LAKE GENEVA — Nearly 10,000 customers remain without power Saturday morning following Friday’s deadly storm that tore through Walworth County.
Residents are just beginning to dig out from the widespread damage as they mourn the loss of three children who died in the storm when the boat they were in capsized.
The children and six others were on the boat that was swamped as the fast moving storm swamped the boat.
Several people were trapped or injured in the storm that began moving into southern Walworth County shortly after noon Friday, packing straightened winds.
The 911 Center took nearly 800 calls
calls for service for law enforcement, fire, EMS, and Public Works, Walworth County Undersheriff Tom Hausner said in a Friday afternoon news conference.
Authorities also received an additional 268 non-emergency calls.
The Walworth County Sheriff’s Office called in all off-duty deputies and requested mutual aid
from Rock, Jefferson, and Kenosha County Sheriff’s Offices, along with Wisconsin State
Patrol, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and the City of Whitewater and Delavan Police Departments.
Deputies and officers responded to a structure fire and a barn collapse in the Town of Darien
that required a technical rescue of an 83-year-old male, who was transported to a local hospital with unknown injuries.
In the Town of Sharon, a silo collapsed, trapping two individuals, who were rescued and
transported to a local hospital.
On US Highway 12 near Maclean Road, a semi-truck trailer was blown over on its side. The
driver was not injured.
A vehicle became entangled in power lines, which trapped the driver for several hours in the Town of Walworth. No injuries were sustained.
During this time, hundreds of trees and power lines were reported down throughout the area.
Many roads remained blocked and unpassable at the time of this news release.Walworth County Department of Public Works (DPW), along with multiple municipal DPWs,
are working to remove trees and debris and open roadways.
A massive power outage occurred due to the storm, and Alliant Energy is working to restore
power to the area. It is unknown when power will be restored.