Tornado recalled as local businesses work to recover, rebuild from day of disaster

“It’s kind of nice to see where we are today versus the immediate moments after the tornado,” Stanley Police chief Lance Weiland reflected of the events of Dec. 15, 2021.

Best known locally as the day an EF2 tornado came to town, the freak weather event complete with thunder snow and some very angry loud clouds saw vast destruction, but also an area come together.

Including local community members but also stretching far outside the Stanley- Boyd area, the tornado which caused a school cancelling power outage to much of the town wasn’t able to cancel neighborly good will.

“I think it’s pretty apparent that a lot of work has been done in the last year,” Chief Weiland stated. First though, a tornado recap.

The storm arrives With cloud rotation noted down by Neillsville, severe weather sirens had gone off in Stanley and a tornado watch was on until 9:45 p.m., per the National Weather Service. At 9:15 p.m., the tornado came.

Touching down at 40th and G before lifting seven minutes later at Center Road and Copenhaver, the twister cut a path of destruction just over seven miles through both farmland and downtown. Roger Schesel of Kelly Grill had a close call.

“I was on the front porch watching the rain,” he said just across from the old depot. “I started getting wet and I came inside, and it hit right after that. It was that fast. I never heard a train.” Around the same time, Kelly and her mom were inside watching the news with her mother, who had come from Cadott for safety, and ended up at ground zero.

Ripping the roof off the restaurant and causing damage that resulted in the demolition of the old depot and a building just to the east, the EF2 twister embedding a piece of triangular glass into the wall and destroying the building just across the street The response begins

Among the first challenges in the storm’s aftermath was restoring power to the town. With similar freak tornadoes in Kentucky and two more confirmed twisters in the Clark County-Eau Claire area, Stanley-Boyd wasn’t the only area in need. With power out but the damage threshold in the high poverty area not meeting FEMA dollar thresholds for aid, there would be no outside help for the city government in terms of federal money, with a lack of disaster declaration at the state level likewise forestalling the possibility of FEMA aid for individual families—but that didn’t stop the response locally or from surrounding communities. News organizations descended to cover the destruction and response, with help turning out from Cadott, Boyd, Gilman, Owen-Withee- Curtiss, and Thorp, to name just a few. Chippewa Falls and other agencies to the west joined in as well.

The spotlight fades

As with all things, attention from media and elsewhere, didn’t last forever. Back at home, one contributor to rebuilding, was the Stanley Community Association.

“For the cleanup day,” we were able to help all people who requested it,” Weiland said of the spring event. Partnering with Forward Bank to put together the Stanley Relief Fund, the two were able to help area residents with immediate expenses as attention faded from outside. But full recovery would take time, as evidenced by two downtown businesses in the tornado’s path, Kelly Grill and Wundrow Auto Repair.

Businesses start to recover

“We’re still waiting on the final inspection approval so until then we can’t set a date,” Misty Wundrow shared recently for the grand opening for the new and improved Wundrow Auto Repair on East Maple Street in Stanley.

Located just east of the old site, the new building came about after its 1930s predecessor was condemned for structural damage from the tornado, although the Wundrows were able to save much, including the history boards they received from the Stanley Area Historical Society just months before the tornado hit. So how was the past year?

“Challenging and adventurous,” Misty said, with husband Todd agreeing. “That sounds like a good way to explain it,” he said. Meeting with the builder to sketch out a design on Christmas Eve, the new and improved five bay car repair business will nonetheless incorporate some classic touches—like an old rotary phone.

“That’s one of the sounds we wanted to reincorporate,” Todd shared of the old landline that reportedly works even in a power outage. With a design that first debuted in the late 1950s, the phone will be contrasted with fully modern features like a lobby light inspired by the first satellite to orbit earth, and called Sputnik.

With lobby windows, five full transparent glass bay doors, four back windows, and 24 LED lights in the shop area, the new building will also have plenty of light—but also a spacious lobby reception area with a fireplace, as well as bathroom.

As to the fireplace, it will include bricks from the Yellowstone building, F & M Bank, the old depot, and Wundrow Auto itself—the old building, that is. The wood mantlepiece for the coming fireplace at Wundrow Auto was salvaged from the depot along with two awning braces they plan to incorporate into the reception area. Still awaiting inspection approval to set a final open date, the Wundrows shared a list of companies involved with the rebuilding, as follows:

• Denzine Surveying

• Westaby Trucking

• ABE Concrete (footings and foundation)

• Horst Construction

• Hixwood Metal (materials supplier)

• Your Best Call Heating and Cooling (Del Kroeplin)

• Nitz and Son Plumbing

• Baehr Electric

• T & C Drywall

• Schneider Drywall

•Slowiak Masonry

• Larson’s Cabinetry (for cabinetry)

• Red Wing Custom Cabinets and Flooring (for flooring)

• Cornerstone Construction (interior trim and doors)

• Wagler & Sons Enterprises (garage doors)

• Inside Out Plus (hoist install) Also among those who have built back is Kelly Grill.. With hundreds of people pitching in to cleanup in the storm aftermath, Kelly Grill was able to save the building, but ended up replacing the roof, siding, several doors and windows, and “a lot of glass,” Kelly said. Now packed lunchtime the same as before the storm, Kelly Grill has kept at least one reminder from that day. A triangular piece that embedded itself in the wall by the bathrooms, it’s now framed, protected from getting knocked down or else forgotten with time. But while able to re-open February 1, a few things are still being worked on.

“We’re still working on the garage,” Kelly said of ongoing repairs, the garage foundation poured but without walls or a roof. They have a car to replace the one that was destroyed by the tornado. With several other businesses and others also building back from last year’s storm, the story isn’t over just yet—but for now, we have a summary.

The road back continues

“There’s been so much done since the tornado,” Stanley Mayor Al Haas reflected recently. “Our businesses that got damaged are being rebuilt.” With spring cleanup seeing turnout from around the area, the year was a mix. The city has lost its historic depot, Haas said, but will be getting a new building in its place. The tree replacement program also came up for mention.

“That’s not only replacing the ash trees that were taken down, that’s replacing some of the trees the tornado took down,” Haas said of the plan to start putting down new roots, hopefully next spring. But while much has been done towards recovery things still remain to be accomplished. Not all damage is repaired, and needs do still remain. Nevertheless, the City of Stanley and area is well on the way to recovery from the tornado of Dec. 15, 2021. Stanley Fire Chief Korey Hagenson summed it up best perhaps reflecting on the storm and its aftermath.

“It kind of brought us together,” he said, with better communication between city departments and residents alike.

Next week, we follow the tornado’s path through Stanley, seeing the current state of things as compared with a year ago, for homeowners as well as businesses, including Chwala’s Construction, near complete on site in the Industrial Park after the building was destroyed in last year’s tornado.