MADISON, Wis. --

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Communities across Wisconsin are still cleaning up after heavy storms and tornadoes swept through Wednesday night.

In Madison, the hardest hit areas are neighborhoods along and just west of Midvale Boulevard. More than 200 homes were damaged and power is still out Friday for some residents. About 600 homes were without power Thursday night. Crews are back on the job today and say power should be restored for everyone by midnight.

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The big question people had Thursday was whether the Midvale area was hit by a twister or just strong winds.

Weather experts say it's official that it was a tornado -- the first tornado to strike Madison in more than a decade.

"We looked out, and we saw trees flying around like toothpicks," said Brad Zobczak, of Madison.

The twister split a tree near Zobczak's house down to its roots. He tied a metal chain around the damaged tree to prevent it from collapsing on his house. It's the type of damage at which experts look to determine the strength of violent storms.

"A lot of trees twisted, a lot uprooted, some fallen on homes, some roof damage, stuff we normally see with a small tornado," said Ken Rizzo, National Weather Service meteorologist.

According to the National Weather Service, a F1 category tornado tore through the neighborhood. Of all the categories, F1 is the weakest. It's estimated winds reached 90 to 100 mph and lasted for 11 minutes.

A University of Wisconsin-Madison professor, who researches weather predictions, said he didn't realize at first that the twister had hit his home.

"I looked out my window, and I noticed lots of debris outside my window," said Michael Morgan. "At that point, I knew it was time to head down to the basement."

Still, many people wonder why some houses were severely hit and others remained untouched.

"It was like the tornado might have skipped around in the beginning, and then was on a path for a while and then lifted again," Rizzo said.

Residents are reeling from the tornado's destruction.

"This was a nice large yard, and I'd tell people I have a nice pine tree. But now, it's laying in my yard," Morgan said.

Weather experts said the tornado began just southwest of Middleton, 2.5 miles south of the Capitol.

Viewer Reports

Many viewers e-mailed us with damage reports, especially from west Madison neighborhoods. Laura Brown said she heard a roaring sound just before the storm hit.

"I heard a roaring sound last night, just after the hail started, and just before the lights flickered and went off," writes Brown, who lives in Midvale Heights. "The large silver Maple in the neighbor's yard whipped around unbelievably, and has several branches twisted off. We were much more fortunate than the folks in the Westmorland neighborhood east of us."

Kevin Grabner reported damage at the Energy Center of Wisconsin on Science Drive in Madison.

"(The building) had its windows blown out," Grabner said. "We had a person in the office at the time -- trees down, twisted metal, broken glass, twig sticking out of back of building stucco wall, picnic table in a small tree, huge line of trees down across the street."

An Adams County viewer said those with summer homes there should check on their properties.

"From Highway 13, south of Adams to Highway G in and around the Lake McGinnis area, we have roads block off," the viewer writes. "Trees are down and loads of homes are damaged by trees. Trailers tipped over. Irrigation systems spread over the fields. We have had help from all the surrounding counties sheriff departments and even State Patrol. Anyone who has a summer home in this area should check their cottage out. Many have been damaged."

Jim Neeb of Montello says his area was hit hard and is now a mess.

"Snowplows were used to clear the debris from the streets," Neeb writes. "The downtown has been hit recently with flooding waters ... Montello Lake, Buffalo Lake and the Fox River have flowed into basements, yards and businesses. Now, we have a new problem -- downed power lines and trees, as well as broken windows in the downtown area. The local grocery store and drug store lost their windows."

Anthony Miller of Adams writes it will take years to clean up the mess around his home.

"We live in a heavily wooded area between Easton and Adams, with trees right up to the house," Miller writes. "The storm hit fast and with marble-sized hail. All the trees are flattened, right up to our houses, it's a miracle that our house was barely touched. The trees are twisted and pulled from their roots (exposing a few feet of the roots)."

Miller says he knew right away it was a tornado.

"The clouds were layered visibly up to the stormhead, and the 'fog' layer at the lowest point was being sucked up into the upper level in a spiral," he writes. "At one point, a neighbor said it looked like a hurricane eye hanging just above the tree level. We went downstairs when we felt the sudden pressure change and the 'explosion' of wind and debris hit us. The porch went straight up into the air."