EF-3 tornado tears through Menasha, leaving widespread damage
Updated at 9:38 a.m. on July 28, 2026:
MENASHA, Wis. (CBS 58) -- The National Weather Service is now offering a preliminary rating of EF-3 to the Monday, July 27 tornado that impacted Menasha.
Peak winds are believed to have hit around 140 mph.
NWS says that the change is based on "analysis of data gathered during [Monday]'s survey and drone video, and they say the most severe damage was near US 10 / Highway 441 in north Menasha.
MENASHA, Wis. (CBS 58) -- The Menasha community -about 40 miles southwest of Green Bay- is dealing with catastrophic damage after an EF-2 tornado touched down Monday, July 27.
Damage in the hardest hit areas is significant, with houses destroyed and some roads still impassable.
Cleanup in Menasha could take weeks, and rebuilding could take months or more. But first, people had to survive.
PHOTO GALLERY
We heard dozens of stories of riding out the storm in basements and bathrooms, hoping and praying to make it through.
"My ears popped, and all that stuff just happened. You could hear all the transformers blowing up. It was a very surreal moment," said Mason Schoenke, who was working when the storm hit.
"Heard that train sound everyone talks about," said Kristin Soroko, who took cover when the warnings hit. "The sky went orange through the basement windows."
It came on within moments as people scrambled for cover anywhere they could.
"We hid in the bathroom, and we felt the whole house shaking," said Isabella Herbst. Isabella's father told her and her siblings to brace themselves. "I was like, oh my gosh, this was horrible," she said.
For a half hour, the storm pounded the town. Shelter warnings were extended as people stayed put. Finally, it moved out and people ventured outside.
"We saw a house that was collapsed, and we knew who it was, so we started crying because we didn't know if they- she was okay- but luckily, she was," Herbst said.
Block after block has damaged homes, roofs and walls peeled back, with downed powerlines and trees. There are so many power problems, crews are bypassing some to get to others that are more pressing.
Fire crews responded to several natural gas leaks that could be smelled throughout the neighborhoods.
Snapped powerlines are causing problems in more ways than one. No one can community, but they're also blocking traffic.
"The roof was entirely ripped off my girlfriend's house," said Dan Cannon. "A lot of stuff lost. Luckily, we found all the pets and everyone's safe."
Cannon survived the storm in his girlfriend's basement. He gave the neighbors next door some shoes, then found out their son was trapped.
"Helped the son out of the basement because their house was completely collapsed," Cannon said.
Hundreds of similar stories played out throughout the afternoon.
"Windows broken everywhere. Everywhere. The people next to us in the stone house lost the top of theirs. It's bad," said Ali Garland, whose mother's home was damaged in the storm.
Ali's mother's house is a block away from the damaged water filtration plant.
Emergency alerts warned to conserve water because water service had stopped. Boil orders were issued later. While many houses were severely damaged or destroyed, others were luckier.
"Just working on clearing a path to my house because we can't get in yet," said Korey Kolz.
Some people walked through town Monday passing out free sandwiches and food. Other sites offered free water, snacks, even dog treats. Many people kept an upbeat attitude throughout the day, willing to go without in order to help neighbors who'd been through worse.
"I'd rather people that are actually displaced get a hotel room tonight," said Diane Simon. "My house is not damaged in that way."
One man called to us in passing that FEMA needs to help Menasha with the recovery process. We know if that aid becomes available, it will be a long process to get there. In the meantime, Christ the Rock Church in Menasha is being set up for people who need shelter.
Governor Tony Evers issued a statement Monday, saying in part, "The state is ready to assist communities however we can."
CBS 58 also stopped by a neighborhood in Neenah, where Joy Radford told us her house had window and gutter damage, and a tree in her yard split, but compared to what happened to others, she called her damage "minimal."
"From where I am standing, as we came outside, there's probably 100 trees that are down and there was actually a rowboat upside down on the sidewalk in front of our house that had flown off the bay, and I can see into the park and there's a ton of damage down there. So, it's, you know, Neenah and Menasha are cities with beautiful trees and there is a ton of damage across the way."