MONROE - Skies were a greenish-gray color Wednesday night, said Monticello residents, in the aftermath of waves of storms that caused damage and scattered power outages across much of central Green County.
After a day of storms, it was a long night for residents, as high winds swept through the village between 7:30 and 8:15 p.m., damaging and uprooting trees that took down several power lines and damaged homes and vehicles.
The night before, the leaves and branches of one uprooted tree completely engulfed the home of Al Carroll on S. Main Street, the weight of its trunk crashing through the roof of at least one room.
Carroll was in the basement when the storm hit, but came up to investigate the damage.
"I looked out the back door, and all I saw was green. So I looked out the front door and all I saw was green. Then I looked in that room, and all I saw was green. So I went back down to the basement and smoked another cigarette," he said.
Next door, Barb Bergum said she knew something was wrong, when she could hear the wind. Carroll's tree normally protected the south side of her home.
"The tree was gone and the winds were blowing hard," she said. "Then I heard a branch crack (from a tree in her front yard)."
Bergum said the bottom of that broken branch came down first and "skewered" the Dodge Ram pickup sitting beneath it, punching its way through the windshield and roof.
Bergum, members of her family and most of the neighborhood were home Thursday, most watching Carroll's tree being removed.
"We couldn't get out to go to work," Bergum said, referring to the four of five large branches ripped from trees blocked the only exit out of the dead-end street.
Several blocks northwest on Urban Road, Linn and Cindy Lederman were working to cut up large branches that blew over their home, but they were not touching the massive Green Ash tree lying on its side, with roots exposed, across the electrical, cable and telephone lines. The tree had also damaged a corner of their garage. Lederman estimated the tree was about 50 years old, and that limbs, 8 to 10 inches in diameter, "flew over the house," and the wind was shaking their one-story, ranch style home.
Downtown at village hall, workers brought in the tops of two light poles.
The tops are clamped to the poles with screws. Village officials believe the high winds set up harmonic waves in the pole, which vibrated the screws loose, and lifted the tops off.
Power was out in the south and southeast portions of the village, according to village officials and had not been restored by Thursday at noon.
Alliant Energy and firefighters were on the scene freeing power lines throughout the night. Residents also were out in cleanup mode early Thursday. No city property was damaged, except trees in the cemetery, according to Joel Dutenhoefer, village clerk.
In the Village of Albany, at least 20 trees were down, tree limbs fell onto houses and vehicles, and five streets were blocked at one time, according to Albany Police Chief Robert Levitt.
The village crews continued to pick up trees, Levitt said Thursday.
After a day of storms, it was a long night for residents, as high winds swept through the village between 7:30 and 8:15 p.m., damaging and uprooting trees that took down several power lines and damaged homes and vehicles.
The night before, the leaves and branches of one uprooted tree completely engulfed the home of Al Carroll on S. Main Street, the weight of its trunk crashing through the roof of at least one room.
Carroll was in the basement when the storm hit, but came up to investigate the damage.
"I looked out the back door, and all I saw was green. So I looked out the front door and all I saw was green. Then I looked in that room, and all I saw was green. So I went back down to the basement and smoked another cigarette," he said.
Next door, Barb Bergum said she knew something was wrong, when she could hear the wind. Carroll's tree normally protected the south side of her home.
"The tree was gone and the winds were blowing hard," she said. "Then I heard a branch crack (from a tree in her front yard)."
Bergum said the bottom of that broken branch came down first and "skewered" the Dodge Ram pickup sitting beneath it, punching its way through the windshield and roof.
Bergum, members of her family and most of the neighborhood were home Thursday, most watching Carroll's tree being removed.
"We couldn't get out to go to work," Bergum said, referring to the four of five large branches ripped from trees blocked the only exit out of the dead-end street.
Several blocks northwest on Urban Road, Linn and Cindy Lederman were working to cut up large branches that blew over their home, but they were not touching the massive Green Ash tree lying on its side, with roots exposed, across the electrical, cable and telephone lines. The tree had also damaged a corner of their garage. Lederman estimated the tree was about 50 years old, and that limbs, 8 to 10 inches in diameter, "flew over the house," and the wind was shaking their one-story, ranch style home.
Downtown at village hall, workers brought in the tops of two light poles.
The tops are clamped to the poles with screws. Village officials believe the high winds set up harmonic waves in the pole, which vibrated the screws loose, and lifted the tops off.
Power was out in the south and southeast portions of the village, according to village officials and had not been restored by Thursday at noon.
Alliant Energy and firefighters were on the scene freeing power lines throughout the night. Residents also were out in cleanup mode early Thursday. No city property was damaged, except trees in the cemetery, according to Joel Dutenhoefer, village clerk.
In the Village of Albany, at least 20 trees were down, tree limbs fell onto houses and vehicles, and five streets were blocked at one time, according to Albany Police Chief Robert Levitt.
The village crews continued to pick up trees, Levitt said Thursday.