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Storms rip through Milwaukee's 3rd of July campers sending tents into Lake Michigan

Posted at 8:55 PM, Jul 02, 2019
and last updated 2019-07-03 11:54:21-04

MILWAUKEE — Rain and wind from afternoon storms slammed campers at Veterans Park. They had already staked out spots for Wednesday's big 3rd of July fireworks show along Milwaukee's lakefront.

"We came back to the canopy blow over, the tents all over," said camper Sharlane Gaarder from West Allis.

The rain and the wind came in hard and fast taking many people by surprise.

"The wind is incredible. It just took everything," said camper John LeFlore.

People hung onto what they could. But some tents went flying towards the lake. James Stribling came back to find his tent missing.

"My tent happens to be out there in the middle of Lake Michigan. With the storm that just came through. It blew my tent out there while I was gone," said camper James Stribling.

Stribling is rebuilding his campsite for his family, along with a lot of people caught in the storm. So far no one is calling it quits.

"This is nothing," said LeFlore.

"We're going to hang out. We're going to stay here because we've been die-hards. We've been doing this since I was her age," said Stribling pointing to his young daughter.

The fireworks show gets underway on Wednesday, July 3 at 9:30 p.m. in Veterans Park.