Story originally printed in the Coulee News or online at www.couleenews.com
Published - Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Sirens sound: Storm topples trees, downs power lines in La Crosse area
Heather Schurhammer’s garage was a living room of sorts, with two televisions, a microwave and plenty of space to host gatherings.
“That is where we spent all of our time,” she said.
Fortunately, no one was in the backyard garage when a giant black walnut tree came down on it during a storm Monday afternoon.
The door of the garage at 1310 10th St. S. was left standing but the rest was leveled by the uprooted tree.
The main storm system came through the area just after 4 p.m. Monday, packing heavy rain and wind gusts of up to 70 mph, said Seth Binau, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in La Crosse.
The straight-line winds were strong enough to set off emergency sirens that automatically sound when wind speeds top 60 mph, said La Crosse County Emergency Services Administrator Jay Loeffler.
The storms mainly were concentrated in the cities of La Crosse and La Crescent, Minn., said Binau. Some parts saw 13/4 inches of rainfall in about 75 minutes, he said.
The Schurhammers weren’t home when the tree came down, but neighbors Jeff and Leslie Larson were outside when the wind picked up, and Jeff heard a cracking sound.
“I didn’t see the tree come down because I was getting the family in the house,” he said.
Heavy rains left a few vehicles on La Crosse’s South Side with minor damage from flooded streets, said Ken Damaschke, 911 communication supervisor for La Crosse County. Some vehicles actually were floated by the water, he said.
The La Crosse Fire Department had about 24 calls from 4 to 8 p.m. related to storm damage, primarily downed power lines and trees, said Michael Ethridge, division chief.
“It was pretty busy,” he said.
Xcel Energy reported 250 customers had power outages in the La Crosse area after the storm, said spokeswoman Liz Wolf Green. One of the larger areas without power was in the town of Shelby near the Orchard Lane and Wedgewood Drive area, where service was cut to 85 customers when a tree fell on lines.
Xcel expected crews would have power restored to about 75 percent of those customers by late Monday evening, Wolf said.
Anyone still without power this morning should call 1-800-895-1999, she said.
The weather service did not expect the rainfall to trigger flooding along area rivers or streams.
More thunderstorms are likely toward the end of the week, the weather service said
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