, which had been recently remodeled.

Rock County Sheriff Curtis Fell told the Journal Sentinel the scene following last night’s tornado near Evansville was “pretty devastating and dark.” Seeing the damage in the daylight, he said, was even more daunting.

Sean Crull looks into a gaping hole in the roof of a bedroom at a damaged home where his son lives in on North Tolles Road, just north of Highway 14 in Evansville on Friday after a tornado and severe storm hit the area Thursday night, according to Rock County authorities. Crull’s son was home but uninjured.

Some houses were significantly damaged or destroyed, Fell said, and a large number of others received moderate damage. Multiple roads were closed due to downed trees and power lines.

On Friday morning, National Weather Service and emergency management crews were out surveying the area. Crews visited every home in the area to check whether the residents were safe and help them evacuate if needed, Fell said.

So far, only a handful of minor injuries have been reported, Fell said, with just one person who was in a car at the time of the tornado needing to be transported to a local hospital. The crews did find some people who used oxygen and had limited amounts because of the power outage; those people were transported to other areas where they could receive assistance.

A state patrol helicopter was flying over the area to determine the exact path the tornado took, Fell said, and power and light crews were working to restore residents’ power — something he estimated would be done by the end of the weekend.

Fell said it was remarkable that he and his team didn’t come across more injuries. With power outages and weak cell phone service, he said he’s just trying to get the message out to relatives of those in the area that people are OK.

Events like these are “what you train for,” he said. “But when you see it in your own community — it takes a little bit.”

More: School closed in Evansville, Wisconsin after February tornado, what to know about damage, roads

Firefighters provide shelter for displaced residents

A warming shelter was set up at the Evansville fire station in case residents needed somewhere to spend the night after the storm. Five people did that: one family and a single person.

And another couple stopped by Friday morning to get water for their pets, said Ken Nehls, a senior firefighter at the department.

Nehls and Brian Shotliff, fire lieutenant, were unpacking a donation of food from the Piggly Wiggly grocery store that included fruit, snacks, Gatorade and water bottles. They were still deciding what to do with the food, since few people arrived at the shelter, but they were planning to offer it to the public.

“It’s overwhelming,” Nehls said, adding that that he was amazed more people weren’t injured despite the “massive losses” to property. Speaking Friday morning, he said he had been awake and working since 5 p.m. Thursday.

In the summer, the fire department is planning to hold a 150-year anniversary celebration. Now, Nehls said, they will have to add the February tornado of 2024 to their history books.

In records dating to 1986, the National Weather Service office in Sullivan had never issued a tornado warning in February before. On Thursday, it issued five warnings.

This story will be updated.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin’s first February tornado leaves extensive damage in rural Evansville