UNDATED (WSAU) -- The winter storm that hit Wisconsin Thursday night and Friday morning left people clearing snow piles and damaged buildings.
Most of the snow fell in the northwestern part of Wisconsin, with Superior getting 18 additional inches of heavy, wet snow. Most everyone northwest of a line from Pepin to Hurley had over a foot of snow.
Along with previously reported roof damages at the Eau Claire Kmart and Menomonee O’Reilly Auto Parts stores, several other buildings had roof collapses. One building in Hayward that collapsed was to be used for activities surrounding this weekend’s American Birkebeiner cross country ski race. Nobody was inside when it collapsed. Numerous farms across the state have been affected by the wind and heavy snow, as reports of barns collapsing are still coming in.
Emergency Operations Center officials reported a man from Altoona was rescued Friday morning by firefighters after becoming pinned underneath a collapsed awning on his mobile home. He was taken to the hospital for treatment of a leg injury.
Much of Wisconsin had high wind gusts, which caused drifting of snow on highways and brought down some power lines. Xcel Energy reported they had a total of 13,000 customers in northern and western Wisconsin that experienced power outages during this storm. As of noon Friday, utilities had approximately 2,600 customers without power. Half of them were located in the Eau Claire and Menomonie areas. The rest were scattered throughout northwest Wisconsin. Most are back in service now.
Highway crews are continuing to plow and salt roadways. Drivers are encouraged to be very careful if they need to travel this weekend.