Summer Storms Wreak Havoc in Wisconsin by McKinzie Cabin

Summer Storms Wreak Havoc in WisconsinSummer storm warnings in the midwest are so routine, we ignore them, but in the era of global warming look out. After a hot day on the lake, we sat on the dock of McKinzie cabin admiring the formation of mammatus clouds that looked like upside down dinner rolls. When the rain started, we headed up hill to the cabin. Just when my friend started her stand up comedy routine, the lights blinked out. We hee hawed to her jokes by candlelight while trees thrashed and waters churned outside.

While we were yucking it up, Mother Nature was having the last laugh. When we ventured outside the next morning, we witnessed the destruction. Fallen trees downed power lines blocking every route out leaving us stranded in a zone booby trapped by electrical wires.

We tried to walk to town, but power lines lying on the road blocked us at the boat landing where one of the lake’s oldest cabins dating 1911 miraculously stood intact.

I hollered over to Roger, who picked up debris from his uprooted trees.

« I was closing the windows when the big, tree fell inches from the house. Another tree crashed on the other side, » he told me. « When I heard the gas pipe sizzle, I thought I gotta get out of here. »Summer Storms Wreak Havoc in Wisconsin

Fortunately, we had little property damage on our side of the lake, but our neighbor lost twenty-two trees. However, without running water and electricity daily life became challenging. We carried up lake water to fill toilet tanks and hooked up a generator that rumbled like a tank truck to keep power running to the refrigerator.

Every evening, we lit the house with candles and savored the absolute silence of night without any sound of modern civilization.

But in the morning, we were annoyed by inconveniences. Without water, breakfast became a 10-step process. Fill gas in the generator. Quick open the refrigerator. Remove milk and butter. Switch on adaptor to run coffee machine. Unplug coffee machine. Hook up toaster. Switch back to frig. Eat cereal. Fill bowl with water to drink, which serves double duty rinsing the dish. Wash face and hands in the lake. Brush teeth with a mouthful of water.

By day three, mold grew on my teeth and my body smelled like the septic tank. To save resources, we bathed in the lake washing with biodegradable shampoo; the guys peed in the woods.

I wanted to go to any restaurant or store, where I could wash my face and hands in their restroom, but all the towns around us remained powerless too.

I couldn’t imagine being homeless or living in a Third World country where existence depends on finding the next drop of water and morsel of food.Summer Storms Wreak Havoc in Wisconsin

The next day, we stepped across the lines down on the road to walk to the public beach across the lake. There, off of highway 45, the Wisconsin National Guard had set up a non-potable water tank for citizens and promised tomorrow they would bring drinking water.

“Sixteen different tornadoes touched down and Langlade County declared a state of emergency,” the serviceman told me, “Elcho looks like a war zone.”

Like everyone else, after 3 days of isolation, we ignored the Road Closed signs, drove over the electrical wires that snaked across roads and headed to Elcho four miles away.

Evergreen, pine, deciduous trees of every kind stood uprooted or snapped in winds that reached over 100 mph. Along County road K to Post Lake century old trees toppled on cabins and barns.Summer Storms Wreak Havoc in Wisconsin

Our power outage lasted four days, but many homes in the north central Wisconsin remained without electricity for over a week.

But after 24 hours, I was tired of fetching water buckets and playing Little House on the Prairie.

We take so much for granted.

Mother Nature’s rampage made me cherish our most valuable resources air, water and land. It also reminded me of the resiliency of the human spirit to endure floods, storms, hurricanes, wildfires and nature’s wrath

Posted in Uncategorized.

12 Comments

  1. Saw that your area got hit by the storms. Wondered if any of your family was here!
    No damage here north of Eagle River thankfully

    Sharon and Sue

    • So nice to hear from you. We were so lucky that no trees fell on the cabin. We were also grateful that Jim an Lenore weren’t here yet. They are here now and enjoying every minute of the view. Hope you are both doing okay.

    • I have always wanted to think I loved camping, but actually I prefer sleeping with a roof overhead, a mattress beneath and a light beside me for bedtime reading.

  2. I was the guest who provided comic relief during the storm. It was one of the most amazing displays of lightening I had ever witnessed. There seemed to be simultaneous bolts going on all around us, 360 degrees and it was ceaseless. Each bolt would just go on and on.
    The mammatus clouds were amazing. Pat describes them in way more appropriate language than I could come with. But they are described as being harbingers of a dangerous storm and that we found out to be absolutely true. We were able to drive out of town the next morning, but there were lots of detours and delays and all the power was out in the nearby towns. Sorry to hear it took four days to get electricity back. We were wondering about you.

    • Tina, we were so lucky that we didn’t have damage with so much destruction around us. You and Jono were fortunate to be able to get out of town. To think Nat and Rach drove through the storm and then walked over those broken tree limbs and power lines in the dark to make it to the cabin from the public beach. We have so many blessings and Mother Nature gave us a powerful reminder of how lucky we.

  3. This is why I never gravitated to camping, Pat — I’m just NOT a “nature girl!” Give me my bed and all the conveniences of home — no bugs or critters, plenty of electricity and Wi-Fi, and running, fresh water!

    Sorry you had to experience this wicked storm, but perhaps it’s a good thing your cabin got checked out afterward. Can you imagine being clear across the Pond and not knowing whether it had survived? Glad, too, that everybody is safe and no worse for the wear!

    • Oh yes, I would much rather be at the cabin knowing it survived the storm then hearing about it while over in Switzerland. What was most alarming was the fact that we had no idea how powerful the winds were at the time. We would have headed for the basement for safety. I love the outdoors, but with my bad back, the only kind of camping I do now is in a cabin with all the comforts.

  4. Oh, Pat, I’m so sorry to hear of all the destruction around your beloved family cabin in the Wisconsin woods. But I’m happy to hear you and the cabin survived the rampage. It doesn’t take long to appreciate the basics when the power goes out. I can’t stand it for a few hours let alone a few days or week. You are so right—we do take these creature comforts for granted when others suffer the lack of fresh water and food routinely.It’s a humbling experience.

    • So true, Kathy. It truly was a humbling experience. It made me realize how powerless we really are even though we’d like to think we’re in control.

    • Thanks Peggy. It was a wild time. Puts everything in perspective – safety of home and family.

I would love to hear from you

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.