BELOIT, Wis. — Straight line winds hit the White Avenue corridor in Beloit, Wis., Tuesday night. The storm left significant damage to some areas.
“We had many trees down,” said Sarah Lock, director of strategic communications for the City of Beloit. “Two of our main intersections in the city had traffic lights switched around and wrapped around. There’s the damage to traffic lights.”
Lock said the most significant damage was done to the historic Beloit pump house building.
“The roof of that building did come off,” said Lock. “It peeled off a little bit and caused some damage. Right now, we have contractors out there working to secure the roof to tarp it off. Then we’ll work through the process to get that roof replaced and we’ll do that with thoughtfulness [regarding] the historic nature of that building.”
The building houses three nonprofits, including: Beloit 200, Friends of Riverfront and Acts Housing. Acts Housing has been there since 2019.
Kelly Andrew, Acts Housing’s vice president of strategic partnerships, said she is thankful no one was inside the building or injured during the storm.
“How scary would that be?” said Andrew. “I think they’re calling it a microburst. This strong, strong wind. I could not imagine being in the building. I’m extremely thankful no one was there and no one was injured.”
For the time being, Andrew said Acts Housing employees will work out of the Milwaukee office or virtually until the roof is repaired.
She said she’s grateful for the community support. Iron Tech, a nearby business, offered office space if needed.
“It’s really going to continue with business as usual for Acts and our programs and a little inconvenience for the team as we get the roof fixed,” said Andrew.
Spectrum News talked to community members who saw the roof come down. They said they were amazed at how quickly it all happened.
Andrew and Lock both said they were relieved the inside of the building wasn’t impacted by the storm.
“The great news is that the interior of the building was not damaged,” said Lock. “There was a few wet ceiling tiles but other than that the structure was fine and the integrity of the building is fine. The inside contents were not damaged. So we’re very thankful for that.”
Still, it will take time before the historic piece of the community will be back up and running.