RINGLE – Neighbors were helping neighbors Saturday, April 18 after an unconfirmed tornado hit the Marathon County town of Ringle the previous evening.
Ted Fox said he had about a half dozen people with him Saturday who agreed through Facebook to meet at 10 a.m. to go out and help whoever needed it.
He was helping at a house about 4 miles from his own house as he took a break to talk with a Wausau Daily Herald reporter.
“It’s Ringle strong,” Fox said. “Or D.C. Everest strong. We’re all neighbors.”
‘I have not seen devastation like this’
Marathon County officials said about 75 homes were damaged or destroyed in the town of Ringle in the April 17 storms. No injuries were reported.
Marathon County Sheriff Chad Billeb said the unconfirmed tornado tracked through the village of Kronenwetter, where there is “a little damage” off Martin Road and then made its way to Ringle just before 5 p.m.
There were also trees over roadways and power lines down on Marathon County O and in the town of Stettin from the storms that passed through the area Friday evening.
“I have not seen anything to this level,” Billeb said of the storm damage. “I have worked through a number of tornadoes but for them to hit a residential area like this is rare in Marathon County.
“I have not seen devastation like this in my 35 years working in Marathon County,” Billeb said.
Strong sense of community ‘such a blessing’
Jess Meadows stepped up to organize a group of workers, including Fox, at her childhood home near the corner of Abt Road near Mole Brook Road and in the broader neighborhood. She said she’s grateful that everyone is safe and that so many people are willing to help elderly neighbors who might not have anyone else to help.
“There are people here I haven’t seen for 30 years, there are people I just saw last week and there are people here I don’t know,” she said.
Jennifer Lewitzke, of Merrill, looked around at the crew of people working at her parents’ home in Ringle, including Meadows, her former neighbor and babysitter. Lewitzke said she was overwhelmed and overjoyed to see so many people helping and the strong sense of community from so many people.
While not what she had planned to celebrate her birthday, she said she was eternally grateful to see so many people step up to help her 72- and 76-year-old parents.
“This is such a blessing,” Lewitzke said.
Meadows said people have been asking her how they can help, and she has been directing people to call 211 and talk with the United Way, who has been coordinating help.
She said food, supplies and gift cards for food would go a long way to help the people out Saturday helping to clean up the community.
‘We’ll rebuild’
Andy Benaszeski said the storms hit at his parents’ house on Ringle Avenue near the Eau Claire River in Weston at about 4:30 p.m. April 17, and he and his family and other people were at the house working to clean up by 5 p.m. They stopped as another round of storms came through the area Friday, but as of about 1:30 p.m. Saturday, about a dozen or more people were still working to clean up.
Benaszeski said at one point, they had about 50 or 60 people on the property helping. Benaszeski said it’s amazing how many people came by to help, including so many people he didn’t know.
Benaszeski said his parents lost some cats in the storm, but his parents are OK and so are their dogs.
The house had some damage, and crews were clearing some leaning trees as they cleaned up fallen limbs and branches near the house. The property also includes a Christmas tree farm, and many of the trees there were leveled.
“I’m not sure what we’re going to do,” Benaszeski said. “We’ll rebuild.”
Contact Caitlin at cshuda@usatodayco.com or follow her on Twitter @CaitlinShuda.
This article originally appeared on Wausau Daily Herald: Cleanup efforts begin after April 17 tornado destroys homes in Ringle
Reporting by Caitlin Shuda, USA TODAY NETWORK – Wisconsin / Wausau Daily Herald
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
