Severe storm devastates Loyal area properties

By Valorie Brecht A storm system rolled through central Wisconsin last Thursday afternoon, producing at least three confirmed tornadoes in Clark County and destroying several buildings.

According to the National Weather Service (NWS), “[An] unseasonably warm and moist airmass provided a ripe environment for a east/northeast moving cold front to spark a line of strong to severe thunderstorms on the afternoon of Thursday, May 15.

“The atmosphere was initially ‘capped,’ but once surface temperatures warmed sufficiently, coupled with the lift provided by the front, storms ‘exploded’ southwest along the boundary — quickly becoming severe.

“Initially, large hail was the primary concern, but as the storms continued to evolve, the threat for tornadoes increased.”

As of Tuesday, the National Weather Service of La Crosse had confirmed three tornadoes: an EF 1 tornado near Christie, an EF 0 tornado southwest of Loyal, and an EF 2 tornado just south of Colby, all occurring between 4:45 and 5:30 p.m. on May 15. EF 0 indicates winds up to 85 mph, EF 1 is for winds between 86 and 110 mph, and EF 2 is between 111 and 135 mph.

The NWS website shows the Loyal tornado following a 2.3-mile path from Owen Avenue northeast to Poplar Road, ending at a point about a mile west of County Highway K. However, the damage at the Brian and Karie Schmidt property would indicate the tornado continued at least a short distance farther. The Schmidts live on the west side of Highway K, about 5 miles south of Loyal. Their barn was completely flattened in the twister.

“I had just gotten home from work and ran down the steps into the basement. I heard it go down. It was loud,” said Karie.

There were no animals in the barn, as the Schmidts had been using it for storage. No one was injured. The house suffered minor damage, including dents in the siding, the storm door being shattered, and a piece of wood driven into the roof. The garage also had some holes in the siding.

The Schmidts were grateful to those who came to help them clear the driveway, which was littered with debris.

“We’ve had lots of friends and family helping,” said Karie.

The Noeldner farm about a mile north of the Schmidts also had a top torn off one of their silos, with the rest of the farm seemingly untouched. Ken Horn’s 36-foot by 84foot heifer barn on Bobwhite Road east of K came down. He was not there at the time, but after the storm went to check for any damage. At first he saw the metal and thought it was debris from the Schmidt barn, but then realized it was the roof of his barn that been blown away. Part of it landed across the road to the north and the rest of it was scattered in different spots of the yard. No animals were injured, and approximately 49 heifers were moved to his other barn.

Please see Storm, page 27

VALORIE BRECHT/STAFF PHOTO Storm,

from p. 1

The Jesse and Tiffany Clintsman property was also impacted by the storm. The couple and their two sons live past the Loyal Sportman’s Club, about 2 miles east of town on Chickadee Road. Their two-and-a-half car garage, shop, and shed were all destroyed. Tiffany estimated the peak of the storm rolled through around 5:15 p.m.

“We felt a shake, the lights flickered, and that was it,” said Tiffany.

The family came outside to view the wreckage, including debris like pieces of metal strewn across a neighboring field and their camper tipped on its side. Soon after, the fire department arrived on the scene. There was concern that the Clintsmans’ propane tank was damaged or dislodged, potentially causing a leak or posing a fire hazard if a spark were to ignite escaping gas.

As of Monday afternoon, the Clintsmans were still waiting on a storm assessment.

“We have to wait on insurance. We can’t do cleanup yet. We were able to clean up the trees at least,” said Tiffany.

She expressed gratitude for the community support they had received.

“It’s been absolutely wonderful. We’re very grateful and thankful for everything,” said Tiffany.

Other damage from the storm included downed power lines across Twenty-Six Road near where it intersects with Pelsdorf Avenue just south of Loyal, and at a nearby home on Mann Road. A power pole was snapped off by the Rock Creek bridge east of Loyal. The city of Loyal lost power for about half an hour. Residents also reported a downed fence and a few downed trees/large limbs.

Other nearby areas reported power outages. In Spencer, the pumps were down at Kwik Trip at around 7:14 p.m. Storm reports indicated 2-inch hail in Humbird, 1.5-inch hail in the Willard area near the town of Seif, and 1.5-inch hail east of Neillsville.

Colby tornado The EF 2 tornado that touched down near Colby caused a great deal of damage. About 80 vehicles, including all 60 of the cars and trucks at the Colby Chrysler Center, were damaged by last Thursday’s tornado, which also flattened several farm buildings, ripped the roof off a house and snapped multiple power poles, leaving thousands without power going into last weekend. According to the NWS, the tornado developed in the farm fields west of Unity, near the intersection of County Highway K and Badger Avenue, and made its way northeast toward the city of Colby. Along its 4.5-mile path, the tornado “damaged multiple farm outbuildings, trees, power poles, and a home,” which had “a majority of its roof removed,” the NWS reported.

The 120 mile-per-hour winds uprooted trees and blew debris hundreds of yards away as it crossed the southeast corner of the town of Colby before entering the city. The tornado lasted approximately seven minutes, from 5:21 to 5:28 p.m., according to the the NWS.

On the day after the storm hit, Xcel Energy said its “crews have made good progress in restoring power to more than 20,000 customers in northwestern Wisconsin, including the hardest hit areas in Clark, Marathon, and Rusk counties…” “The weather resulted in dozens of broken poles and downed lines and crews have worked throughout the night and day repairing and replacing equipment,” the press release said.

According to the press release, most of Xcel’s customers had their service restored by late Friday night, but about 500 customers, including the entire community of Unity, had to wait until late Saturday for the power to come back on.

Weather precedent Last week’s storm system was reminiscent of the one that occurred May 21 of last year, producing five NWSconfirmed tornadoes in the areas of Globe, rural Loyal, Atwood, and Unity, including one that took down Richard and Marge Rohde’s barn on Fairground Avenue south of Grassland Dairy Products. The village of Unity also experienced substantial damage to homes and garages in that event.

Kevin O’Brien of The Tribune Phonograph, Abbotsford, contributed to this article.

For more storm damage photos, please see page 28.

VALORIE BRECHT/STAFF AND CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS

At top, a pile of wreckage remains at the Jesse and Tiffany Clintsman property on Chickadee Road just outside of Loyal. They had a garage, shop, and shed all destroyed in the severe weather last Thursday night. The National Weather Service has not confirmed a tornado passed through their property, but the trail of damage would suggest a tornado. Above left, a rural Neillsville resident observed hail during the storm. Above right is a view of the Brian and Karie Schmidt barn south of Loyal about 5 miles.

Left, 2nd from bottom, this power pole along Highway 98 about 2.5 miles east of Loyal was snapped near the base. Right, 2nd from bottom, power company workers were out bracing the pole at around 6:40 p.m. Thursday. Above left, downed power lines cross Twenty-Six Road a few miles south of Loyal. Above right is what remained of Ken Horn’s heifer barn on Bobwhite Road south of Loyal after the tempest blew through. Pieces of the roof were scattered throughout the yard and across the road.