A state-wide path of destruction

LOMIRA, Wis. — On the evening of May 15, Brenda Elsinger came up from the basement to find her farm’s freestall barn destroyed. The tornado that hit Lomira just after 6 p.m. was rated EF1 with winds up to 95 mph.

“We’ve been here 36 years, and this dairy is my life,” Elsinger said. “We started with a stanchion barn and worked our tails off to get this herd built up and this facility humming. I just stood there, and it was all gone. … I was in shock. I lost something that was part of me.”

Elsinger and her husband, Jeff, farm with their son, Mike, near Lomira.

“Our whole lives basically were disrupted, but we just have to figure it out,” Elsinger said. “Challenge is part of life, and well, we got ourselves a challenge.”

The storm system that swept across Wisconsin May 15 left a trail of destruction, wreaking havoc on several Wisconsin dairy farms. In total, 14 tornadoes were confirmed by the National Weather Service as of May 20, in Clark, Dodge, St. Croix, Portage, Sauk, Marathon and Columbia Counties. In addition, hail that measured as much as 4 inches in diameter was documented in Eau Claire County. Significant straight-line wind damage was also reported across the state.

Eight people and two dogs sought shelter in the basement of Elsinger’s house when the tornado warning was issued. The farm’s protocol during a tornado warning is to shut everything down and head to the basement. Three employees in the parlor and another cleaning the barn took cover with Elsinger and her family.

“You can never assume it’s not going to be you,” Elsinger said. “I’m very glad we followed the protocol and got there before the storm moved in.”

The farm did lose cattle in the wreckage, but Elsinger said it was minimal compared to what it could have been.

“Every loss of an animal is a hard loss; (it) is heartbreaking,” she said. “Out of the devastation, there were a lot of things that also went right to save what we had.”

Two calf hutches were blown into a nearby marsh. However, the two calves inside came walking out of the marsh — alive and well, Elsinger said.

As soon as the storm passed, hundreds of people swooped in to help the family pick up the pieces.

“The outpouring of support from the community and beyond was second to none,” Elsinger said. “To me, what happened here in the little town of Lomira that night was an absolute miracle. It was like something I could never explain. It’s all the little things. … what an amazing place to be.”

Cattle trailers lined their driveway, waiting to move animals, and a local bar came and served food all night to everyone who was helping.

“We had an amazing group of people,” Elsinger said. “It gives me goosebumps to talk about.”

The ferocious weather did not quench Elsinger’s spirit as she began thinking about how they could rebuild while moving cattle that evening.

“With every disaster, every problem, comes an opportunity,” Elsinger said. “We’ve been talking for months about improvements, doing things differently as far as cattle movement and efficiency. Well, here’s the opportunity to do all that. You have to look for a silver lining. You have to look at the positives and not just focus on the negatives.”

One-third of the Elsingers’ barn is still standing.

“There’s some damage to that part, but it’s usable,” Elsinger said. “We’re still milking every day.”

The family sent their 2-year-old cows offsite to three farms and have continued shuffling animals since the disaster.

The Schwandt Family Farm, located southwest of the Dodge County city of Juneau, was also struck May 15 by an EF2 tornado, with wind speeds reaching 120 mph. One of the Schwandts’ two farms suffered significant damage. Bob Schwandt was caught in the barn’s feed room but survived as the tornado went across his farm, causing a Harvestore silo to fall on top of the barn.

Schwandt’s nephew, Jeremy Nehls, is the farm’s assistant manager and was at the family’s other farm when the tornado arrived. From there, he witnessed the devastation occur to the farm where his uncle was.

“The wind was really blowing,” Nehls said. “I heard glass break, I shut the door, and the lights went on and off once, and then just went dark. I started running down the barn and all I heard was the crunching, everything just went over as I looked at one end of the barn as it went down. It was one scary moment right there.”

The farm’s heifer shed is also gone, the machine shed incurred damage, and the roof of the farm’s home and the garage were damaged. All 110 animals on the farm survived and have been moved to the family’s other farm and several nearby farms.

“We are still trying to get through this and hopefully, eventually, we’ll figure something out within the coming week or so,” Nehls said.

The farming community in Dodge County also rallied around the Schwandt family, providing assistance and support shortly after the storm cleared.

When asked how people can support them, Nehls said, “Pray for us.”

In Columbia County, near Randolph, Frank Behling and Mara Budde dealt with the wrath of straight-line winds that swept across their farm. Their dry cow barn went down, trapping nine cows underneath. With the help of family, neighbors and friends, Behling and Budde were able to free their cows.

“We are so grateful, all the cows were fine and are doing OK,” Budde said. “So many others had so much more damage. Ours was pretty minor in comparison.”

Another farmer was facing a similar situation 170 miles to the northwest, just outside Colby, in Clark County. There, an EF2 tornado, also with winds of 120 mph, decimated the farm of James Weaver.

Like the scenarios in Dodge County, the farming community rushed to help the Weaver family in the storm’s aftermath. Within a few hours, the cows were removed from Weaver’s farm and relocated to a nearby facility.

Elsinger said it is still hard to wrap her head around the events of May 15.

“We lost a building, but no human lives were lost, and that is the main thing,” she said. “Yes, we have a mess here, but we will rise from the rubble and be better than ever.”