Washburn had another series of severe storms roll through late last week that's left officials assessing damage for the second time in two weeks.
Chequamegon Nicolet National Forest Public Affairs Officer Hilary Markin says there’s about $10 million in damage so far from the storm that ripped through July 11, and says they’re still assessing blow down damage from Thursday’s storm.
Markin says straightline winds up to 80 miles per hour caused trees to uproot and block access roads trapping several campers with injuries reported at Birch Grove Campground. She says it's too soon to tell when recreation areas will reopen, but says forest service personnel have made clearing the debris from sites, trails and forest roads a top priority...
“…The whole forest North of HWY 2 is closed right now to the public. That’s just to facilitate our safety and working in that area as well as our visitor’s safety until we can get in there and clear those trees, make sure there’s no tree damage overhead that may fall at any point in time. There’s one exception, and that’s the Long Lake-Daves area, and that’s an exception to the closure order.”
Markin says the Washburn area is still recovering from washouts, and encourages people to check the Chequamegon Nicolet National Forest website for the latest damage updates, closures and openings.
