TURTLE LAKE, Wis. — The sound of chainsaws and the smell of pine trees resonated all throughout Polk County, Wisconsin on Saturday.
Many residents were busy cleaning up storm damage. Some were chopping trees into manageable chunks, some were assessing the damage, afraid to touch something before insurance inspectors made their way out.
"I don't know if it was high winds or a tornado," Judy Deverell said. "I don't know with all the trees how it couldn't have been a tornado."
Deverell said she has owned her cabin on Horseshoe lake for about 30 years. She said she lives in Maplewood, but her summer cabin is her go-to.
"We come back and forth here most of the summer," she explained. "because it's fun. It's a nice place to be. It doesn't look so beautiful now." She turned around to take in the sight. Her property was bustling with people with forklifts, chainsaws and other hauling equipment.
Other property owners were knee-deep in clean up as well. Joe Swiderski owns a house, a barn and two sheds nearby Horseshoe Lake. He said to his knowledge, his barn was one of the oldest in the area. On Saturday, the red wood lay scattered all over the beautifully mowed grass.
"This is the worst it ever was," Swiderski said. "I went into the basement as soon as it hit. Watched through the basement window and it was freight train noise coming through here."
His brand new shed was also completely destroyed. The winds took off the roof and spread the blow-in insulation all over his trucks, grass and ground.
"Pretty bad storms come through here because of open fields," he said. "But I didn't expect this to happen you know? This was a bad one."
Gene Palas agrees. Palas also owns a home and a barn nearby.
"I'm 78 years old, I grew up on this farm," Palas said. "Never, never, ever," he said referring to what he saw Friday night. "Just what do you do?"
His barn is a goner too.
"I knew as soon as I went into the basement, I knew my barn was gone," he said. "Because it's East and West and [the storm] came out of the North and blew right through."
For all three, it's a long road ahead of clean up and recovery.
"We'll get through it, what can you do?" Swiderski said. "I'm alive. It didn't hit the house so I'm happy."
Xcel Energy's outage map shows that this area including Turtle Lake is showing several outages. They say they are still assessing damage before starting on fixing the outages.
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For those dealing with heavy amounts of tree debris in Polk County, the Polk County Sheriff's Department has shared the following dumpsite locations:
- South of 773 Mains Crossing Avenue, Amery, Wisc.
- North of 2193 80th Street, Luck, Wisc.
Beginning July 22, a volunteer group known as the Christian Aid Ministries will be arriving in Polk County to offer free assistance to those effected by storm damage.
*It should be noted that the Polk County Highway Department will not be removing debris from private property. The dumpsites listed above are intended for government-affiliated workers and the public - not private contractors.