Damage from a possible tornado in Deerfield Aug. 9. Photo courtesy of Rochelle Elliott
UPDATE (WKOW) -- The National Weather Service is scheduled to be examining the damage from Thursday's storm to determine whether it was a tornado.
NWS reports representatives will be there around 6:00 a.m. Friday.
The agency has said based on radar and damage reports, the storm has all the signs of a tornado, but will make an official assessment on site.
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UPDATE (WKOW) -- A possible tornado swept through Deerfield Thursday, causing some substantial damage and a gas leak.
The National Weather Service says it has all the signs of a twister, but the agency has yet to confirm it.
Driving through Deerfield, it's usually very quiet, but Thursday afternoon, things were very different.
"Yeah it doesn't too often but like I said it just [came] down and dropped down short and pop back up," Dennis Wardell, President of Deerfield Fire Department, said.
The strong winds ripped into the International Machinery Exchange, a business on the north-east side of town.
It was after hours but some employees were still inside.
"We were in the front office and my daughter was like 'Dad I think there's a tornado coming what should we do?'," Jeff Klemp, Vice president and general manager of IME, said. "By the time she said that it was pretty much over with."
"I was in the back checking on doors heard the garage door slamming and dove into a corner, the garage crashed in," Paul Nehring, who also worked at IME, said.
Some of the nearby witnesses were actually with the fire department.
"Our fire station was right around the corner and we had people at the fire station and they actually witnessed it," Wardell said. "Whatever the rotation was, wasn't very long."
It was long enough to cause major damage to the IME building.
The winds damaged the main gas pipe for the building, which led to an evacuation of the area.
"This building and a little bit of the neighborhood, just making sure that people understood that there was a potential situation but everything was under control," Wardell said.
People were able to return home about 20 minutes after the initial scare, and start cleaning some of the branches and debris that landed on their lawns.
The fire department says no one was injured as far as they know.IME employees say they plan on beginning the clean up as soon as they can, to get back to work.
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UPDATE (WKOW) -- Weather experts are likely to report a tornado in Deerfield Thursday.
Steve Davis, with the National Weather Service Milwaukee office said in a statement, "We are fairly confident it was a tornado. Survey by Wisconsin Emergency management and other law enforcement is delayed until Alliant Energy can secure the area. But based on radar and reported damage, it has all the signs of a tornado."
NWS may confirm the information later Thursday or on Friday.********UPDATE (WKOW) -- Several people were inside International Machinery Exchange in Deerfield when severe weather rolled through, heavily damaging the building.
Paul Nehring tells 27 News, "I was in the back, checking on doors, heard the garage doors slamming. I dove into a corner, the garage doors crashed in, and then I heard all sorts of commotion up front. And after that passed, I went up through the building to check on those guys. And the roof was off the building and all I could hear was gas coming through."
Alliant Energy spokesman Scott Reigstad says gas was shut off after reports of a gas odor int he area. He says International Machinery was the only customer affected.
Firefighters are still going through the area to make sure there's no more cause for concern. There were no reports of major injuries.
Although there were initial reports of a tornado, the National Weather Service has not confirmed that yet.
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For more on this story: http://www.wkow.com/story/38852672/2018/08/09/reports-of-tornado-touching-down-in-deerfield