A severe storm caused major damage in downtown Horicon Wednesday, leaving several brick buildings structurally unsound and prompting a large emergency response near the corner of Vine and Lake streets.
Officials said a roof blew off one building and into the building across the street. Several walls have also collapsed further down Lake Street, and downed trees are blocking portions of the road.
Officials said no one was severely injured, but one woman who lived in the apartments was struck by a brick. She was assessed on the scene and was not taken to the hospital.
Horicon Mayor Josh Maas and Utilities Director Cody Vanderhei were driving through the area when the storm hit.
"We were driving right past it right when it happened," Maas said. "And we were like 'What happened?'"
Vanderhei described what they saw.
"Well we saw lots of debris coming off the roof," he said. "And there was a lot of flying debris like garbage, roofing material, things that we blowing down through town and we could see trees taking off at that time as well."
When asked if they could hear the wind while driving, Vanderhei said:
"Yeah," both said. "Yeah it sounded like a train."
Jay Toth, who lives in Horicon, said he was outside when the storm moved through.
"I was working in the garden, talking to a neighbor, all of a sudden we heard sirens and I said, 'Are those tornado warnings?''' he said. "And there was nothing by us so, it got windy, rained and that was about it."
At about 6:15 Wednesday evening, officials opened Lake Street so traffic could drive through. Damage totals are not yet available.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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