Burlington storm damage, residents help one another in aftermath

BURLINGTON, Wis. - As the Burlington community deals with the aftermath of last Friday's storms, residents are focused less on damage and more on resiliency.

What they're saying:

When the storms rushed through, there wasn't much time to prepare.

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"The water was coming through the window, then it was coming through the ceiling and also the light," said Kimberly Walesa.

And just as quickly as it came, residents like Walesa were tasked with picking up the pieces. But they were not alone.

"They basically came over to work the phones while we were stopping the water damage," she said.

Bruce Kuda lives just down the street from Walesa. He said the community immediately helped and checked in on him to make sure he was OK.

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"The whole feeling of community is so wonderful and everyone waves at each other. The people here are genuinely nice and helpful and people are checking on everybody," he said.

Kuda started working on cutting wood right away. Not long after, more help arrived.

"The Burlington guys and We Energies are just amazing. Within a half an hour of the storm subsiding, they had a truck out here observing what was going on," he said.

After this extreme weather, Walesa recalled one thing easily: Not what came from the sky, but what came from next door.

"Between the messages and the phone calls and people visiting to check if I’m OK, it’s powerful, people are powerful and love is powerful," she said.

What's next:

The Burlington Department of Public Works is working around the clock and even calling in offseason workers for extra help. Officials also said there isn't a clear timeline for when everything will get cleaned up.

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