With a sense of relief, Kim Bjelland described how a tornado “jumped over the house” last week, knocking out power and tearing apart trees but leaving the house with little damage.
She knew it could have been much worse.
About 6 p.m. July 6, a tornado swept past Brown-Star Dairy farm and the home of Kim and Matt Bjelland, 6082 Quarterline Road, in Gillett.
The National Weather Service categorized it as an EF-1 tornado, capable of winds up to 110 mph.
Several box elder trees in the yard were twisted and broken, and a cherry tree was knocked down.
“Thank God it fell away from the house,” Kim said.
The family will save the wood of the cherry tree for a woodworking project, and plans to use the box elder wood for firewood.
Although large branches were down in the front yard, the pool and deck were undamaged, as were the barn and farm equipment. Kim said strong winds pushed a feeder wagon to within a foot of an employee’s car, but the car was not hit. Across the road from the farm, corn stalks were blown over.
No one was injured, and the dairy cattle were unharmed.
When the tornado warning was issued, Kim went into the basement with her two sons (a daughter was out of town), and Matt brought in the four employees who were milking cows in the barn.
Matt reported seeing power lines “lit up like you couldn’t believe,” Kim recounted. She said it was difficult to see anything else because of the driving rain.
When the tornado passed, it left several trees wrapped around the power lines and a power line lying across one driveway. Trees were down on the front lawn, and the power was out.
A generator supplied electricity to the milking parlor, so the employees could finish milking, but equipment needed for calf feeding remained down until the next day. Electricity was restored about 1 a.m. July 7.
At the home of Mel and Sharon Raatz, 5703 Quarterline Road, the electricity blew out two surge protectors.
“Other than that, we were very, very blessed,” Sharon said.
She said the lights dimmed a few times before she heard “Bang!,” and the lights went out completely.
According to Jim Skowronski, National Weather Service meteorologist, the tornado formed after a cold front moved through the area producing thunderstorms.
“There was a cluster of storms, and two of the storms produced tornadoes,” Skowronski said.
The other tornado struck before 6 p.m. southwest of Gillett, in the Marion and Pella areas.
The worst damage was reported in Waupaca County, where sheriff’s officials said a tornado took the roof off a house and caused other damage on Gruenstern Road in the town of Dupont just outside of Marion. A barn was leveled, and there was extensive damage to a second house and farm buildings.
The only damage reported in Shawano County was a shed destroyed in Pella.
The tornado experienced by the Bjellands struck 2 miles east/northeast of Gillett at 5:56 p.m. and ended 4 miles northeast of Gillett, Skowronski said.
“There was a lot of rain with the tornado. Unlike some tornadoes when you can see the tornado, this one probably wouldn’t have been visible,” he said.
