For the second time in just under a month, Racine County is picking up the pieces from a tornado. It happened late Monday afternoon, off a storm system moving east-northeast from Illinois, with most of the damage in the central Village of Union Grove.
Racine County Executive Bill McReynolds said there was major damage to electric structure and numerous trees down, but no reportable injuries. McReynolds, a former sheriff, couldn’t say enough about the coordination of emergency services through the Sheriff’s Department and Union Grove Fire Department, “I can’t tell you how impressed I was.”
The unconfirmed twister flipped a handful of semi’s and RV’s for sale around the major intersection of Hwy 20 and I-94. This caused officials to close the freeway during the afternoon rush hour. Two people were hurt in the storm-related crashes. They were hospitalized in stable condition at last word.
Evacuated Union Grove residents were displaced for several hours, the high school used as a shelter and Red Cross site, while students were held into the evening for parental pickup. We Energies said over 7,200 electric customers lost their power at the height of the storms.
National Weather Service investigators today will try and determine the strength of the storm and a true damage assessment is made. NWS has already confirmed another twister an EF-1 tornado that affected Racine and Walworth Counties.