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Storms rip through area
Lone Wolf Farms

MONROE — A storm ripped through the stateline area Tuesday night, blowing down trees and damaging buildings, but Monroe Fire Chief Dan Smits said he was not aware of any injuries.

The worst damage was west of Wisconsin 69 and south of Monroe down to the stateline.

A shed on County P near Honey Creek Road was blown clear across the road and "obliterated," Smits said.

A barn on Melvin Road had its roof blown off and another barn on County B collapsed. Debris from damaged barn on Woodman Road was scattered about 2,500 feet from the foundation, nearly the length of seven football fields.

"We had another house on Melvin Road that had some windows blown out and lines down," Smits said.

As of 9 p.m., Alliant Energy reported that about 360 customers in the area of Wis. 69 at Franklin Road still were without power. The company reported crews were onsite and restoration of power was expected by 1 a.m. Smaller power outages were also reported on the south side of Monroe and in two other areas between Monroe and Browntown.

Alliant Energy's outage map showed power had been restored by early Wednesday morning.

"Alliant was very quick to respond," Smits said.

The Green County Sheriff's Office sent out an alert of a severe thunderstorm warning at 6:47 p.m. and by 7 p.m. began to receive 911 calls reporting damage. Green County Emergency Management and firefighters from Monroe and Browntown were dispatched to help with the response after deputies started seeing severe damage from the storm.

Firefighters were checking for downed trees and power lines and "just making contact with residents," Smits said, noting that he thought it was "highly unlikely" the storm will be classified as a tornado.

Rather, he believed it was a microburst. The National Weather Service defines microbursts as a "localized column of sinking air (downdraft) within a thunderstorm" that can cause extensive damage at the surface.

The sheriff's office reported no injuries to people or livestock. Additional inspection of the area will be ongoing during the day Wednesday.

At least one traffic accident occurred in the aftermath of the storm. Kristina J. Jamison, 17, Monroe, was westbound in the W6400 block of County P in the Town of Clarno shortly before 8 p.m. when her vehicle collided with a tree that had fallen across the road, according to the sheriff's office.

Jamison and her passenger reported no injuries, and the vehicle was driven from the scene with functional damage.

In the aftermath of the storm, several people in the area reported seeing a rainbow.