Wind gusts slam SE Wisconsin; power knocked out, trees toppled
Wind gusts slam SE Wisconsin; power knocked out, trees toppled
Powerful winds toppled trees across Milwaukee, damaging homes and crushing vehicles in multiple neighborhoods on Monday, April 27.
MILWAUKEE - Extremely powerful wind gusts barreled through southeast Wisconsin on Monday afternoon, April 27, and knocked out power for thousands.
Milwaukee storm damage
What we know:
Powerful winds toppled trees across Milwaukee on Monday, April 27, crushing cars and damaging homes as crews responded to hundreds of emergency calls.
Tree down on Booth Street in Milwaukee's Riverwest neighborhood
A massive tree fell along Booth Street between Locust and Chambers in the Riverwest neighborhood, smashing a truck and damaging a nearby home.
What they're saying:
"It was a very loud boom. I thought it was sticks of dynamite going off," said David Machado, whose truck was crushed by the tree. "We run out and we look and my truck is under a tree completely crushed."
It took only seconds for a rainy afternoon to turn dangerous.
"It was just like a big loud crack. It did sound like someone was setting off some type of firework," said Yesenia Machado, who saw the tree fall.
Tree down on Booth Street in Milwaukee's Riverwest neighborhood
The falling tree also damaged Carson Kellogg’s home. He was inside an upper-level room at the time.
"I just heard the crack, turned around and the whole tree is just coming right at me," Kellogg said.
The Milwaukee Department of Public Works says crews responded to more than 200 emergency calls as winds knocked down trees from the north side to the south.
Tree down on Booth Street in Milwaukee's Riverwest neighborhood
At least four trees fell along one block near 18th and Scott.
In Whitefish Bay, seven trees were reported down, including a large branch that crushed a car and another tree that split near Lydell and Henry Clay.
Dig deeper:
Crews are now working to clear debris and reopen roads.
"I’ve definitely seen some trees come down, but not this close to my house," Kellogg said. "Like thinking it was going to crash through the windows."
Residents say they are grateful no one was hurt.
"I’m so grateful that just no one’s hurt and that it was only the cars that were really damaged," Yesenia Machado said.
Public works crews say they began clearing the hundreds of downed trees immediately, with residents thankful roads are reopening quickly.
Live updates from the day can be found below:
Continued push to fix outages
10:33 p.m.:
As of shortly after 10:30 p.m., the number of customers without power went down to 13,954.
Latest from We Energies
8:05 p.m.:
We Energies provided the following update:
"We Energies crews will work through the night to restore power to customers affected by hurricane-force winds in Southeast Wisconsin.
Gusts reaching nearly 80 mph in Milwaukee knocked down large trees and power lines, snapping poles and causing a number of outages.
Since Monday afternoon, We Energies crews have restored service to more than 35,000 customers.
We expect to restore power to about 80% of customers tonight and the remaining customers by Tuesday afternoon.
All available crews — including crews from our sister utility, Wisconsin Public Service — will work nonstop until power is back on for all affected customers.
Customers can get the latest information on the estimated time of restoration for their outage on our outage map online or on the We Energies app.
Please remember to stay at least 25 feet away from downed wires and report them to We Energies or a local law enforcement agency right away."
Additionally, as of 8:05 p.m., the number of customers without power went down to 17,370.
Power being restored to thousands
6:21 p.m.:
We Energies crews are hard at work trying to restore power to thousands after gusts knocked down trees and more in southeast Wisconsin. As of this hour, nearly 27,000 customers were still without power.
Peak wind gusts
5:43 p.m.:
The National Weather Service has been reporting peak wind gusts as seen in southeast Wisconsin on Monday afternoon. They are as follows:
- Batten Airport in Racine, 46 mph
- Burlington Municipal Airport, 51 mph
- Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport, 77 mph
- Port Washington, 52 mph
- Sheboygan, 51 mph
Damage in Riverwest
5:24 p.m.:
Wind gusts topple trees in Milwaukee's Riverwest neighborhood
Extremely powerful wind gusts caused havoc throughout southeast Wisconsin, downing trees and knocking out power to thousands. FOX6's Ashley Sears shows you the damage in Milwaukee's Riverwest neighborhood.
Roof damage of Franklin business
4:19 p.m.:
The Franklin Fire Department reported that high winds caused significant roof damage to a large industrial building on W. Oakwood Park Drive.
Wind damage at Franklin business (Credit: Franklin Fire Department)
A large area of roofing material was ripped off, causing two roof-mounted HVAC units to be toppled over. That created a natural gas leak.
First responders responded and dealt with the hazards created by the structural damage and gas leaks. No injuries were reported.
Wind damage at Franklin business (Credit: Franklin Fire Department)
Power outage latest
4:12 p.m.:
As of 4:12 p.m., more than 40,000 We Energies customers were listed as without power.
Monitor the tally on your own by visiting the We Energies Outage Map.
Photo gallery across SE Wisconsin
3:35 p.m.:
Viewers submitted photos of additional damage across southeast Wisconsin.
Milwaukee response
3:08 p.m.:
A news release from the Office of Milwaukee Mayor said the Milwaukee Fire Department has responded to an unusually large number of reports of wires down. The Forestry Division of the Milwaukee Department of Public Works has received nearly one hundred emergency calls for downed trees and branches. And, Port Milwaukee is assessing roof damage to two warehouses on its grounds.
"I greatly appreciate the quick responses from city crews to this unusual weather event," Mayor Cavalier Johnson said in the news release. "I ask everyone to be cautious and patient as crews address storm damage. Stay clear of downed wires, fallen trees and other potentially dangerous situations."
Power outages increase
3:01 p.m.:
As of 3:01 p.m., more than 46,900 We Energies customers were listed as without power.
Monitor the tally on your own by visiting the We Energies Outage Map.
19th and Nash in Milwaukee
2:50 p.m.:
Damage from the winds appears to be widespread in Milwaukee. This is the scene from 19th and Nash in Milwaukee.
19th and Nash damage in Milwaukee
Large branches down
2:38 p.m.:
The damage from what FOX6 Chief Meteorologist Tom Wachs suspects was a downburst-like gust, has caused tree damage in many areas throughout the area. We have reports of large tree branches down in Wilson Park.
There was also at least one tree down reported in Greendale.
Tree down on Churchway in Greendale, courtesy of Steven Breiling
Power outages
2:33 p.m.:
As of 2:33 p.m., nearly 45,000 We Energies customers were listed as without power. That number was higher earlier in the afternoon.
Monitor the tally on your own by visiting the We Energies Outage Map.
Tree damage
2:31 p.m.:
Trees have been reported down in Milwaukee's Riverwest neighborhood on Booth Street between Locust and Chambers.
Tree down on Booth Street in Milwaukee's Riverwest neighborhood
Credit: Carson Kellogg
A similar scene was spotted at Lydell Preschool in Whitefish Bay.
Tree split at Lydell preschool in Whitefish Bay
Gusts cause damage
2:15 p.m.:
Strong winds raced through the FOX6 viewing area between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport recorded a wind gust of 77 miles an hour.
FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX LOCAL Mobile app for iOS or Android
FOX6 News is also receiving updates on damage throughout the region – including tree limbs that crashed down onto an SUV in in the Whitefish Bay area.
Wind damage in Whitefish Bay
Wind damage in Whitefish Bay
FOX6 News will update this post was more information becomes available.
The Source: Information in this post was provided by FOX6 Weather Experts and the We Energies Outage Map.