EVANSVILLE, Wis. — After two tornadoes ripped through Rock County on Thursday evening, community members and crews have been working to clean up debris and get residents back on their feet.
Jeff Deal, an Evansville resident, was not home on Thursday evening when the tornadoes touched down right outside of his home. However, his wife was there.
“She called me and said, 'It is really windy out there,' and then she said, 'Now it’s raining really hard,' and then all of the sudden the power went out,” said Deal.
Deal said his wife and their two dogs were safe in the basement of the house but when they came outside, they realized how lucky they were to be alive.
“The tornado was so close it took off the top of my barn but did not touch my truck at all,” said Deal.
Deal said he had one of the biggest barns — if not the largest — in Rock County; now it is completely destroyed.
“We had to stay with my daughter in Stoughton because we had no power and it was cold,” said Deal.
Now the power is restored, but Deal is left to clean up.
“Fortunately, my neighbor is coming on Saturday and a skid steer so I will try to pile everything over there,” said Deal.
Deal is waiting to see how much of the damage his insurance will cover.
”I have personal property in the barn and they will cover that but they will not cover the building structure at all and they won't cover the clean up, so I am out all that,” said Deal.
According to Rock County Emergency Management, 31 residences were impacted by the storm. Officials said three were destroyed. Ten had "major" damage, while 11 had "minor" damage. Another seven were listed as "affected."
Many church groups and community leaders have been coming together to help those impacted by Thursday’s storm. Preston Berg is the owner of Norse Lawn Service and has been volunteering his time to help those in need.
Berg is often busy clearing snow throughout the winter for work. The low snowfall this winter has left him with a lot of downtime and he decided to use that time to help his community.
“I made a post on Facebook about anybody that needs help, specifically mentioning that I am not looking to get paid for it,” said Berg.
He said he is happy to help those in need.
“Helping people is the right thing to do; a lot of these people don't have the resources to deal with the storm damage,” said Berg.
Since the tornado touched down on Thursday, Berg has been out clearing downed trees and fixing roofing.
“I helped a little over on Highway M and some friends of mine from church, we worked down in Albany to clear up some trees that were down too,” said Berg.
Berg is still offering his services to the community free of charge. For help you can reach out to his company's Facebook page.
Rock County is accepting donations for those directly affected by the storm. In-person donations can be given at Lake Ridge Bank sites as "February Tornado Recovery."
Donations can also be made on Venmo, via @FebruaryTornado.
There is also a GoFundMe page that can be accessed here.
A community gathering for Rock County residents impacted by the Evansville tornado at 6 p.m. on Feb. 15, at Evansville High School in the auditorium.