MADISON, Wis. — More than 40,000 people in southern Wisconsin were without power after destructive storms swept through the state on Tuesday evening.
The situation was worst around Madison, where Madison Gas and Electric said outages were some of the largest in the company’s history.
Across Madison on Wednesday morning, crews were working to restore power and clean up downed trees that had blocked dozens of roads. One elderly homeowner who declined to speak on camera said she’s had to rely on her neighbor to get groceries and take her to appointments because of a downed tree blocking her driveway.
The Madison Metropolitan School District canceled classes because of the unsafe conditions created by downed power lines and fallen trees. Outside John F. Kennedy Elementary School, a power line lay across a busy street with cones and a handwritten sign alerting passersby.
Despite classes being canceled, John McGuire, 6, and his brother showed up to the school to help clean up fallen branches.
“Last night our power went off in our house and it probably did the same thing to the school,” he said. “Because right now I’m looking at a power line that’s on the street and that’s probably what was giving power to the school.”
A few blocks away, elementary teacher Emily Harris was watching her daughter and a friend play in a downed tree on their street. She said the cancellation came as a surprise.
“I’ve never had school called off for spring storm damage before. It’s usually for extreme cold or snow,” she said.
Elsewhere in Madison, branches were tied up in power lines and lying on top of cars for sale at a used car dealership.
Power companies say it could take days to fix all of the outages, and the city was still clearing dozens of blocked roads as of Wednesday afternoon.
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