Tim Ryan, tryan@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader Photo by Lee Pulaski A tree at the intersection of Cecil and Cedar streets in Bonduel was one of many trees throughout the county damaged as a results of a storm system that swept through the area late Wednesday. Dozens of trees and some homes were damaged across the area, according to Shawano County officials.
Leader Photo by Lee Pulaski The fence around Bonduel High School’s football field was damaged by Wednesday night’s storm. Students in the Bonduel School District got the day off from school after power was lost there.
A cluster of homes in the town of Wescott sustained the heaviest damage in Shawano County from storms that swept through the area overnight Wednesday.
Shawano County Emergency Management Director Natalie Easterday said seven homes on North Shore Drive sustained heavy damage and the homeowners were working with their insurance companies on the matter.
Easterday said, however, there were dozens of reports of tree branches in roadways, and in some cases trees down entirely throughout the county.
She said the National Weather Service was assessing the damage for purposes of determining how strong winds were Wednesday night and whether there were tornado-level gusts. No tornadoes were reported and information was not yet available Thursday afternoon on how strong the winds were.
There were also reports of widespread power outages, including an outage that forced the cancellation of classes in the Bonduel School District on Thursday.
In the city of Shawano, storm problems were limited to construction signs on Green Bay Street being blown around, according to the Police Department.
Easterday said the storms underlined the importance of signing up for the county’s CodeRED Emergency Weather Warnings, which issues alerts about impending severe weather directly to cellphones or home phones.
People can sign up on the county’s website or by calling Easterday at the emergency management office, 715-526-6774.