Tornado damage in Menasha seen from, July 28, 2026. PC: Fox 11 Online
MENASHA, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Mark Wickesberg family survived the tornado by mere inches.
Tragically, his home is unlivable, one of 82 determined by FEMA to be destroyed.
The moment the tornado rolled in changed his life forever.
“At that point the ladder just shot straight up in the air,” said Wickesberg, “just like a missile straight up in the air.”
Wickesberg said he knew a tornado was headed toward the Appleton area after seeing the forecast, then heard the siren and saw the air turn dark, and knew he had to take shelter. He ran to the basement doors just seconds behind his wife and son but couldn’t get in.
“I could not open the basement door,” said Wickesberg. “There was so much air pressure. And at that point I don’t know what happened. I found myself in the entryway.”
Wickesberg doesn’t remember that part of the story, but the storm was still raging when he recognized where he was. He immediately went downstairs to find his wife and son.
“A piece of wainscoting holding up the floor just right there,” said Wickesberg, pointing to a spot in the house, “had it not landed where it landed that whole thing would have came crashing down, and that’s where [my wife] was. And my son was in those stairs going to the basement.”
The stairs held up barely above his son’s head.
But after finding them, the winds and rain were still strong, and their house was now toppled and they were exposed.
“You could feel debris over your head,” said Wickesberg. “And I thought, well, just brace for it. I really thought this might be it.”
But fortunately, he lived to tell the story. Wickesberg’s and 81 other homes were destroyed in Winnebago County, totaling nearly $8 million in damage, according to FEMA. Local governments incurred over $13 million in cleanup and repair costs.
Gov. Tony Evers is asking the president to approve reimbursements, far from a done deal but one that could help thousands of people in the county.
If funding is approved, impacted homeowners can apply for reimbursement to cover costs like short-term rental and other lodging costs or even longer-term projects like home repairs and uninsured property losses.
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