Afternoon storms cause power outages, downed trees in northern suburbs
WISCONSIN (CBS 58) -- An afternoon storm barreled through the north suburbs Tuesday, knocking down tree limbs and leaving a number of people without power.
Dark, ominous clouds and strong winds whipped things around in Grafton. In Brookfield, the windy storm knocked down trees, like one at 138th and Capitol Drive.
As quickly as it blew in, storm clouds departed. The hours that followed were all about the cleanup.
At Amy Belle Lake Road in Richfield, We Energies crews cleared trees and trimmed branches off power lines.
In all, Washington County's dispatch got 15 calls for branches and power lines blocking roads and three calls for trees on fire.
But what really made for an uncomfortable afternoon were the power outages, with over 10,000 at the height of it. We Energies crews were able to restore thousands within the first few hours.
"Thank you for getting our power back on so quickly," said Lauren Chojnacki.
Lauren Chojnacki and her 2-year-old daughter Willow had a little extra play time Tuesday because of the power outage in West Bend.
"And I had to come home and come to her day care down the street because they were also out of power," said Chojnacki.
But it was a stuffy three hours inside their home, with the blinds shut.
For hours, a number of the businesses in West Bend, along Paradise Drive, had no power. The same was true for homes in the area.
Daniel Fellenz of Kewaskum says he's prepared for days like these. He owns a generator.
"Just sitting, and the power pulsed, and just like oh, and then about the third time, it finally shut off as it usually does, but it came back on two minutes later. But in that two minutes' time? Yuck," said Fellenz.