Crews clean up tornado damage in Keshena July 24, 2025. PC: Fox 11 Online
KESHENA, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A preliminary survey from the National Weather Service says an EF1 tornado tore through Keshena Wednesday night.
The damage left behind led to a busy day of cleanup along County Highway VV Thursday.
“I didn’t know it was this bad until we took a ride and we could barely get through the streets and everything,” said Keshena resident Keenan Richmond.
It’s a much different scene from Wednesday night, after an EF1 tornado hit the heart of the Menominee Reservation.
“It was indescribable, really,” said Ben Warrington, emergency management coordinator for the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin. “You’re used to seeing every day your community, and then something like this happens and you drive through and you look at it and you’re like, ‘This was all huge trees not even an hour ago, and now it’s all laying on the ground and on the road.'”
Menominee County and tribal crews got to work immediately, clearing trees in the community. Neighbors helping neighbors, families working together.
According to Richmond, “It was chaos, for sure chaos. Luckily, nothing hit the house or anything. It just hit the back shed a little bit and the side-by-side, but that was luckily about it.”
The sound of chain saws filled the air as dump trucks and trailers hauled away debris
“We have our guys out there cleaning up and I’m just happy with how we all came together as a community to clean up, and our emergency management team is doing a great job. Our community development team and maintenance departments are doing a great job with clean up and keeping the situation safe,” said Michael Fish Jr., the vice chairman of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin.
The area around the Tribal Law Enforcement Center was hit especially hard. Offices there and at the county level were closed so everyone could focus on cleanup.
Warrington said, “A couple of homes that have some trees on them, minor damage there. We have a couple of tribal buildings that got a little bit of damage to it. One of our county buildings has some damage. We’ve got government vehicles that did get damaged as well, but all of that kind of stuff can be replaced. Nobody got hurt — that’s the important thing.”
While crews have made progress on the mess left behind by the storm, tribal leaders still believe it will be several weeks before the cleanup is complete.
Comments