'We come together': Tornado recovery efforts underway in the Fox Valley
WINNEBAGO COUNTY, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Cleanup and recovery efforts are well underway in the Fox Valley after an EF-3 tornado tore through the area on Monday, July 27.
Neighbors in Menasha are starting to rebuild both their homes and their community.
“But honestly, this is really what it's all about when a community comes together. I mean, it's really devastating and terrible what happened. But out of something so terrible that happened, you really kind of get to see something beautiful, which is the community all coming together and just wanting to help out," said Adam Barnett, neighbor.
He and his wife set up a giveaway tent near 7th and Appleton where anyone in need could stop by for items.
Barnett said their next step is to be able to go out and deliver.
"We just had someone come by and drop off $370 cash just to go ahead and help supply more for the community and that says everything about what's going on here in Menasha," he said.
Neighbors in the area say community hubs are key in times like this as they recover one day at a time -- sometimes without even knowing what their future home will look like.
“We had some structural damage, we've got holes in the roof, our foundation shifted about eight inches, because the house actually swayed," said Becky Joppich, lives in Menasha.
PHOTO GALLERY
Becky Joppich's has lived in this old farmhouse for nine years; its foundation was laid back in 1871.
"You could hear was the siding being ripped off, the windows breaking, things hitting the sides of the house," Joppich said.
Now, Joppich doesn't know when she can get back home.
“They told us the electricity would not be back in this area for three to five weeks, because almost all of the meter boxes were ripped off the houses. So, of course, they don't have a bunch of them on hand, so you kind of gotta wait.”
Joppich says the damage is more than she could've ever imagined. But as she and her neighbors spend their days cleaning up, one thing is certain:
"We come together when we need to come together," Joppich said.
