Residents begin cleaning up after tornado rips through Kaukauna

KAUKAUNA, Wis. (WFRV) – The buzz of chainsaws echoed throughout Kaukauna on Wednesday as community members cleaned up after a tornado ripped through their community.

“We’ve had a few limbs down over the years, but nothing like this,” said Eileen Eggert from Kaukauna.

Eggert woke up to a big mess in her backyard. The storm ripped branches off her trees some of those branches crashing into her neighbor’s garage. She described to Local 5 News what the storm sounded like on Tuesday night.

“All of a sudden I heard this horrible noise, like a train coming through my window,” she said.

Eggert said she called some of the tree-clearing companies but they told her there’s a long wait for their services. She isn’t sure when somebody will be able to come out to help her in her backyard, but hopes it’s sooner rather than later.

Throughout Kaukauna, Local 5 News saw several trees completely uprooted from the ground. Some of them had fallen onto houses, others had fallen onto graves at Holy Cross Cemetery.

Jesse Coonen lives near the cemetery and said the storm knocked down several trees in his yard.

“Closer to 9 p.m. things really got nasty and we could hear the wind really just pick up,” he said.

Over on Buchanan Road, Jim and Cheryl VanStiphout woke up to part of the roof of their garage completely gone.

“We heard on the windows some ticking noises and some pounding, we thought it was just the hail,” they said.

Shingles and other materials from the roof ended up all over their yard. One piece of material got blown high into the neighbor’s tree. The storm also mangled a neighbor’s trampoline launching it into the VanStiphout’s yard.

“I was surprised, I was shocked,” Jim told Local 5 News. “I never expected it to happen to us.”

Kaukauna residents spent Tuesday surveying the damage in their homes, yards, and neighborhoods and also began the process of cleaning things up.

People agree that the storm was bad, but they say they’re thankful it wasn’t worse.

“Seeing the damage they had in Iowa, this is nothing compared to that,” said Eggert.

The National Weather Service says that wind speeds from the tornado that ripped through Kaukauna Tuesday night reached 95 miles per hour.

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