Tornado rips up barns in Rib Falls

By Casey Krautkramer

Town of Rib Falls resident Terry Napierala described the horrific moment a tornado destroyed his barn on Thursday night. He said it became eerily quiet outside, and when he looked out his window, he saw debris from his barn flying around in the sky. He laid down on the floor of his house after a board came through the window.

The National Weather Service (NWS) in Green Bay confirmed a high-end EF-0 tornado, with maximum winds of 85 miles per hour, struck near Rib Falls in western Marathon County last Thursday. The tornado was on the ground for 2.5 miles for about nine minutes and it was 65 yards wide.

Fortunately, Terry and Donna Napierala’s barn was empty because they sold their cows several years ago. Debris from the barn caused damage to their house, and a pile of sheet metal was snarled into their trees on the northwest side of the house. Debris from their barn also flew across the road into their neighbor Dillon Frahm’s house and yard. The tornado completely flattened Frahm’s barn. The Napieralas and Frahms both live on Raven Falls Trail off CTH U just west of Rib Falls. They have Edgar addresses.

Terry Napierala and his son, Michael, were eagerly waiting for the insurance adjuster to arrive on Friday afternoon and as-

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BARNYARD MESS- The high-end EF-0 tornado with wind speeds of 85 miles per hour tore apart town of Rib Falls residents Terry and Donna Napierala’s barn, leaving one silo and the former milk house. STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER Tornadoes

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sess the damage so they could start cleaning up the huge mess. A GoFundMe account has been established on Facebook to raise money for Terry and Donna Napierala to help them clean up and rebuild their house. The Go-FundMe account states that although they have insurance, it still won’t cover the majority of the cleanup costs. The couple also needs to buy a camper to live in temporarily while cleanup and rebuilding takes place, the site says.

The Rib Falls twister was one of at least 10 total tornadoes that streaked across Wisconsin on Thursday. Four tornadoes were rated Category 2, including one near New Richmond in St. Croix County, another between Unity and Colby in Clark County and others in Mayville and west of Juneau in Dodge County.

EF-2 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale means the winds measured between 111 and 135 miles per hour and they caused considerable damage.

The NWS determined that tornado in the Colby area had wind speeds of 120 miles per hour and it was on the ground for 4.5 miles from 5:21 to 5:28 p.m., spanning 150 yards wide.

An EF-1 tornado with maximum wind speeds of 95 miles per hour briefly formed southeast of Christie in Clark County, and an EF-0 tornado with wind speeds of 85 miles per hour swirled southwest of Loyal in Clark County. EF-1 tornadoes occurred in Lomira and north of Juneau in Dodge County. The NWS also confirmed an EF-0 tornado with max wind speeds of 70 miles per hour occurred near Rock Springs in Sauk County.

FLATTENED - The Rib Falls tornado crushed Dillon Frahm’s barn, which is located across the road from his neighbors Terry and Donna Napierala whose barn was also destroyed.

STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER