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The National Weather Service confirmed Sunday evening that an EF-2 tornado with estimated wind speeds of 115 miles per hour was on the ground for 11 minutes Saturday, from 7:42-7:53 p.m. It tracked from east/southeast of Footville into the city of Janesville.

The center was serving as a hub until 4 p.m. Sunday, providing support and food for volunteers and storm victims, as part of the City of Janesville’s Emergency Operations Center.

Assistance will again be available at the former Rock County Job Center at 1900 Center Avenue on Monday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Volunteers may report there as well.

On Sunday, volunteers were distributing sack lunches, water and being sent out on assignments to impacted homes. As of 12:15 p.m., nearly 140 people had signed up to volunteer, not including the volunteers coordinating the hub.

Janesville resident Velma Leak wore one of her husband’s high-visibility vests as she helped to coordinate volunteers.

“Anyone in the area who wants to volunteer is more than welcome to come out and help. Anyone who requires help is welcome to come out and give their addresses and inform us of what they need. Whether it be food, a chainsaw, or just people to move brush,” Leak said.

Niqi Linneman and her daughter stood behind a table provided by the Janesville Community Center, handing out food donated by Hacienda Real and Panera Bread.

The owners of JD’s Lunchbox, a local popup hotdog stand, were meanwhile handing out free hotdogs to volunteers.

JD’s Lunchbox owners John Toles and Dana Toles said they were impacted by the tornado and wanted to support their community by handing out free food while supplies lasted.

“There’s a lot of elderly and disabled people on the southside of Janesville. We felt like we needed to do our part to help,” John Toles said.

City of Janesville employees and EOC community support members Becky Lee and Linda Kleven, and Diversity Action Team of Rock County member Teresa Nguyen were gathering volunteer information to ensure safety before volunteers moved over to the next table for assignments. Volunteers were asked to return to check out so the city can keep track of the hours they put in.

Leak said she had been out since early Sunday morning helping her aunt clear debris before coming to help at the former job center.

“I wasn’t directly impacted by the storm but when I was younger, my family was impacted by some really bad storms in our hometown,” Leak said. “I saw the community come together and I thought to myself if that ever happens, I want to help. I’m very proud of how well the community has come together, showing all the support to everyone.”

Cathy Myers, a candidate for the 44th Wisconsin Assembly District and her campaign manager, Shane Seeman, and Janesville police officer Bradley Rau were assigning volunteers to areas that had requested assistance.

“Rau has been making sure we’re doing this in a very orderly fashion and to comply with city requirements to get volunteer information and keep everyone safe,” Nguyen said. Rau and other volunteers who were not on scene were organizing which homes need help.

“Some bigger requests we are not able to accommodate, but people with chainsaws and hand tools are willing to come out and make those bigger branches more manageable to pile up or dispose of,” Rau said.

The Salvation Army Rock County was also on scene distributing cases of water, Gatorade and 200 sack lunches that they’d prepared, sheltered by two instant canopy tents.

“Volunteers brought enough donations for us to put together another 200,” Lt. Jen Rysdyk with the Salvation Army said. “Those are being made at our building right now. I don’t know how many days they have planned for us to be out here.”

Rysdyk said the Salvation Army’s building at 514 Sutherland Ave. was open as an emergency shelter.

Those wanting to stay there had to be checked in before midnight Sunday.

“We are taking physical donations, such as food and water, and ECHO is taking the monetary donations,” Rysdyk also noted.

Local businesses that had donated food and supplies on Sunday included Home Depot, Woodman’s Markets and Festival Foods.

For questions about the Emergency Operations Center call (608) 373-6025. To request help call (608)607-1314.