SUMNER, Wis. — Residents and clean-up crews in southern Wisconsin and beyond were confronted with the aftermath of Thursday night’s tornadoes, which left a trail of destruction in their wake.
In the small town of Sumner in Jefferson County, Randy Burdick was picking up debris on his front lawn. He said he still can’t believe a tornado happened in February.
“It came across, pretty much straight up State Road 106 coming east, and we think it kind of hit over on that side, and then jumped across the road and hit the neighbors,” said Burdick.
Some of his neighbors were hit harder. A barn across the street was destroyed.
“We were lucky compared to them,” said Burdick. “We had some tree damage. The power cable came off of the house.”
Luckily, workers showed up to remove the tree impacting his power line. Burdick said he was on the phone all day with the power company, as well as insurance. A car on Burdick’s property was damaged by falling tree branches.
“Kind of going through your mind is what you got to do,” said Burdick. “You know, clean up, call insurance, call Alliant Energy for the power. It’s just been a day.”
Brett Kolmorgen, who works for the Dane County Highway Department, is among many from outside Jefferson and Rock Counties who came to help clean-up in the worst hit areas.
“Yeah, this has been very odd weather,” he said. “I believe it’s a record.”
This storm marked Wisconsin’s first-ever recorded tornado in the month of February.
Burdick said he is just thankful no one is hurt.
“You just got to thank your lucky stars that’s all it was, material things, not lives,” he said.