Eagle Tornado

UPDATE: Storm Photos

Eagle tornado had winds approaching 135 mph

The tornado that tore through Eagle on Monday night had winds between 111 mph and 135 mph and cut a swath 4 miles long and three-quarters of a mile wide, authorities said Tuesday.

The National Weather Service rated the tornado as a category EF2 on the Enhanced Fujita scale, which measures tornado strength.

...Meanwhile, at a late-morning news conference Tuesday, Waukesha County Sheriff Dan Trawicki said a curfew would be imposed in the area from 9 p.m. Tuesday to 5 a.m. Wednesday morning. No one would be allowed in or out of the "contaminated area," the part of the village hardest hit along Sherman St. south of Main St.

Authorities investigated complaints of looting on Monday night. Trawicki said some people were detained, but no one was arrested. He said some of the people in the area may have been curious onlookers.

After the tornado struck Monday night, authorities said, they first believed only five homes had been destroyed. But during the light of day Tuesday morning and after surveying only about 75% of the damaged area, Trawicki said at least 25 homes were "complete and total losses."

He expected that number to grow during the day Tuesday as damage assessment continued.

"The damage is far worse than we first thought," he said.

In addition to the destroyed homes, 100 other homes had moderate to substantial damage, he said.

...[Eagle Fire Chief Justin] Heim said officials had not determined yet why tornado warning sirens did not work Monday night. Determining why that happened is on the top of his list of things to do in the tornado's aftermath, Heim said.

Asked why he thought everyone survived the storm without more serious injuries, Heim said: "I think it was by the grace of God. It could have turned out a lot differently than it did, and we're fortunate that all these communities banded together to assist us in what's probably our greatest time of need in Eagle."

Significant damage at Old World Wisconsin

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The longest day of the year proved to be a dark one for some in Wisconsin.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

A tornado raked southwestern Waukesha County on Monday night, flattening six houses in Eagle, damaging others and causing at least minor injuries.

With power outages, it was so dark that it was difficult to immediately assess the extent of the damage, Eagle Village President Richard Spurrell said.

But a walk through a neighborhood just southeast of the village center revealed toppled trees everywhere and houses that looked as if a giant had stepped on them.

Eagle Fire Chief Justin Heim, whose own house was flattened by the storm, said in television interviews that the village's warning sirens had failed to sound before the storm hit; it wasn't known why they failed, he said late Monday.

Winds in excess of 70 mph that were reported shortly before 9:30 p.m. were blamed for extensive tree damage and downed power lines throughout the area.

Some 48,000 We Energies customers were without electrical power early Tuesday, mainly in Waukesha, Racine, Milwaukee and Jefferson counties. Many of the outages were expected to last at least through the night, utility spokesman Barry McNulty said.

The utility also cut off gas service to the damaged houses in Eagle, and crews were checking the area for possible gas leaks.

...Elsewhere in Waukesha County, Muskego police reported boats flipped over, trees knocked into houses and air conditioning units ripped out of the post office, with most of the damage between Woods Road and Janesville Road, according to the weather service.

...Downed trees and power lines and structural damage were reported throughout southern Wisconsin, the weather service said.

The weather service began issuing tornado watches and warnings shortly after 8 p.m. for much of south-central and southeastern Wisconsin.

The control tower at Mitchell International Airport was evacuated and takeoffs were suspended after a tornado warning was issued for northern Racine and southern Milwaukee counties, airport spokeswoman Pat Rowe said.

In Milwaukee County, there were reports of a tornado near Hales Corners at 9:48 p.m., but there were no reports of injuries or of extensive damage.

...Elsewhere in the state, tornadoes also were reported in Woodford and Wiota in Lafayette County and at Cross Plains in Dane County, the weather service said.

Along with the tornadoes, funnel clouds were reported in Sauk County along with drenching downpours, localized flooding and hail.

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Video, from FOX 6 News.



What an absolutely terrifying night!

Thank God there were no deaths or life-threatening injuries as a result of the storms.

Given that the tornado sirens didn't sound in Eagle, that's a miracle.