Following is an e-mail sent to our family regarding the storms in northwest Wisconsin and the damage done to our property:
As you may know, we were planning on spending this weekend at our cabin. We heard there were storms in the area on the way up, but were unprepared for what happened to our property. We could tell straight-line winds had gone through from about Hinckley to our cabin as many, many trees were down, all facing the same direction. We had to drive around about ten trees that had fallen onto the highway. So we thought we would probably have several trees down and need to move some branches from our 1/2 mile long driveway.
When we started driving on our cabin driveway, it looked okay. Then we got to a tree across our path that would require a chainsaw to remove it. We got the kids out of the car and decided to walk around it to check and make sure the cabin was okay. It was about 9:10 and getting dark. The problem was, this point in our property is the thickly wooded part and Steve estimates that about 80% of our large trees are down. More trees are down than up. We couldn't move--it was like going through a jungle. Everywhere you turned, there were trees on top of trees on top of trees and branches. Thousands of trees are down. We tried to follow our power lines that lead to our cabin, but noticed trees had fallen on them, tipped them over, or snapped them in half. The power lines were on the ground. The normal sky-high treeline on our property was gone. The only way we eventually made it to the cabin was by following the sound of the cabin alarm going off. The little clearing it sat in is now a large clearing. It isn't in a thick forest anymore, but more like a field.
Miraculously, no trees hit the cabin. Or the garage. Or the playhouse. Several did land on our propane tank, so hopefully that isn't damaged or leaking. We grabbed a flashlight from the cabin and decided to head back to find the car after checking out things inside and out. Except nothing looked the same outside. The lack of tall trees made us lose our sense of direction and orientation. All we could see were the large trees and branches on the ground in front of us. And now it was really dark. No moon or stars or anything except a few fireflies. Plus a lot of mosquitos. And, naturally, it started to rain again. I felt like we were walking in circles and couldn't make heads or tails of where we were. We were zig zagging, because that was the only way we could attempt to make it through the trees. I know my description isn't doing this justice, because the way it looked is indescribable to me. It looked like our property was hit by a hurricane or tornado. I've never seen or had to walk through anything like it. We climbed over trees and branches, under trees and branches, through trees and branches. We thought we were going to take a step onto the ground, but sank into a hole where a tree was uprooted. Trees poked us in the face and scratched every bare body part, which was a lot due to the hot temperatures today. All this while carrying a flashlight in one hand and a kid in the other, who, by the way, were wearing brand new clothes (I never buy them new clothes, except for today!) that later appeared like they had rolled in the mud.
Steve got the great idea to use the alarm on our car to lead us to it. Because we were totally lost. I couldn't tell if we were heading back to the cabin or out towards the road. We might still be there if it weren't for that car alarm! I have never been so happy to see our car in all my life. The kids were tired, cold, and scared. It was now way past their bedtime. My pants felt like they weight 50 pounds from all the water and tree debris they now contained. We turned the car around and drove all the way back home again.
The power was out from six miles outside of Hinckley (which is 25 miles from our cabin) to at least our cabin, most likely even farther. Since our power lines serve only our cabin, not a neighborhood or community, they are probably very low priority. They will likely have to replace most of the telephone poles, which will be no small feat. We're not sure when or how this will get done and with it being a holiday weekend, I'm not sure when we will get answers. As it is right now, the power company wouldn't even be able to fix our lines because no vehicle of theirs would be able to get onto our property. Steve thinks it will be weeks before we get power back.
Steve and my dad went back up today (Saturday) to try and cut a path through our driveway so at least vehicles can get through there. It will be years before we get the back trails on our property cleared. Steve thinks we'll have to have a lumber company come out to take the fallen trees down, because it's just too much for us to do by hand. Following are pictures Steve took today.
We are so thankful we weren't up there during the storm and no one was hurt. I can only imagine what thousands of trees falling down one on top of another like dominos must have sounded like. The kids and I for sure would have been terrified.
The first trees on the driveway.
The power line now goes directly to the ground.
More downed power lines.
This is what we were navigating through last night with the kids.
Another partially clear spot in the driveway.
So thankful the trees missed the cabin!
For comparison, the following two pictures were taken last summer:
I can't believe how bare it looks in the back of the cabin now.
The propane tank is to the right of Steve. This used to be thick, thick woods that you couldn't even see through.
Just to give some perspective, the following one picture was taken last August by the propane tank. I remember how bummed we were about this one tree falling! Ha!
The gazebo was upturned, but the playhouse was untouched.
