A powerful storm swept through North Prairie in Waukesha County early Tuesday, toppling trees, damaging property and waking residents with strong winds around 1:15 a.m. The storm left a truck crushed by a tree, damaged at least one home and sent people scrambling for safety in the dark.
Sara Hoban said the storm made her house shake as lightning flashed outside. A tree crashed onto her truck, and she and her father spent the next four hours clearing what they could. "Clipped the house a little bit, but the truck got the worst of it," she said.
The cleanup spread across the subdivision as neighbors stepped outside later Tuesday to survey the damage. Kathleen Manuele said her family sheltered in the basement when the storm hit and later found at least five fallen trees in their yard, including one on their truck. Another tree landed on a home in the neighborhood, underscoring how fast the storm moved through the area.
Waukesha County officials said they received nearly 60 calls for service as the storm ripped through Tuesday morning. Those calls included dozens of downed trees, 30 traffic signal issues likely tied to power outages and five fires, adding to the strain on crews already working through scattered damage across the county.
Marlene Zacher lost multiple trees in the storm and said the first thing on her mind was safety. "You just got to thank God no one was hurt," she said. She also made clear she was ready to head to the basement again if needed: "I'm hiding already in the basement. I'm going down in that basement. I'll go right now if I have to!"
The damage in North Prairie showed how quickly a pre-dawn storm can turn into a countywide response problem, with fallen trees across yards, trucks damaged and at least one home hit. More storms were expected Tuesday night, leaving residents with cleanup still underway and another round of weather still ahead.
