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September is National Preparedness Month

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September is National Preparedness Month. Andrew Beckett with Wisconsin Emergency Management explains the goal:

“To get people to think about the ways that they can ‘prepare to protect.’ Prepare to protect themselves, the ones they love, their property. Basically all the steps they can take in order to make sure that they are protected in the event an emergency takes place.”

Beckett says you can find preparedness resources can be found online at Ready Wisconsin, and   through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s “Ready.Gov” campaign.

This year’s theme for National Preparedness Month is “prepare to protect.”

Evers declares statewide State Of Emergency following severe weather

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Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers has declared a statewide State of Emergency. The action follows severe overnight storms affecting several regions of Wisconsin, and causing widespread damage, downed trees and power lines, power outages, and road closures due to debris.

Evers said he’s declared a State of Emergency to ensure state resources are available to get communities the support and help they need. The order directs state agencies to help those affected by the storms and also allows the Wisconsin National Guard to be called to active duty to provide assistance supporting local authorities with their recovery efforts.

The National Weather Service is investigating several possible tornadoes that were spawned in Wednesday night’s derecho. Meteorologist Andy Boxtell said possible tornadoes spawned in southern Wisconsin, near Concord and in Waukesha County.

“So far just sporadic reports of damage nothing on the order of what we’ve heard about in the Concord area but undoubtedly some trees down and such things across that region,” Boxtell said.

Teams are also investigating possible tornadoes in Marathon, Portage and Winnebago counties. Some areas of Central Wisconsin received several inches of rain overnight, causing minor flooding along the Wisconsin River.

Thousands of people remain without power as of Thursday morning, including about 6,000 customers of Wisconsin Public Service in Wausau.

“We understand that it’s frustrating to be without power, but we’re committed and will continue to work tirelessly so that we can restore service,” said WPS spokesman Matt Cullen. Cullen said many of those same crews were working in the Rhinelander-Antigo area earlier this week. If you come across downed lines or damaged equipment, do not try to fix it yourself and call it in immediately.

Affiliate WSAU contributed to this report

 

Stay safe if you need to be outside this week

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Dress appropriately

Very cold temperatures have settled in across Wisconsin this week, and that means taking precautions if you’re spending any time outdoors. Andrew Becket with Wisconsin Emergency Management explains the signs of hypothermia.

“With hypothermia, you should be looking for signs like excessive shivering, exhaustion, confusion, slurred speech. If you start to experience things like that or notice that in anyone who’s around you, you should contact 911 or your medical provider as soon as possible.”

Along with hypothermia, Beckett said frostbite is a real possibility during extreme cold weather.

“With frostbite, skin that looks white or grayish yellow, feels unnaturally firm or waxy. If you have general numbness or extreme numbness, you should detect those symptoms and get to a warm area. Don’t try to rub vigorously or anything, it can cause more damage.”

If you must be outdoors, make sure you’re dressed appropriately.

“Wear loose fitting layers, a hat, gloves, snow boots, make sure you have a scarf or something to cover your face,” Beckett said. “You want to limit the amount of exposed skin as much as possible, because that’s really where you’re going to get into trouble, is exposing that skin to the elements and the extreme cold, especially with those wind chills that could be in excess of 30 below zero.”

You can find a comprehensive list of cold weather safety recommendations at dma.wi.gov.

Remnants of Tropical Storm Cristobal to dump heavy rains across Wisconsin

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Wisconsin will be seeing the remnants of Tropical Storm Cristobal moving through the state.

National Weather Service meteorologist Logan Lee says we should expect to see extended amounts of rain and possible severe weather through Wednesday. 

“One to three inches of rain especially across parts of Southwest Wisconsin through Central Wisconsin and there could be localized pockets of more than that.”

Lee says we’ll see the perfect conditions for flash flooding and possible tornadoes. 

“We’re kind of getting that influx of the tropical moisture and the remnants of that tropical system so it’s a really juicy environment for heavy rain.”

Lee says it’s a good idea to have your weather radio running or have access to other ways to get storm alerts in the case that a tornado forms or if there’s flash flooding in your area.

Weekend EF-1 tornado does damage in Grant County

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The National Weather Service has confirms damaging tornadoes in southwestern Wisconsin and northeastern Iowa on Saturday. Early reports indicate the tornado was an E-F-1 with maximum sustained winds of 100 miles-an-hour.

It was on the ground for almost seven miles in Grant County. The storm track was about a mile north of Potosi and damage was done to a home, several farms and trees, with small hail left covering the ground after it passed.

State of Emergency declared due to storm damage in Milwaukee, Racine & Kenosha counties

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Governor Tony Evers has signed an Executive Order declaring a State of Emergency in Milwaukee, Racine, and Kenosha counties. That’s in response to lakeshore flooding and strong winter storms which occurred January 10th-through-12th and caused significant infrastructure damage in areas along the Lake Michigan shoreline.

A State of Emergency declaration directs state agencies to assist those affected by the storms. It also allows the Wisconsin National Guard to be called to active duty, as the adjutant general deems it necessary, to support local recovery efforts

More snow coming to Wisconsin this weekend

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You’re not going to escape it – there is at least a chance of snow for just about everyone in the state over the next few days.  

The National Weather Service says you should enjoy the nice holiday weather today because Friday, Saturday and Sunday figure to include snowfall throughout Wisconsin.  

Western Wisconsin could be covered by another six inches of snow, while Madison and Milwaukee can expect about an inch.

Heavy wet snow blankets northwest Wisconsin

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In northwest Wisconsin, snow plows have been out since early Wednesday morning, dealing with the winter storm that’s brought snow to the area. “We’ve been out since 4:00 a.m. this morning, said Matt Erickson, patrol supervisor with the Ashland County Highway Department. “It’s a heavy, wet snow, so it is sticking to the highways. We are are continually plowing, so at times the roads will look bad. But we’re out there doing what we can with it.”

“Wind is stil quite an issue, gusting to 30 to 40 miles and hour,” said Iron County highway commissioner Mike Swartz. As of 10:00 a.m. Swartz said 12 inches of snow had fallen in Hurley. “The roads are not good. We just cannot keep up with that amount of snow in a short period of time.”

The National Weather Service in Duluth has forecast heavy accumulating snow and strong northerly winds across northwest Wisconsin for Wednesday, with snowfall continuing through midnight. Difficult to nearly impossible driving will impact Thanksgiving holiday travel, and power outages are possible.

“If you do not have to drive, please, don’t,” Swartz said. “And if you do drive, please us your headlights. We noticed a lot of vehicles without headlights this morning. It makes it tough on our guys and it makes hard on the drivers as well.”

DNR reports opening weekend deer harvest

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The numbers are in, for the opening weekend of Wisconsin’s gun deer hunt. “Things started out a little slower than we were hoping that they would, but still we had over 90,000 deer registered, with a little over half of those, 47,000 being antlered bucks,” said Kevin Wallenfang with the Department of Natural Resources.

“We are down right now, in comparison, about 30 percent, and that was not totally unexpected. When we have years where we go from the absolute earliest opener which we did in 2018 to the absolute latest opener which we had this year, we tend to see usually a 20 to 25 percent reduction in the opening weekend buck harvest.”

The nine-day gun deer season opened Saturday and runs through Sunday. “I would just encourage people, you know we’re only talking about the first two days of the season, and there’s still lots of time out there and lots of deer out there to pursue, so get on out there and enjoy it,” Wallenfang said.

Monday is Snowplow Driver Appreciation Day

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The Wisconsin DOT is reminding drivers to pay attention this winter. “Take it easy, slow down, give yourself some additional time. That is one of the best ways you can say ‘thank you’ to a snowplow driver,” WisDOT spokesman David Hunt told WTAQ. “You never know what those conditions are going to bring. You never know exactly when that road is going to be clear, but one thing is for certain; there’s going to be people out there working really long hours trying to make sure all of us stay safe.”

Hunt said driving a snowplow is essentially a year-round commitment. “If it’s not actually winter and snowing, they’re getting ready, doing training on the plow driving, preparing to try making those roads as clear as they can when those storms hit,” Hunt said “These are folks who really care deeply about public safety.”

Motorists are advised to stay at least 200 feet behind any working snowplow, and to make sure the plow’s mirrors are visible which means the plow driver can see you. It’s also important to remember that the road in front snowplows has not been treated. Hunt emphasizes the point that no vehicle is immune to winter weather.

Most traffic crashes in winter are caused by drivers going too fast for conditions. Posted speed limits only apply when travel conditions are ideal. WisDOT contracts with all 72 county highway departments for winter maintenance on state roads. Monday is Snowplow Driver Appreciation Day.

WTAQ