A tornado tore through parts of the Fox Valley in east central Wisconsin Monday, leaving widespread destruction across Appleton, Neenah, and Menasha.
On Monday, the Green Bay National Weather Service issued a preliminary assessment of at least a strong EF2 tornado, though it specified that the rating could increase as damage surveys continue.
On Tuesday, it upgraded that to a preliminary EF3 rating for the tornado, with peak winds around 140 mph, based on analysis of data gathered during Monday's survey and drone video provided.
WATCH: Tornado tears through Fox Valley, causing widespread destruction
The storm moved through the area around 11:40 a.m., bringing damaging wind gusts of up to 70 miles per hour, baseball-sized hail, and heavy rain that caused localized street flooding. A flash flood warning was issued for Kenosha County earlier in the day.
A National Weather Service employee on the ground in Menasha initially told reporters the damage is consistent with a strong EF2 tornado, based on buildings where exterior walls collapsed while interior walls remained standing. Surveyors noted the damage may be even worse further west, where assessments were still ongoing.
In Menasha, a gas station was heavily damaged, with a fuel pump ripped from the ground and left on its side and part of the overhead canopy torn away. Drone video showed a large trail of debris across the community, with damage to both buildings and trees.
In Appleton, large trees were ripped from the ground, power poles were left dangling in the street, and city buses were found mangled under power lines on the west side of the city. Neighbors used chainsaws to clear driveways and went door to door to check on one another as cleanup began.
WATCH: Drone footage shows devastation in Menasha
One Appleton resident described the moment the storm arrived.
"It was about noon and all of a sudden it got really, really dark, and so I remember taking pictures because it looked like it was nighttime. And then I went back and then the wind started and the trees and everything were. We had an umbrella on our patio table, took off, went through the trees in the neighbor's yard and beyond. So it was just crazy," she said.
More than 97,000 We Energies customers were without power Monday evening.
Click here for a timeline of the storm.
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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