DODGE CO., Wis. — The cleanup continues across the state after severe storms rolled through on May 15. National Weather Service teams are surveying the damage starting in Juneau, especially after they confirmed one tornado touched down near the Mayville area.
RELATED: Dodge County man captures tornado forming on video
No one was killed and only minor injuries have been reported.
Dodge County Sheriff Dale Schmidt updated WTMJ’s Wis. Morning News that while power crews worked overnight in Juneau, “right here on Main Street, they’re still trying to get some power lines up. I know we have some major transmission lines here in Juneau that are gonna take a little while, probably may take a couple days to get finished. So there will be will be some people affected longer, but they’ve done a fantastic job getting power restored to, to a large areas of Dodge County: Mayville, Horicon, and Juneau.”
As the cleanup continues, Sheriff Schmidt says that extra volunteers are not needed. “We want to keep these people out of the way of the crews, especially the power crews getting the power back up and running. So for now, just help our your neighbors and friends but for most of the volunteers, we’d love you just to stay out of the area for now.
The strong storms caused the Rob Boelk, mayor of the City of Mayville, to declare a state of emergency.
State of Emergency in Mayville
At 6:29 p.m. May 15, 2025, the City of Mayville Mayor, Rob Boelk, has declared a State of Emergency. The south side of the city has undergone substantial damage from a potential tornado. Residential homes and factories have sustained significant destruction. At this time, the city is not aware of any injuries. Alliant Energy is on the scene to disconnect gas and electric services. Residents displaced in the area should go to the TAG Center for shelter and assistance from the Red Cross. Everyone should avoid the area south of Horicon Street to allow Public Works and Emergency Services to provide aid and to clean up debris. It is unknown how long it will take to complete cleanup efforts. We ask anyone that works on the South side of the City of Mayville to contact their employer.
Rob Boelk
Mayor, City of Mayville
The focus today for the National Weather Service is to assess the damage and determine the official number of tornadoes that touched down during the storm. Warning Coordination Meteorologist Tim Halbach and his team started on the ground in Juneau. “So it looks like it was mainly on the north side of the City of Juneau here. What we do when we do these surveys is that we go up and down the entire path trying to determine where the damage started and where it ended. So here on the north side of town is where we’re running into some of the damage.”
The track of the storm was not a surprise, based on the modeling the National Weather Service team had been monitoring in the days before the storm. “Just from what we were seeing on radar, there were two separate circulations and two debris signatures. So we also had a rotation that was just north of the airport here in Juneau, so we’re thinking there could have been something else there.”
These assessments do take time. “We have to go structure by structure to assess the level of damage and then give an idea of what the wind speeds, we think, occured there,” said Halbach.
After the team finishes in Juneau, they will also track the line of damage in Mayville. So far in 2025, the National Weather Service has confirmed seven tornadoes touching down in Wisconsin.
