“Storms make oaks take deeper root.” — George Herbert
It is always a good thing when we can say “the storm has passed.” However, the recovery and cleanup will continue into the future.
First and foremost, on behalf of the city of Shawano, I would like to extend our heartfelt sympathy to the Menominee Nation, the family and friends and all who mourn the death of Marlo King. All of the destruction that occurred in Shawano and surrounding areas pale in comparison to the loss of a life.
The reports coming in from the various departments show the devastation the storm caused. Some of the numbers are quite staggering. I cannot say enough about how proud we can all be with the efforts made by the crews.
Fire Chief Doug Knope said the night of the storm the department responded to 20 calls. Forty-two firefighters moved throughout the area handling a variety of calls, including the following: trees/wires down on 47/A; tree on fire on MMM; gas leak on South Main; three transformer fires; woods on fire MM; smoke in house Lutz Street; garage fire on Maiden Lane; wires/trees down Fairview Way, Peach Road, Lake Drive, Homewood Avenue, Cloverleaf Lake Road, Green Bay Street, Franklin Street and Zingler Avenue; wires down on houses on Washington Street, Richmond Street and River Street.
In addition to the three police officers on regular duty that night, four additional officers, along with Chief Whealon and Lt. Brad Rabideau, responded to calls for service and evaluating storm damage. The chief commented, “At one point I believe the ‘stacked’ calls for service were between 80 to 100 calls.” The PD responded to 130 calls for service during and after the storm.
I met with Chief Whealon at City Hall once the storm left our area. It quickly became apparent the police department was not going to be able to respond to all calls and that they needed to prioritize which calls needed immediate attention. Calls that involved live down power lines and transformers that were sparking or starting a fire, and reports of people who were possibly trapped in their homes because of a tree down on the house became priority calls for service. The chief added, “Priority calls also included requests from residents who lost power needed for various medical devices.”
Rob Koepp, Shawano Municipal Utilities electrical supervisor/engineer, reported about 2,400 electric customers lost power for some period of time as a result of the storm. About 1,500 of those experienced about a 30-minute outage. Approximately an additional 500 customers were restored later Wednesday evening and early Thursday morning. An additional 200 customers’ power was restored during the remainder of Thursday, about 100 on Friday and 50 on Saturday.
Telcom customers were also affected with several hundred losing service during the storm. Most were reconnected by the end of the day on Saturday.
Park & Recreation Director Judy Judd said there are many trees down in the park system. The hardest hit was Woodlawn Cemetery, where 58 trees were down or significantly damaged. Many of these trees stood 90 to 110 feet. The cemetery has been closed to the public since last Thursday but will reopen for this weekend. There is still a great deal of cleanup to be done. If you go into the cemetery, please be mindful of the branches on the ground and hung up in other trees. An additional three trees weakened by the storm fell this past weekend.
Jacob Miesbauer, an arborist from Morton Arboretum in Illinois, spent three days in Shawano (primarily in the parks and cemetery). His research is focused on improving the health and safety of urban trees. He will be sharing his report with us in several weeks.
Please be advised it is unlawful to take wood from any park or the cemetery. Thank you for your patience as staff works to return the parks to normal.
Department of Public Works crews have been working tirelessly since the night of the storm. Office Clerk Penny Kussman said crews will continue to pick up until all the storm damage debris has been collected. The amount of wood that has been brought in to the landfill is staggering: Thursday, 57.05 tons; Friday, 78.75; Saturday, 21.91; Monday, 62.86; Tuesday, 67.45; Wednesday, 76.54. That is in excess of 363 tons of wood so far!
City staff will be meeting with Natalie Easterday, Shawano County emergency management director, next week to discuss potential disaster recovery relief funds.
A huge thank you goes out to all the city employees who worked very hard during this cleanup and restoration.
Another big thank you goes out to the dispatchers for handling all the storm-related calls quickly and professionally.
The answer to last week’s question — Who were the co-owners of the Staff of Life in 1989? — is Melvin Timmons and Irma Timmons.
This week’s question is: Who was the owner of Wisconsin Film & Bag in 1986?
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