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Belleville homes suffer damage as town hit by EF-1
Belleville homes suffer damage as town hit by EF-1

Severe storms riddled southwestern and south central Wisconsin again last week, with multiple tornadoes spawning from a supercell that tracked from Iowa to near Lake Michigan.

Wisconsin saw three tornadoes from the storm — from Boscobel to Highland across Crawford, Grant and Iowa counties, then again in Ridgeway in Iowa County, and lastly on the north side of Belleville in southern Dane County. The rotating storm led to the National Weather Service issuing multiple Tornado Warnings as the cell traveled to Brooklyn, Evansville, Orfordville, Janesville and then into southeastern Wisconsin. All three twisters — including the one that hit Belleville — were rated EF-1. The original tornado, classified as an EF-2, developed in Allamakee County, Iowa, and tracked east-southeast before crossing the Mississippi River and continuing southeast through Crawford County.

The Belleville tornado had estimated peak wind speeds of 110 miles per hour. The tornado was on the ground for approximately 2.74 miles and had a maximum width of about 300 yards. There were no reported injuries or deaths. Several homes were damaged. Roofs were partially blown off and several trees were downed both in Belleville and in nearby rural areas to the east along the path to the Brooklyn Wildlife Area.

A woman and her son survived a direct hit from a tornado that destroyed or heavily damaged several buildings on her farm near Castle Rock. Reported damage from the three tornadoes includes agricultural buildings damaged or destroyed, numerous trees down across roadways, and downed power lines and utility poles.

The most significant tornado damage of the storm extended southeast of Boscobel through Hickory Grove and Castle Rock, exiting Grant County near Highland according to Steve Braun, director of Emergency Management for Grant County.

Fennimore Fire Chief Todd Bresee reported that there was widespread damage in the Castle Rock area that included trees down, power poles down, and at least two buildings that were destroyed.

That included Morgan Shemak’s farm on Grant County Q just west of the Grant-Iowa county line.

— Morris Media of a Wisconsin’s Adam Krebs, Steve Prestegard and Jason Kreul contributed to this report