Storm damage prompts boil advisory, emergency curfew in Menasha

MENASHA, Wis. - An emergency curfew is now in effect in the City of Menasha and the eastern side of the Village of Fox Crossing following Monday's EF-3 tornado.

Emergency curfew

What we know:

Menasha Police Chief Matthew Albrecht said Tuesday the curfew will allow first responders the space to work on damaged electric infrastructure, tree debris, building damage and more. That curfew goes from 10 p.m. until 5 a.m.

The city is in rough shape. On the north side, Calder Stadium, which is home to the Menasha Bluejays football team, saw major damage. Around half of its bleachers are destroyed, and the turf is damaged in spots. The fence around the stadium is full of insulation, shingles and other debris from the homes directly to its north.

Those homeowners have their own mess to deal with too.

Justin Watson said he actually wanted to take one of the trees down in his backyard. He just didn't think it would happen like this.

"I'm very fortunate, like I said, for my buddies that came over and everybody that's reached out. It means the world to me," Watson said.

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Tornado damage

What we know:

FOX6 News spoke with Watson as a crew of his friends cleared tornado-torn trees and damaged fence panels from his backyard and placed them on the curb.

A walk around the corner to the front of his house, though, revealed the worst of it. The roof to Watson's garage is gone.

What they're saying:

"Looking up, there's not even a frame. There are not shingles missing. There is... nothing," said FOX6's Sam Kraemer.

"Nothing — I don't even know where the roof went. There's a couple trusses that landed in the neighbors' house across the street, or in their driveway. The door panel itself was actually sitting right here. We're missing a recycle bin. We ended up with another trash can, which no clue where this thing came from," Watson said.

The home's exterior took a beating, but the interior had some issues as well.

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Sabrina Krohn showed us how she had to kick the front door just to get in.

"We have damage up here, water damage. And then in the corner over here, more water damage," Krohn said, pointing at the ceiling just beyond the front door. "There's water in the light. That light is actually full of water."

That is not the only water issue.

The house is hooked up to the city's system, which is under a boil advisory due to a drop in pressure that could have caused contamination through the system. Those customers are urged to boil water for a minute if it's to be used for cooking or consumption. Well customers are not under the advisory.

"It's rough. We can't wash dishes. We can't wash clothes. We can't shower. You have to boil your water to drink it — don't drink it," Krohn said.

Still, both said they are fortunate, knowing this could have been worse when looking at damage elsewhere in Menasha.

"There's a lot of other people that are less fortunate than me. I had a garage door roof blow off. My fence is gone. But you know, those things can be replaced, lives can't," Watson said.

Portions of this article were formatted using A.I. FOX6’s Sam Kraemer and an editor reviewed it for accuracy and tone prior to publishing.

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