Near the Holy Cross area, several trees and buildings sustained damage from strong gusts of wind.
The area was placed under a tornado warning at around 8 p.m. Thursday. While no injuries have been reported, numerous trees were uprooted along U.S. 52, between Holy Cross and Rickardsville. Meanwhile, several area farms reportedly received damage as a result of strong wind gusts.
Flooding conditions caused U.S. 52, between Rickardsville and Dubuque, to be closed for much of Friday.
Buildings at Schmitt Implement, of Holy Cross, received substantial damage as a result of the storm. The roof of one of the buildings was torn off, as well as doors on the structures. Willis Schmitt, the owner of the business, said damage occurred between 8 and 8:30 p.m., damaging inventory in its wake.
Schmitt, who lives across the highway from the business, also sustained property damage at his home. He reported three trees and a flagpole were damaged, with one
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"When the tree hit (the) house, it was like a bomb going off," Schmitt recalled.
"As long as nobody got hurt. That's the important thing. You can always fix the damage, but you can't replace life."
Dorothy Kennicker, of rural Holy Cross, surveyed the damage to her farm property Friday afternoon. Several trees were blown over, as well as an auger.
Kennicker, who was playing cards in Dubuque at the time of the storm, said she was alerted of the storm when a fellow card player, a neighbor, was called by a family member and informed of the damage.
Compared with damage that some of her neighbors sustained, including to both their homes and farm buildings, Kennicker felt fortunate.
"I think our trees protected our house," she said. "Most (of our) stuff is intact."
In 48 years of living at her Jefferson Street NW home in New Vienna, Delores Neuhaus said the floodwater has never been so high as it was Friday morning after eight inches of rain fell in the community.
Neuhaus, who lives with her son Mike, reported 30 inches of water in her garage as well as in the home's basement. The Neuhauses live near the community's baseball field and tractor pull site, where Coffee Creek and the North Fork of the Maquoketa River intercept.
"This is higher than it had been in 2002 or 2008, or any time," noted Neuhaus, as her daughter Amy cleared debris from the property.
The Neuhauses had the misfortune of joining many in the New Vienna community, who had water invade their properties.
At the nearby New Vienna baseball field, Cheryl Kluesner spent Friday morning surveying the damage the water did to the New Vienna Athletic Association's concession stand. Comparing the water level line in the building to the marks previous flooding incidents left behind, Kluesner determined this flood approached an all-time high status.
Mike Lehman, of 4J Fence Company, offered to temporarily house the concession stand's coolers in one of his buildings. However, even the higher ground that Lehman's business offered could not protect the coolers.
"It was a foot higher than the 100-year floodplain," Lehman noted of the high-water mark he observed. "It is a mess."