MILWAUKEE — A powerful storm packing winds over 70 mph swept through Milwaukee on Monday afternoon, leaving a trail of destruction, knocking out power to tens of thousands, and prompting a massive city-wide cleanup effort.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE | Milwaukee crews work around the clock to clear massive fallen trees after damaging winds hit the city
The city's Department of Public Works received 525 calls for service related to downed trees and branches by 9 a.m. today. Officials said 44% of those calls are critical, involving whole trees down, blocked roadways, or limbs on homes and vehicles.
On the city's south side, near 20th and Greenfield, Giovanni Andaluz surveyed the damage after a massive tree uprooted his sidewalk and crushed his mother-in-law's SUV. It was one of four trees that collapsed on his block.
"We worked to get stuff like this, and then out of nowhere, Mother Nature just wipes everything out for us," Andaluz said.
"This tree been here for before I was born, and to see this tree finally go down like that is incredible," Andaluz said.
"It caught me off guard. And it was scary because it's, you know, the tree went that way. What if it would have hit the house? You know, we would have been homeless," Andaluz said.
In Riverwest, a fallen tree left a large hole in Gregory Brulla's home. He watched Tuesday morning as workers removed the tree from his front yard.
"There’s some structural issues that needs to be addressed, but I’m concerned more about the water than anything right now," Brulla said.
At the peak of the storm, more than 50,000 WE Energies customers were without power. Crews have been working around the clock to restore electricity.
Forestry crews are working 12-hour shifts to clear debris. The city is prioritizing making streets passable for emergency vehicles before addressing trees on homes and vehicles. The south side accounted for 58% of the initial calls for service.
"Now we just got to basically figure out the rest on our own," Andaluz said.
Residents can report downed trees and debris at milwaukee.gov/click4action, through the Milwaukee Mobile Action App, or by calling (414) 286-2489.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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