A number of vehicles broke through the ice near the shore of Geneva Lake, while parked on the ice for a Winterfest celebration, according to the Lake Geneva Fire Department. Credit: Mark Was for the Journal Sentinel

SHARE

By of the

No one was hurt, but 10 vehicles apparently are a total loss after 15 broke through the ice Saturday in Lake Geneva, bringing unexpected national and even international attention to the city's annual Winterfest.

Five of the vehicles that broke through the ice were able to be driven away, but the other 10 sustained severe water damage, Lake Geneva police say.

The 15 cars were parked on the ice of Geneva Lake when they began breaking through Saturday.

News of the local catastrophe has generated interest well beyond this Walworth County city.

A video of the incident posted on Facebook had been watched more than 100,000 times as of Sunday afternoon.

Crazy in lake geneva.. and I mean in Posted by Wendy Mueller on Saturday, February 6, 2016

CBS News and USA Today both posted short versions of the story. Even the U.K.'s Daily Mail picked up on the news.

Until this incident, one of the biggest draws to Winterfest, going on through Feb. 16, was the U.S. National Snow Sculpting Competition. But it was the cars breaking through the ice that turned #LakeGeneva into a hot hashtag on Twitter.

The cars in the lake drew a bigger crowd than the ice sculptures at #LakeGeneva pic.twitter.com/boljhvShsA — Milwaukee Media (@MediaInMilwauke) February 7, 2016

And not all of the reaction has been kind to folks here in Wisconsin. The Fox TV affiliate in Denver posted a Tribune wire service story on the incident with the headline "Oops! Cars show why you should never park on a frozen lake."

We should've paid for parking.... #iceparkingjob #elniño #winterfest A photo posted by Tina Simecek Lamkey (@tsimkey) on Feb 6, 2016 at 3:46pm PST

Seriously???!!! This is what happens when people don't want to drive around and look for parking. Let's park on the lake when it's 40 degrees. Yikes!!!! A photo posted by Ana Bentin (@mrsbentinsblackboard) on Feb 7, 2016 at 8:54am PST

But Matthew Demko told WTMJ-TV he wasn't concerned about parking on the lake Saturday.

"It was a great spot to go and park," Demko told the TV station. His was one of the cars that became partly submerged. "I seen all the people out there. I seen the cars on the there so for me it was OK."

By Sunday afternoon, that spot on the lake appeared to again be cleared of four-wheeled vehicles. Twitter user Dave Krug posted photos showing nothing but broken ice and sun: "Cars all gone. Ice looked 6-8" thick here, but thinner elsewhere along the shore," he said.

And with temperatures into the 40s on Sunday, there's even more reason to think twice before driving onto a lake in southern Wisconsin.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.