Posted on: May 19, 2025 | Last Modified on: May 19, 2025
As Mayor of the City of Juneau, I would like to take this time to express my heartfelt thanks to all the people and agencies who worked tirelessly to restore normalcy to our city after the devastation caused by the tornado late last Thursday.
As our sirens warned that our community was in the expected path of an F2 tornado, most citizens took shelter in their basements or sought refuge in safe places. Thankfully, no lives were lost.
Shortly after the storm had passed, calls came in for the Juneau Fire and EMS, who were dispatched to assist residents both within and outside our city. Our local emergency government and police departments, assisted by county and neighboring departments, responded in full emergency mode. The mutual aid agreement throughout Dodge County—uniting all ?rst responders from neighboring communities—proved to be invaluable, as our city received immediate assistance from surrounding areas.
Even though about one-third of our city suffered severe damage, including to our local electric distribution system and the transmission lines that serve the city and its surroundings, efforts to restore power began immediately.
Initially, it was predicted that Juneau would be without power for several days. However, Juneau’s municipally owned electric utility acted quickly, calling for help from other municipal utilities. Thanks to another mutual aid pact organized by the MEUW (Municipal Electric Utilities of Wisconsin), help arrived swiftly.
These calls were made by Juneau’s three-person electric crew, led by Superintendent Nick Gahlman, who organized and supervised the massive repair effort in our community.
Juneau has three substations. With the help of the responding agencies, one substation and the damaged part of the electrical system were isolated, allowing power to be restored to much of the city by midnight—just hours after the storm had passed.
The transmission system west of our city, owned by ATC, was restored in record time, helping bring electricity back to Juneau. The system east of the city, which feeds our north substation, will require several days to be fully restored.
My sincere thanks go to all the electric utility staff and agencies who worked around the clock to restore power. The ?nal customers had their power restored by the end of the day on Saturday.
A big thank-you also goes to Juneau’s Water/Wastewater staff, led by Superintendent Alex Smudde. They had all hands on deck as they monitored our treatment plant and wells running on emergency backup generators. Portable generators had to be brought in and hooked up at sewer lift stations across the city to prevent sewage backups into homes.
As the storm ravaged our city, cleanup efforts began immediately. Juneau’s Department of Public Works staff, led by Joe Ludtke, along with DPW crews from neighboring communities, started clearing brush and debris from the affected areas. This remains a massive and ongoing task.
Police Chief and Emergency Government Director Dave Beal coordinated and supervised most ?rst responder efforts and helped arrange a visit from Governor Tony Evers to view the damage ?rsthand.
City Hall and utility staff played vital roles, making arrangements for visiting repair crews, answering phones, and keeping the public informed.
The entire community deserves our gratitude. Neighbors helped neighbors in the aftermath of this disaster. I saw people on rooftops with chainsaws, removing fallen trees from their neighbors’ homes just hours after the storm. Cleanup continued into Friday and Saturday.
A group of youth soccer players and their parents worked diligently to clean up storm debris in Wild Goose Park on Saturday morning. These efforts were led by our newly hired Recreation Director Hunter Karnitz and soccer coach Kevin Klueger. Thanks to their work, the ?eld—once covered in fallen trees and debris—is now ready for play.
Chef Chance from the Juneau Community Center, along with local restaurants and businesses, generously provided food and drinks to those laboring long hours to restore our community. I can’t thank them enough.
In closing, I want to say that in times of disaster, Juneau residents and our local service agencies stand strong together. We support one another and rise to the occasion when it matters most.
I thank the Lord that no lives were lost and no one suffered serious injury. Things could have been much worse.
“We Are Juneau, We Are Community.”
Again, thank you all.
Mayor Dan Wegener
City of Juneau
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