DOOR COUNTY (NBC 26) — Cana Island is still in recovery mode after powerful weekend storms, leaving behind significant damage. Cleanup efforts are ongoing, and for some, including one man who shared his story, the storm brought more than just fallen trees. It left them stranded.
"I'm closing the door, and all of a sudden, sheets of rain," Steve Cox, a volunteer at the Cana Island Lighthouse in Baileys Harbor, said.
We checked in with volunteers on Cana Island, to see how recovery efforts are going after the storm on Saturday, watch below:
He was one of about 20 people who got stuck trying to leave the island during Saturday’s storm.
"When everything stopped, I’m like, ‘See you later, kids, I’m going home,’ and then I turn the corner and I’m like, ‘Nope,’ because there are like six or seven big trees down and I couldn’t even see daylight through the trees," Cox said.
He says the last tour group made it back to the parking lot around 3:45 p.m., but they couldn’t leave until much later.
"The crews had come in, they had a big payloader provided by the county that just cleared out lumber, and finally the foreman was like, ‘You’re good to go.’ That was eleven o’clock," Cox said.
For Sam Pearlman with the Door County Maritime Museum, getting back to the island to help with cleanup was also a challenge.
"It's a lot to process. I mean, when we first got here, we couldn’t even get onto the island itself. There were trees right here at the entrance," Sam Pearlman said.
Volunteers from the Door County Maritime Museum, the County Parks Department, and the U.S. Coast Guard have all pitched in to help with recovery efforts.
"The most severe damage was to the welcome and interpretive center. We did have a couple of holes in the roof, but county crews have already made temporary repairs," Pearlman said.
Thankfully, the historic lighthouse was not damaged. Aside from clearing debris, Pearlman says they’re also waiting on WPS to restore power.
For now, the island remains closed to visitors. Once it reopens, an update will be shared on their Facebook page.
