WHEATLAND, WIS. — The tornado that destroyed Michelle Arena's home here last January chased the family for months in their nightmares.
When a big storm came their way a month later, the panic-stricken mom packed her three children into the car and tried to outrun it. Her 8-year-old son Jacob endured vomiting spells over six months. And 9-year-old Catie relived the disaster for weeks in her dreams.
"We were so spooked," said Arena, 36, who huddled with the children in a basement storage room while the Jan. 7 tornadoes, which swept through southern Wisconsin and other parts of the Midwest, ripped the house off its foundation.
Miraculously, no one in her community was seriously injured. Nearly a year later, the storm remains an enigma.
What began as an unseasonably warm day quickly turned dangerous. In Milwaukee, thermometers reached 63, the highest temperature Wisconsin had recorded in January since 1871.
The surge of warm, humid air combined with a strong updraft of wind that created a jet-stream effect, and the stage was set for one of the Midwest's most destructive winter tornadoes in recorded history. Funnel clouds wreaked havoc in much of northern Illinois and Wisconsin's Kenosha County -- where damages were estimated at $18 million.
In Wisconsin, it was only the second January tornado in nearly six decades.
In the small farming town of Wheatland, 25 homes were not salvageable. All but two have been rebuilt, said town Chairman Jeff Butler.
The year-old Wheatland Tornado Recovery Committee plans an anniversary luncheon Sunday. The group distributed most of the $90,000 raised to help the families most in need. Remaining funds will be parceled out this spring to cover the expense of replanting trees and lawns, Butler said.
"A lot of people didn't know their neighbors. But after this tornado, it worked out that everyone was friends," Butler said.
Along with the homes destroyed, the tornadoes wiped out any disbelief that such storms could occur in winter, said meteorologist Mark Gehring with the National Weather Service's Milwaukee branch.
"People were flooding Kenosha with 911 calls because they didn't believe the tornado warnings. They were calling to ask if it was real," said Gehring, who was part of a team that surveyed storm damage.
"People did go to their basements, but it sure seems like they hesitated. It was January, so it was a tremendous surprise," Gehring said.
