OCONTO FALLS (NBC 26) — Almost one-third of homes in Oconto Falls remain without power Tuesday morning after powerful storms Monday night, according to Wisconsin Public Service.
Powerful winds uprooted trees, which fell on power lines and houses and onto streets, sidewalks and railroad tracks.
Nick Patron, a resident of Stiles, recalled in detail the moment he realized the storm was going to be destructive.
“I heard wind that sounded like a freight train coming," he said. "And wind like I’ve never seen before, and the lightning look just like a strobe light. Rapid flashing and you could hear trees crunching down and when I went out of the house, a branch hit me right in the face so I told my family to get in the car and we got out of there, and then as we started coming down the road there were several trees blocking the roads so I had to get off the chainsaw and start cutting some trees.“
Bob Telford, a member of the Stiles town board, went out to survey the damage late Monday night as the storms were still rolling through.
“I went out to go clear them out and my neighbor over here was already out on the road right by our house, just cleaning them up," he said. "So we’ve been working together the last hour or so just cleaning up trees. Trees down everywhere, the roads are covered. Just making sure before we go up to any of them that there’s no power lines down or near power lines. We would just get away.”
The priority of cleanup crews remains removing trees that knocked down power lines and restoring power to everyone who lost it.
