Storm damage: "It could have been worse"

Kristy and Jackson Huinker clean up debris from a toppled tree on Centennial Road

Kristy Huinker, her husband, Lee, and son, Jackson, were cleaning up storm damage Thursday morning at their farm on Centennial Road.  "It could have been worse," said Kristy to decorahnews.com.

The Huinkers and many other Winneshiek County residents had tree damage from Wednesday night's 70-mile-an-hour winds.  There were a few buildings damaged in the storm, but many tree branches fell safely to ground.

decorahnews.com toured Castalia, Ossian, Calmar and Spillville Thursday morning and found the greatest storm damage in Spillville.  There were two large fir trees on property owned by Gary Johnson on Victory Street that were toppled by the strong winds--but avoided hitting the house or a fence when they fell.  At Taylor Made B & B, Shirley and John Mikota were still without power Thursday morning, but were grateful a tree fell on a power line and not on their house.

Damage from Wednesday night's storm was greatest in Clayton and Allamakee counties in Iowa and Crawford and Grant counties in Wisconsin--especially along the Mississippi River, where up to 8 inches of rain fell, causing flooding and closing roads.

For more details about Wednesday night's storm, visit the "Weather" tab of decorahnews.com and click on the link to the La Crosse Office of the National Weather Service.

These fir trees on Victory Street in Spillville missed hitting a fence and a house

Pulled out at the roots!

This tree on Oak Street in Spillville also came out at the roots

More damage in Spillville