Assume any fallen line is energized, even if it is not sparking, humming or moving.
Stay at least 35 feet away and keep children and pets back.
Never drive over a downed line, and never try to move one with a stick, rope or anything else.
If a line falls on your car while you are inside, stay in the car and call 911. Only get out if it catches fire — and if you must, jump clear with both feet together, never touching car and ground at once, then shuffle away.
Treat every intersection with a dark traffic signal as a four-way stop.
Report downed lines to We Energies at 800-662-4797, or 911 if someone is in immediate danger.
Full guidance · Grand Chute Police Department · updated Jul 27, 4:00 PM
Burn ban still on in Neenah & Menasha — lifted in Fox Crossing Neenah · Menasha
No outdoor burning, including debris and brush, in Neenah or Menasha. Fox Crossing rescinded its burn ban on 18 August.
Do not burn storm debris, brush or yard waste outdoors in Neenah or the City of Menasha.
Fox Crossing has rescinded its burn ban as of Monday 18 August. Normal burning rules apply there again — check the Village's own permit requirements before lighting anything.
This applies even to small or contained fires — the ban does not distinguish by size.
Take debris to a municipal drop-off site or curbside pickup instead — see the Cleanup & Debris Removal section for your community's process.
Neenah and Menasha will announce publicly when their bans lift; no personal notice will be sent.
Full guidance · Village of Fox Crossing (ban rescinded 18 August); Neenah and Menasha not confirmed either way · updated Aug 20, 10:30 AM
The overnight curfew appears to be over Menasha · Fox Crossing
Fox Crossing lifted its curfew on 18 August. Winnebago County has since removed every mention of a curfew from its tornado pages. Menasha has not published a formal end, but nothing current says one is still in force.
Fox Crossing: lifted. Ended Monday 18 August by declaration of the Village Administrator. Ordinary trespassing and loitering rules still apply.
Menasha: no longer posted anywhere. The county has dropped it and Menasha's own storm page has not been updated since 31 July. We are no longer telling you there is a curfew here.
If you need certainty — because you work nights, or you are worried about being stopped — ring Menasha Police on 920-967-3500 and ask. It is a fair question.
The streets are still not safe to wander after dark. Streetlights are out in the damaged blocks and downed conductors are invisible at night. That was always the real reason to stay in, and it has not changed.
If you are displaced and have nowhere to be tonight, overnight sheltering is still listed at Appleton North High School, 5000 N Ballard Rd, Appleton.
Full guidance · Village of Fox Crossing (lifted 18 August); Winnebago County tornado pages (no curfew listed as of 20 August) · updated Aug 20, 10:30 AM
Immediate need
Food & Water
Free meals, food pantries, bottled water while it lasts, and replacing FoodShare or WIC benefits lost in the storm.
10 places to go or call ·9 open now·4 you can call·2 things to know ·
Places to go & people to call
Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin — food pantry finder
Open
Find the closest open food pantry. Regional network covering Winnebago, Outagamie and Calumet counties.
Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin supplies the pantry network across this region and maintains a searchable directory of member pantries and meal programs.
Pantry hours are shifting daily right now — several are opening outside their normal schedule to meet demand, and a few in the damage path are closed. Call ahead or check the online finder, and if you cannot reach anyone, call 211.
Free bottled water — Fleet Farm Store Support Center
Open
Free bottled water from a hauler at Fleet Farm's Store Support Center in Appleton, while supplies last.
From 10:15 a.m., while supplies last (no announced end time)Free
Fleet Farm has a hauler filled with cases of bottled water that they are handing out for free at their Store Support Center — their corporate offices, not a regular retail store.
Go to the address below, not a normal Fleet Farm store.
No end time was announced. Call the main Fleet Farm Appleton store at 920-734-8231 if you want to confirm supplies remain before you drive over, though that store is a separate location from the giveaway itself.
Mercy Chefs — free hot meals at Menasha High School
Open
Free hot lunch and dinner every day at Menasha High School. Drive-through pickup. 11 a.m.–1 p.m. and 4–6 p.m.
Mercy Chefs, a national disaster-relief nonprofit, has a 42-foot mobile kitchen set up at Menasha High School serving free hot meals to storm victims, volunteers and first responders.
Two servings every day:
Lunch — 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Dinner — 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Drive-through pickup is available at Menasha High School, 420 7th Street. You do not need to get out of your car.
They served more than 500 people at their first dinner on Thursday and have the capacity for thousands of meals a day, so there is no need to hurry or worry about running them out.
No proof of damage, ID or sign-up is mentioned — if the storm affected you, or you have been out working in it, the meal is for you.
Mercy Chefs says it will keep serving as long as there is a need, and is asking for local volunteers to help keep the operation running.
St. Vincent de Paul — gas cards, bus passes, furniture and a pantry
Open
Gas cards and bus passes, household goods and furniture from their stores, and a food and hygiene pantry at the Neenah/Menasha site. Apply online — the form is also in Spanish.
St. Vincent de Paul, Neenah/Menasha — Appleton is 920-739-1679
More detail
The Society of St Vincent de Paul covers several of the gaps that are hardest to fill three weeks in.
Gas cards and bus passes. If the problem is simply getting to work, to an appointment, or back to your own house to clear it
Household goods, clothing and furniture from their thrift stores, given rather than sold, based on a conversation about what you need
A food and hygiene pantry at the Neenah/Menasha location
You can apply online, for either location, using their Financial Assistance Request Form — and the form exists in Spanish (Formulario de Solicitud de Ayuda Financiera).
Volunteers meet with people to work out what is actually needed, so it is a conversation rather than a form-and-wait.
If you have been rehoused with nothing in the house
St Vincent de Paul's national disaster arm runs a programme called House in a Box — furniture, bedding and some appliances, packed as a kit and shipped to a household's new home. It is arranged through a local organisation rather than by you directly, so mention it when you speak to them, or to your case manager if you have one. SVDPDisaster.org
Mill City Church — water, food and cleanup supplies
Open
Water, totes of non-perishable food, outdoor cleanup supplies and personal hygiene items, open until 4 p.m.
Boys & Girls Club of Menasha — care packages, by phone
Limited
No longer a walk-in hub — the shower trailer and daily meals have ended. Care packages are still available, but ring the Home Base team on 920-750-5822 to arrange pickup.
This has changed. Do not turn up expecting the old setup.
Through the first weeks the Club ran as an all-day walk-in site with a shower trailer, lunch and dinner, and take-home supplies. That has ended. Youth programming resumed on 10 August and the building is back to being a youth club.
Care packages are still available, but they are arranged by phone:
Ring the Home Base team on 920-750-5822 to coordinate support and pickup.
The county published calling windows of 8:00–9:00 a.m. and 4:00–5:00 p.m., Monday to Friday, for the week of 10 August. That week has passed and no newer windows have been posted, so ring and leave a message if nobody picks up rather than driving over.
If you need a shower
Jefferson Early Learning, 105 Ice St, Menasha — showers daily, 6:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. This is the closest replacement for what the Club used to offer, and it also does resource pickup 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
YMCA of the Fox Cities — Apple Creek, Appleton, Fox West, Heart of the Valley, Neenah-Menasha, Ogden, and Valley Tennis Center. The Neenah-Menasha YMCA (110 W North Water St) runs 5:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. No membership needed
Fire Fitness locations
Planet Fitness — 697 S Green Bay Rd, Neenah, and 2700 W College Ave, Appleton
If you need supplies
Jefferson Early Learning, 105 Ice St, Menasha — water, non-perishable food, cleaning supplies, personal hygiene items. Daily 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Mill City Church, 120 N Lake St, Neenah — water, plus totes of non-perishable food, outdoor cleanup supplies and hygiene items. Open until 4:00 p.m.
Community Clothes Closet, 1465 Opportunity Way #B, Menasha — clothing and supplies
Older adults and people with mobility limitations are the group most likely to be missed in the days after a storm — especially with power out and phones dead.
Call 211 to arrange meal delivery or a wellness check. If you are able, please physically check on elderly neighbors; a knock on the door finds people that no hotline will.
