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February tornado leaves Evansville area without power, storm damage

By: CBS 58 Newsroom
Posted: Feb 8, 2024 6:54 PM CST | Updated: Feb 8, 2024 10:45 PM CST
NOW: February tornado leaves Evansville area without power, storm damage
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EVANSVILLE, Wis. (CBS 58) -- According to the Evansville Police Department, Evansville is facing power outages due to severe weather on Thursday, Feb. 8.  

The police said they do not have a timeline for when power will be restored. As of 8:45 p.m., Rock Energy Cooperative, an energy company used in the area, is reporting that about 98.7% around the town of Porter are without power. 

Power outages in the area can be tracked here. 

According to the Rock County Sheriff, six to eight homes were damaged, and there were several downed power lines and gas leaks. 

In Evansville, no major injuries have been reported. 

Northeast of Evansville, multiple buildings in Jefferson County were damaged. We will not know exactly the damage from the tornado until the National Weather Service surveys it tomorrow. 

In Busseyville, about seven miles outside Fort Atkinson, damage to a farm along Highway 106 is incredible. The homeowner's lived here since 1992. The roof to his barn was blown to bits. Inside the barn, it's gutted. They've lost farm equipment and countless tools. Fortunately, their animals were not in the barn when the storm hit. The wind Thursday night was still tossing around what was left of the barn. There were no animals in the barn, but they did have access to an animal shed. That shed was lifted and thrown 100 yards by the tornado. Also tossed was a mobile unit that's used for field corn.

The homeowner said he heard the sirens and ran to his basement and within three minutes, he started to hear the colossal damages happening outside and inside his home.

"I don't know if it blew it or sucked the windows on this end of the house. I just went in there and looked at that, there's wood chips all over from the trim and everything else. Lots of shingles missing. Yeah, the whole front of the house is gone from the shingles," said Pat Peterson, homeowner.

The farm has four cows and two mules. The homeowner said as soon as the funnel cloud left the area, he rushed outside to see if his animals were okay. He found all six of them together at the edge of the property.

There were other damages we found on the way to Busseyville, namely along Highway 106, where crews had already started to clear away large trees that fell across the road.




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