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■ WATERCOOLERSomeone breaks into home, takes nothing, gives it good scrub

Whoever broke into a Massachusetts man’s home last week didn’t take a thing. They did, however, leave the house spotless.

Nate Roman told the Boston Globe that when he returned to his Marlborough home from work May 15, he could tell a stranger had been there.

Nothing was missing, but the 44-year-old Roman noticed the beds were made, the rugs vacuumed and the toilets scrubbed. They even crafted origami roses on the toilet paper rolls.

He called the experience “weird and creepy” and contacted police.

Roman said he may have left his back door unlocked. He thinks perhaps a housekeeping service went to his home by mistake.

Promise of hope lifts Capital City in wake of tornadoDevastation

EYE OF THE STORM

Survivors count blessings after brush with tornado

Ellis Boulevard businesses and apartments are among some of the hardest hit in Jefferson City

PAGE A3

Sally Ince/News Tribune

ABOVE: Damaged cars line Lafayette Street on Thursday after a tornado tore through residential areas Wednesday night. BELOW: Linda Trea-cle looks at a large amount of debris while standing on her front porch Thursday on Lafayette Street. Damages wear reported throughout the city stretching from Ellis Boulevard and across the Missouri River.

EYE OF THE STORM: Eight pages of tornado coverage

Daylight shows extent of twister’s wrath across

East Dunklin, Jackson streetsPAGE A4

Owners of some of the city’s oldest homes on East Capitol Avenue analyze the wreckage

PAGE A5

The tornado barreled through Eldon causing damage as it headed toward Jefferson City

PAGE A8

Want to help? The United Way is the go-to resource for volunteers looking to assist their neighbors

PAGE A7

By Jeff Haldimanjhaldiman@newstribune.com

On the night of the eight-year anni-versary of a deadly tornado that dev-astated Joplin, another twister ham-mered a Missouri city — this time, it was the state’s Capital City.

And, just like what happened after the Joplin tragedy, the pledges of sup-port to help with the recovery have local officials confident Jefferson City will rebound.

The first indications of the severe weather entered the area around 11:10 p.m. Wednesday, according to emer-gency officials. About 30 minutes later, the Jefferson City 911 Center began receiving reports of damage.

Authorities later determined the storms came up from Eldon, itself the victim of a tornado Wednesday, trav-eled up Missouri 17 at the southern end of Cole County and eventually churned into Jefferson City. The tor-nado left a 3-mile path of destruction from Christy Drive toward the Missou-ri River.

By Thursday afternoon, the Nation-al Weather Service in St. Louis esti-mated the tornado hit at 11:45 p.m. Wednesday and remained on the ground for several minutes before moving out of the city. A damage sur-vey team rated the tornado an EF-3, indicative of top winds of 160 mph.

Every business from the intersec-tion of Ellis Boulevard and Christy Drive and going south on Christy suf-fered major damage such as roofs torn off, parts of walls collapsing, windows

Please see Tornado, p. 2

Louis Richmond Sr. stood on the covered patio out-side his Jefferson City apartment, smoking a cigarette shortly before midnight Wednesday.

A steady rain fell and thunder constantly rumbled. Lightning lit the sky with a continuous flicker of light.

As Richmond looked down the street, a bright flash of lightning lit the sky and his knees weakened. He couldn’t see a funnel, but right there, about 150 yards away, was a large cloud of debris bearing down on him.

He turned to run inside, but his hands were so shaky, he bumped into the door before he could open it. He got inside, and with his fiance, took shelter in a closet.

“I’ve never been so terrified in my 63 years,” Rich-

mond said.Seconds later, it hit. The four-apartment house at

428 E. Dunklin St., lifted and dropped and buckled. And it was over.

Richmond ran outside and looked up to the sec-ond-floor — to the apartments where his grandchil-dren live. It was almost all gone.

Richmond kicked open what was left of the door, and the children — ages 9, 11, 14 and 15 — came trail-ing out.

“I don’t know how they got out alive,” Richmond said. “God was with them.”

The family called the children’s mother, Noya Over-man, who was working second shift at Scholastic.

Overman rushed home and found the children a

By Joe Gammjoe@newstribune.com

Please see Survivors, p. 2

EYE OF THE STORM

www.newstribune.com

A2 FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2019

blown out, and trees and power poles snapped off.The businesses affected included Burger King,

Best Western Inn, Capital Bowl and Riley Chevrolet. The Special Olympics Missouri Training for Life facil-ity also was hit with part of its roof blown off.

Back on Ellis Boulevard, Break Time and Sonic Drive-In suffered severe structural damage. To allow emergency crews to get through the street in that area, front loaders and other heavy equipment were brought in to remove debris from the roads.

The Hawthorne Park Apartments on Ellis Boule-vard also took a hit, as did the Firley YMCA, which lost a wall.

Many parts of the Old Munichburg area were also impacted, including homes on Woodlawn Avenue and Hickory Street. Trees were blown into homes, and in some cases, whole roofs were lifted off.

In the early morning hours Thursday, Jefferson City Police Spokesman Lt. David Williams said the first priority was to make sure residents were safe, so they were going door to door to check at homes in the tornado’s path. Many times that was on foot because debris left by the storm made streets impassable.

John Botts, who lives on Hickory Street, said dam-age to his family’s home included a tree into the rear of the home.

“I lived in Oklahoma and never went through a tornado there,” he said. “Now I get to deal with insur-ance. Never had to do that before. The main thing is me and my wife are safe.”

By midday Thursday, Williams reported only 24-25 Cole County residents had sought treatment; there had been no fatalities, and no missing persons were reported.

“It’s a miracle that we didn’t lose anybody,” said Cole County Sheriff John Wheeler, whose deputies along with Cole County Fire Protection District and Cole County Public Works crews were out dealing with damage at Twin Bridges Mobile Home Village as well as heavy property damage on Beck Road and Heritage Highway.

Through the morning hours, the calls began to pour in offering help for residents as well as first responders. Heavy equipment owners either drove their machinery to scenes or called authorities to ask where they should go.

All personnel for all local emergency agencies were called into service, but to augment their capa-bilities, agencies such as the Columbia, University of Missouri, Lincoln University and Holts Summit police departments, along with the Missouri High-way Patrol, sent officers to help. The Jefferson City Fire Department received help from the Holts Sum-mit Fire Department.

As daylight broke Thursday, Williams said they

had run into some residents who actually slept through the storm.

“They were glad to see us and glad they made it through unharmed,” Williams said.

Back at the Hawthorne Park Apartments, James Rodgers and his family returned to see what damage had been done to their residence.

“Some of us had been through a tornado before, so we got out and went to another place, ” he said.

Rodgers himself had never been through a torna-do, so it was shocking to see the devastation.

“The main thing is we’re all together,” he said.With the help of the Red Cross, three shelters for

those displaced were set up with the city. Around 100 people had taken advantage of the service.

Ameren Missouri President Michael Moehn said the utility had stabilized natural gas situations in Jef-ferson City with a mobile command center.

The company had around 2,000 electric custom-ers affected in Jefferson City.

“We should have full service back to Jefferson City probably by Saturday,” Moehn said. “On a scale of 1-10, it’s probably around a 10 for damage.”

Efforts to restore electricity to Three Rivers Elec-tric Cooperative members in Cole and Miller coun-ties continued throughout the day. At one time, more than 6,700 members were without power, officials said.

A majority of the damage included broken poles, downed lines and trees in the right-of-way. Three Rivers assistant manager Thayne Barton said early estimates showed 100 broken poles with more expected as additional assessments were complet-ed. Replacing poles, preparing the new poles and restringing and/or splicing the line for so many poles is time-consuming, Barton said, adding the extreme-ly saturated ground is compounding the problem.

Crews from Macon Electric Cooperative in Macon, Crawford Electric Cooperative in Bourbon and Central Electric Power Cooperative in Jefferson City are providing mutual aid to TREC crews. Con-

tractors are clearing rights-of-way, while others are using special pole-setting equipment on tracks to access areas unsuitable for standard digging trucks.

Gov. Mike Parson and Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe said they were pledging all the help the city would need from the state and they were getting calls from out-side the state from companies and agencies also pledging help.

Along with the pledges of help from large groups and agencies, the need to help their neighbors could be seen on the individual level.

While crews were clearing debris from properties along Christy Drive, Samantha Mellon, a University of Missouri student from Hannibal, saw some of the early reports of damage in Jefferson City and drove down from Columbia to see if she could help.

“I went to Walmart and got as much bottled water as I could, along with fruit and granola bars,” she said. “I wasn’t sure where I would be able to help, but I knew I wanted to try.”

Tornado:Continued from p. 1

little dazed, with a few cuts and scrapes, but otherwise healthy.

“They were (sheltering) in my room,” Overman said. “They just got little, minor cuts. Everything we had is gone. We don’t have anything, but the clothes they have on.”

Emergency personnel got the families over to Thomas Jefferson Middle School, where an emer-gency shelter has been set up.

After a short while, the shaken children were able to fall asleep, she said.

Richmond said he’s been fortu-nate and hadn’t seen the kind of destruction the tornado caused in his neighborhood. It not only destroyed buildings like the apartment he lived in, it uprooted and tossed trees, snapped telephone poles and dis-placed scores of families.

Many of those families lived at Hawthorne Park Apartments, at 505 Ellis Blvd. The tornado hit that building hard.

Sterling Twombly, who uses a wheelchair and is on oxygen, lived in the structure. His first clue that a tornado was approaching was the banging on the exterior walls.

“I heard the pelting,” Twombly said about the sound of debris hitting the apartment. “It sounded like bullets hitting the house.”

Suddenly, the windows and door blew in and a gust blew him down the hallway.

Twombly remained in his apart-ment until firefighters came in and found him. They carried him out, located several of his oxygen bot-tles, and got him situated on a bus bound for the storm shelter.

A disability prevents Twombly from living above the first floor. That limitation may have saved his life, he said.

As he left the apartment, Twombly witnessed the destruc-tion.

“The second story of the build-ing was in the courtyard,” he said. “I’m still shaky from the fun and games.”

The shelter, at 1201 Fairgrounds Road, was ready for storm victims when they began arriving, accord-ing to John Schulte, shelter assis-tant for the American Red Cross of Central and Northern Missouri.

“We got a heads-up about 11 o’clock, with the storm in Eldon — coming this way,” Schulte said. “We were told to be on standby.”

Then, the Red Cross received a call about 1 a.m., and was instruct-

ed to deploy.“It turned out to be catastroph-

ic damage. We really didn’t know until we started hearing reports about the central and southern parts of town,” Schulte said.

The school is a pre-identified disaster shelter. And the Red Cross keeps a cache of disaster supplies in its office off Edgewood Drive. Volunteers mustered, collected the cache and moved it to the school to begin setting up the shelter.

“Luckily, the office wasn’t in the path of the storm,” he said.

City personnel moved more than 60 people from their homes to the school. Several had their pets with them.

Jessica Fath and her family took their 4-year-old fox hound, Lady, to the shelter. Unfortunately, the Red Cross shelter in the school’s gym does not allow pets.

So, Jefferson City Public Schools personnel are allowing people with pets to shelter in another part of the

school.Fath said she was grateful for

the space for her dog.“If we couldn’t bring her in

here, we would have to leave her out in the parking lot,” Fath said.

About 40 of the people who sheltered in the school Thursday morning had also signed up to spend the night there. Fifteen to 20 more were trying to go home, Schulte said.

A number of Red Cross volun-teers helped people at the school, but so did Jefferson City Public Schools personnel.

Dana Doerhoff, director of nutrition services for the schools, went into the middle school early Thursday morning and began pre-paring breakfast for people who took refuge there.

She and helpers made certain the families had biscuits and gravy, egg and sausage biscuit sandwich-es, muffins, pancakes, cereal, juice and milk. The Red Cross also pro-

vided doughnuts.The food is helping the Jefferson

City community, Doerhoff said.“We can do emergency feed-

ing through the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That’s what we’re doing,” Doerhoff said. “Why wouldn’t we want to help these people? They’ve lost their homes.”

Mark Kiekhaefer, the pastor of Living Hope Church, didn’t lose his home. He lost the home he hoped to move into this fall.

His new-to-him home, at 411 Ashley St., was being remodeled for Kiekhaefer and his family. It was progressing. Most of the remod-eling was done. Trim had been delivered. Crews removed concrete forms from the foundation for an addition to the home Wednesday.

Then, the storm came.Before the storm, the home

stood on the peak of the hill on Ashley Street — directly in the path of the twister.

Now, it’s a pile of rubble.

“You just gotta shake your head and say, ‘There’s a bigger plan,’” Kiekhaefer said.

Kiekhaefer has a plan for the neighborhood, according to Paul Camden, with Spalding Construc-tors.

“He wanted to bring some God-hope to the community,” Camden said. “A lot of hard work was going into this.”

A crew from Spalding Construc-tors who had been working on con-struction got busy clearing debris Thursday morning.

“We started doing the finish work yesterday. We got the roof done a couple of weeks ago,” Cam-den said. “This sort of hits us per-sonally.”

The crew recovered a couple of ladders from the debris, but there was little else to be salvaged from the lumber pile, he said.

“We’re very fortunate there wasn’t anyone living here,” he said. “We’re just going to start all over.”

One house down, damage was comparatively light. The tornado ripped off a chimney cap on Stacy Yeager’s home, and broke a few windows.

“It’s crazy,” she said.Trees were the problem at the

next house down the hill, where Catrina and Joshua Cephus and their children live.

During the storm, the family rushed from their bedrooms on the second floor to take shelter in the basement. The roof raised up and fell back down, Catrina Cephus said.

One large tree fell across the deck on the back of the house, crushing it to the ground.

Several more trees fell across the driveway, narrowly missing the couple’s cars.

“The back deck has a tree on it,” Catrina Cephus said as the couple cleaned debris away from the front of the house. “The car is trapped by the tree. But, we’re not hurt. We are blessed.”

Survivors:Continued from p. 1

Jenna Kieser/News Tribune

ABOVE: Cor-retta Coleman cries on her front porch after assessing the damage to her home Thursday. LEFT: The inside of DeWright Cole-man’s home is exposed after a tornado tore off the facade late Wednesday night.

Jenna Kieser/News Tribune

High school senior Mariya Wilson looks at the damage and debris in her front yard as Michelle Johnson helps her load the car on Thursday. After extensive damage was done in Wednesday’s tornado, the family had to leave their home.

Some of most severe damage from Wednes-day night’s tornado was on Ellis Boulevard in Jefferson City.

Many of the first reports of damage, around 11:45 p.m., were from businesses such as Break Time and Sonic Drive-In, whose roofs were severely damaged by winds from what the National Weather Service classified as an EF-3 tornado, which can have top wind speeds of 160 mph.

Emergency crews responded to the inter-section of Ellis Boulevard and Christy Drive, near the U.S. 54 overpass, and found so much debris on Ellis that heavy equipment was needed to clear the street. That machinery arrived shortly after midnight and cleared the way for emergency crews to go further down Ellis Boulevard, where more damage awaited.

The storm went on to hit Capital City Chris-tian Church across from Break Time then traveled to the Firley YMCA, where a wall was taken out, and down to Hawthorne Park Apartments, where more extensive damage occurred.

Throughout the early morning hours Thursday, apartment residents who stayed at the complex and those who had decided to go to another location went in and out of the area.

James Rodgers and his family got out before the storms hit.

“Some of us had been through a tornado before, so we got out and went to another place,” he said.

The apartment complex had parts of roofs torn off buildings, windows broken out and other damage.

Rodgers himself had never experienced a tor-nado, so it was shocking to see the devastation.

“The main thing is we’re all together,” he said.Jefferson City Police Department spokes-

man Lt. David Williams said the apartment complex was one of many places law enforce-ment officers went door to door to make sure people were safe.

“Over the next few days, evaluations will be done to see what structures can be saved along Ellis and throughout the city,” Williams said.

Dr. Grace Yan, assistant professor of struc-tural engineering at Missouri University of Sci-ence and Technology in Rolla, assessed damage in the Ellis Boulevard area Thursday afternoon with some of her Ph.D. students.

Yan studies wind pressure of tornadoes to develop new models for tornado-resistant design of buildings. She hopes her research will be used to strengthen building codes for munic-ipalities.

“Based on our observations, this was a one-vortex or single-cell, small tornado,” Yan said. “Most of the building codes we see now design a structure to withstand straight line winds. We need to design structures to resist tornadoes.”

EYE OF THE STORM FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2019 A3

www.newstribune.com

Ellis Blvd among hardest hit areasJeff Haldiman

jhaldiman@newstribune.com

Sally Ince and Jeff Haldiman/News Tribune

LEFT: Metal covering rests wrapped around poles and a damaged car Thursday at Break Time along Ellis Boulevard. RIGHT: Downed power lines and the destroyed Best Western sign are strewn about the parking lot of Burger King on Christy Drive, near the tornado’s Ellis Boulevard path.

Jeff Haldiman and Sally Ince/News Tribune

ABOVE: Sonic Drive-In was severely damaged in Wednesday night’s tornado.

LEFT: Fallen electrical lines block Ellis Boulevard on Thursday after a tornado caused severe damage along the road Wednes-day night. The National Weather Service has ruled the tornado as an EF-3 with peak winds reaching 160 mph.

Sally Ince/News Tribune

ABOVE: Contractors work to cover a side of the Firley YMCA on Ellis Boulevard on Thursday after the wall collapsed during the tornado that struck the city at 11:43 p.m. Wednesday.

LEFT: A building at the Hawthorne Park Apartments is exposed after the tornado tore through downtown Wednesday night. No deaths were reported within Jefferson City.

EYE OF THE STORM

www.newstribune.com

A4 FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2019

By Phillip Sitterphillip@newstribune.com

Alonzo Crews, who has lived on the 800 block of Jackson Street for about nine years, said in daylight Thursday morning he’s thankful “my car is the only thing that got tore up” by the tor-nado that struck Jefferson City late Wednesday night.

“I got out luckier than some people,” Crews said.

A glance around his neighborhood under-scored that statement.

The EF-3 tornado that hit Jefferson City ripped through the densely built neighborhood of homes around East Dunklin and Jackson streets, also hit-ting Simonsen 9th Grade Center on East Miller Street.

Dozens of homes all around the neighborhood were missing pieces of walls and roofs Thursday morning. A couple homes had almost collapsed. Snapped and uprooted trees and broken utility poles and lines blocked streets.

Crews’ Cadillac sedan that he’s had about five or six years and that he tries to keep clean had been parked on Jackson Street. It now has a smashed-in back window, a hole in the rear bumper and large dents on the rear passenger side door — all likely caused by airborne debris during the storm.

“It is what it is,” Crews said. He said he was going to call his insurance company, and expected the damage would total $2,000- $3,000.

Meanwhile, his landlord was inspecting the roof of his residence.

Crews said all his family and friends in town made it through the storm unharmed.

There are also several public school build-ings in and around Crews’ neighborhood, and several of them sustained damage — Simonsen most severely.

A visual inspection of the exterior of Simon-sen — which was planned to no longer serve high school freshmen after this school year because of the planned opening of Capital City High School this fall — showed the 81-year-old school had many broken windows and had lost large sections of its roof.

Jason Hoffman, Jefferson City Public Schools chief financial and operating officer, was stand-ing outside Simonsen when a News Tribune reporter spoke with him Thursday. He said the district would have final word today on where summer school would be held for grades 10-12.

Simonsen had been the planned location for those students to attend summer school, starting next week after the Memorial Day holiday.

JCPS’ last day of school was Wednesday.Hoffman also said the district had moved

the Chromebooks at Simonsen out of the build-ing, and other items were moved to Lewis and Clark Middle School.

Other JCPS buildings were damaged by the tornado, but Simonsen appeared to be the worst affected.

The schools around Jefferson City High School sustained some damage, though the high school itself did not — at least per the early morning tour of the hallways and roof that JCPS Superintendent Larry Linthacum; Frank Underwood, director of facilities and trans-portation, safety and security coordinator; and maintenance supervisor John Moon took.

Underwood described the damage other nearby JCPS buildings sustained:

• Nichols Career Center had a couple of win-dows broken, and a gas line had been broken on the roof when large rooftop units had been blown over.

• The roof of the Adkins Stadium press box was blown off.

• Thorpe Gordon Elementary School had minor roof damage.

• Jefferson City Academic Center had minor penetration of its roof by debris.

Underwood added East Elementary School made it through the storm OK. That school was not listed in an email from JCPS director of com-munication Ryan Burns that listed the damaged district buildings.

Burns described the damage to Simonsen’s roof as “considerable.”

The school district’s central administrative office on East Dunklin Street was undamaged — except for what Hoffman showed in a photo, of a sliver of wood that had impaled one of the building’s windows.

Logan Stark, of Rolla, who came up to vol-unteer to help clean up after the tornado and was walking around the neighborhood, said

seeing the damage brought back memories of the 2011 Joplin tornado.

Stark said he lived about 10 minutes away from Joplin at the time, and he helped after that storm.

“Thank God it’s not as bad,” he said of the damage in Jefferson City.

He said he had helped a woman clear a path

through fallen trees Thursday morning to get to her front door, but many other people were waiting for their insurance companies to come and document the damage before cleaning up — more work for today.

Stark added while he had come up from Rolla by himself, he hoped a couple friends would join him today.

Day after twister, focus turns to cleanupExtent of tornado’s wrath across

East Dunklin, Jackson streets became evident at dawn’s light

Jenna Kiesler/News Tribune

The most extensive damage to Lincoln University’s campus appeared to be at the President’s House, 601 Jackson St. The home was originally built in 1916.

Jenna Kieser/News Tribune

LEFT: An employee from New Age Renovations removes tree branches and debris off the roof of a home on Dunklin Street. RIGHT: From left, Jeniyah Nickerson, Kaiveon Terrill, Frachon Terrill and Keyon Terrill look at the aftermath of the tornado on Thursday along Dunklin Street. While their apartment complex was damaged, their unit was largely untouched.

Jenna Kieser/News Tribune

ABOVE: Dennis Strein sits on a bucket in front of his sis-ter-in-law Nancy McCloud’s home Thursday on Dunklin Street. Strein was waiting for McCloud and his wife to return with supplies to help him pull McCloud’s truck out of the debris.

LEFT: A volunteer walks through debris to hand out water bottles to families and workers helping clear the debris on Thursday along Dunklin Street. Several fam-ilies in the area are without homes after a tornado tore through the neighborhood.

Lincoln University closed its campus early Thursday morning and, because of the holiday weekend, won’t reopen until Tuesday.

University Relations Director Misty Young said school officials were assessing damage on the campus, but the most extensive dam-age appeared to be at the President’s House, 601 Jackson St., which originally was built in 1916 by Hugh and Bessie Stephens, and was bought by Lincoln in 1965.

The state Transportation Department closed both lanes of eastbound U.S. 50/63 for about two hours Thursday afternoon — between Monroe Street and Clark Avenue — so debris from the damaged home could be removed.

Officials feared the debris could fall on the Expressway.

President Jerald Woolfolk was in the home when the storm hit Wednesday night and, Young reported, “did take shelter in the basement and was not injured.”

Young said it’s too soon to determine how much damage the storm caused to the home, “but the historic home is uninhabit-able at this time.”

She said LU’s main campus suffered tor-nado damage “to a few doors and windows,” and there was “a great amount of tree limbs and other debris.”

Young said work crews were working Thursday to “clear away the smaller limbs and debris,” while the larger limbs “will be moved early next week.”

Young also said: “The university appre-ciates the outpouring of concern, and offers for assistance. This is a wonderful commu-nity, and we will get through this tragedy together.”

By Bob Watsonbwatson@newstribune.com

LU campus closed until Tuesday

EYE OF THE STORM FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2019 A5

Kevin Young stood on the steps outside 518 E. Capitol Ave. with his hands on his hips, looking at the remains of his home and office, Nunn & Young Appraisal Associ-ates. A large, gaping hole in the east wall exposed the top floor of the structure, and white bricks that once stood firm lay crumbled on the grass.

When Young and his girlfriend, Sharon, heard a tornado was near the intersection of U.S. 54 and Mis-souri 179 on Wednesday, they took shelter at the train station.

“Literally 30 seconds after being there, you could hear the freight train,” Young said, looking up at what remains of his home. “It was mad-ness, and coming home to this was heartbreaking.”

A tornado barreled through Jef-ferson City late Wednesday night, leaving East Capitol Avenue resi-dents to pick up the remains of their homes and businesses.

Property owners and volunteers sprinkled the street Thursday, ana-lyzing the damage to some of Jeffer-son City’s oldest and most historic homes.

The National Weather Service has preliminarily ruled Wednesday’s tornado as an EF-3, with peak winds reaching 160 mph. The tornado damaged properties in Jefferson City between the Missouri River, Madi-son Street, Lafayette Street and the 2200 block of Christy Drive.

While some structures had minor damage — a couple of broken windows or downed trees in the yard — other homes and businesses took the brunt of the storm.

Young pointed out the random-ness of the tornado and added he had two fish tanks in his home. While one was damaged, the other was unscathed.

Up the street, the fence guarding the hole in the Missouri State Peni-tentiary historic wall was caved in on itself and caution tape surrounded the damage. Across the street, men worked to remove trees that fell on the Marmaduke House, home to the Jefferson City Convention and Visi-tors Bureau.

The state owns the Missouri State Penitentiary, and the Missouri Office of Administration was continuing to assess damage to state buildings, OA spokeswoman Brittany Ruess said.

The fence guarding the hole in the Missouri State Penitentiary’s his-toric wall caved in on itself, and cau-tion tape surrounded the damage. A section of the old stone wall also collapsed.

The tornado caused “significant roof damage” to MSP housing units and the former gymnasium, Ruess said.

Avenue HQ owner Holly Stitt had a storage vehicle backed up to the office at 623 E. Capitol Ave. and sal-vageable items were stacked inside the vehicle. The glass entrance was shattered, the second story was shredded, and the back of the struc-ture was torn off, exposing the build-ing’s skeleton.

Next door at 621 E. Capitol Ave., home of Avenue HQ, the roof caved in, preventing Stitt from entering the building.

“It’s a little bit heartbreaking because of all the hard work I’ve put in over the last eight years into this building and then to just see it all gone in one night, it’s pretty amaz-ing,” she said. “It’s devastating. But everybody is safe.

“It’s just a building. It may be historic, may be my passion, but everybody is alive, and that’s most important.”

Nearby, men tossed plywood onto the roof of Tyler M. Woods

Funeral Director, at 611 E. High St., and began boarding up the busted out windows. Several of the funer-al home’s vehicles were damaged, owner Tyler Woods said. Recent ren-ovations to the building — including new flooring, light fixtures and land-scaping — were also destroyed.

The building “lost a lot of his-tory,” Woods said, including a 125-year-old stained glass window that was a gift to the builder in 1900. However, he added, the structure of the building was in “far better condi-tion than any of our neighbors.”

While the building received heavy damage to the roof and win-dows, Woods said, the funeral home will remain in operation.

“We’re still here, we’re operating, and we’re going to rebuild,” he said. “We’re committed to the East Cap-

itol Avenue. We’re not going (any-where).”

At Campus Coworking Space, 619A E. Capitol Ave., co-owner Missy Creed hugged friends and exchanged stories about the torna-do, describing the wind and their amazement to the aftermath.

While many things inside Cam-pus Coworking Space were lost in the wreckage, Creed said, they were able to save some gifts people gave them when they opened in Janu-ary. However, Creed said, she was thankful that everyone was safe.

“We’ll be fine,” she said optimis-tically. “It’s just going to take some time to clean up. We’ll be OK. We’ll figure it out.”

Ward 4 Councilman Ron Fitz-water walked around East Capitol Avenue, analyzing the damage and

shaking hands with property own-ers. Sidestepping downed power lines, Fitzwater said he “just could not believe it, in our city.”

“I’ve seen things like this on TV, but you just cannot imagine the power of one of these things until you see it live,” he said.

Creed has received numer-ous calls and texts from individu-als wanting to help clean up the business. Jefferson City residents carefully carried out furniture and potted plants, working to avoid the twisted branches and bike racks in front of the business.

Workers with Love2Nourish set up tents on Lafayette Street, near the Missouri State Penitentiary, and passed out free water and food to property owners and volunteers helping with cleanup. Despite being

only a block away from East Capitol Avenue, Love2Nourish was spared, owner Laurel Dunwoody said.

Love2Nourish recently moved to its new location at the intersection of East High and Lafayette streets after it had to vacate 202 E. High St. due to the building being declared a dangerous structure after the west wall of 200 E. High St. partially failed.

“Whereas that wasn’t near what this is, I just can’t imagine how dev-astating this is to everybody, so this is just one little thing we can do,” Dunwoody said. “We just felt like it was the right thing to do.”

While the scene was heartbreak-ing, Fitzwater said, the way people were jumping in to help property owners is a “testament to the will-power of this community.”

“Yesterday, we were fighting,

squabbling over whatever the thing issue was. Today, we’re all pitching in,” he said. “That’s all in the back-ground. Today, we’re all neighbor helping neighbor. It’s just amazing to see people — leaf blowers, chain-saws, whatever they can do to help their neighbor.”

Even though people are helping property owners clean up the build-ings, Fitzwater urged individuals to stay home and not venture downtown.

“We have a responsibility to come downtown and make sure everything is taken care of, but if you don’t need to be downtown — I mean, we’ve got flooding coming on top of this,” he said. “Our police and fire, these guys and gals have been working all night long, and they do not need unnecessary folks and sightseers.”

‘This was heartbreaking’East Capitol Avenue owners analyze damage left behind by tornado

By Nicole Robertsnicole@newstribune.com

Sally Ince/News Tribune

LEFT: A large portion of a wall along the historic Missouri State Penitentiary is missing Thursday after it collapsed during a violent tornado that struck the city Wednesday night. RIGHT: A car is overturned behind businesses on Capitol Avenue after the tornado tore through downtown Jefferson City.

Sally Ince/News Tribune

Residents observe damaged cars and homes Thursday after a tornado caused severe damage along both sides of Capitol Avenue. The National Weather Service ruled Wednesday’s tornado as an EF-3 with peak winds reaching 160 mph.

Sally Ince/News Tribune

ABOVE: Chrissy Salter attempts to sweep debris from her doorway Thursday after a tornado caused severe damage to her home on Lafayette Street. Salter, her husband, Jim, and her mother-in-law, Linda Treacle, were in the home as the tornado removed their roof and spread large debris from nearby buildings onto their front lawn.LEFT: Jim Salter tries to remove his truck from atop large debris Thursday after the tornado lifted both of his vehi-cles and damaged them with debris.

www.newstribune.com

EYE OF THE STORMA6 FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2019

www.newstribune.com

The tornado hit Jefferson City just before midnight.

However, the storm had already fol-lowed U.S. 54 on its path from the Eldon area into the Capital City, so first respond-ers had a little time to be on alert.

And emergency services from other areas were quick to offer their assistance to local officials.

Jefferson City Police Lt. David Williams told the News Tribune there was no “mas-ter list” of those agencies, but they includ-ed law enforcement assistance from the

Missouri Highway Patrol’s Troop F, Colum-bia and Holts Summit police departments and several area county sheriffs.

Jefferson City Fire Chief Matt Schofield noted the Boone County Fire Protection District’s Missouri Task Force 1 search-and-rescue specialists joined with JCFD and Cole County EMS personnel in check-ing homes in the 3-mile area of the torna-do, to make sure all people were well and accounted for.

Williams said the emergency plan worked as well as expected.

“We triggered the first siren warning at 11:10 p.m.,” he said, and a second one at 11:17 p.m.

Williams said local officials are in charge of the emergency operations.

“It’s a joint Jefferson City-Cole County situation,” he said, with Emergency Man-

agement Director Bill Farr coordinating with Jefferson City police and the Cole County sheriff’s office.

Mike O’Connell, spokesman for the Missouri Public Safety Department, said the State Emergency Management Agency provided some assistance.

“(SEMA) arranged 10 large lights with generators for Jefferson City (and) helped arrange trucks, plows and loaders for debris removal,” O’Connell reported. “(SEMA also) helped coordinate establish-ment of one Red Cross shelter and a dona-tion from Argyle Catering for mass feeding of shelter residents and first responders.”

The State Emergency Management Agency also helped bring about 16 mem-bers of the “Missouri Structural Assessment and Visual Evaluation,” or SAVE, Coalition

Officials: Emergency response worked smoothly

By Bob Watsonbwatson@newstribune.com

JC, Cole County officials plan for future assistance

Sally Ince/News Tribune

Gov. Mike Parson speaks Thursday during a news conference at the Cole County Sheriff’s Office to announce the extensive damage that occurred after a tornado struck the city. Damages were reported through the center part of town stretching from Ellis Boulevard to East Dunklin Street.

Following the debris and heartache Wednesday night’s tornado left behind, emergency personnel opened up shelters for displaced residents and conducted door-to-door checks on those impacted by the storm Thursday.

The National Weather Service has pre-liminarily ruled Wednesday’s tornado as an EF-3, with peak winds reaching 160 mph. The tornado damaged several homes and busi-nesses in Jefferson City between the Missouri River, Madison Street, Lafayette Street and the 2200 block of Christy Drive, causing many residents to abandon their homes.

Search and rescue effortsDriving through Jefferson City, drivers

probably noticed several police vehicles blocking certain intersections and police officers directing traffic. Lt. Dave Williams, spokesman for the Jefferson City Police Department, said they wanted to keep the general public out of the area as “it is a haz-ardous area right now; this is not something that we’ve designated as a safe area.”

“We are now starting our secondary searches because daylight has arrived and we are now trying access how much damage we have,” Williams said Thursday morning. “Another reason we don’t want citizens walk-ing out through the area is that that creates another emergency situation and will take away resources from what we are already trying to do at this time.”

Jefferson City Fire Chief Matt Schofield said they began door-to-door checks around 6 a.m. Thursday and would continue search and res-cue efforts in the impacted area, bordered by the Missouri River, Madison Street, Lafayette Street and the 2200 block of Christy Drive.

“We want to make sure we account for every residence and every business so there is no one missing,” Williams said. “We are trying to not have to force entry into the residence but that is something we may have to do to determine when the search party gets there and they determine there is structural dam-age to where we may not know if someone is in there that needs assistance.”

Schofield urged residents in the impact-ed area to either be present at their homes when emergency personnel go door-to-door or leave information for the personnel so they know whether or not residents are inside the structures.

“If there isn’t really any evidence of dam-age, we’re just simply going to knock on the door, do a 360 around the back and look in windows and make sure everything looks good from the outside,” he said. “If there is significant damage … to your home and you’re in the affected area and there is a chance someone may be home, there’s a

good chance that we’re going to try and get in there to make sure.”

Ameren personnel were shadowing emergency personnel Thursday to address any utility issues, Schofield said. Ameren Mis-souri President Michael May said Thursday afternoon Ameren had stabilized natural gas situations in Jefferson City with a mobile command center.

Jefferson City building code officials were also following search and rescue teams to “get an initial glance at the impact of buildings and what their long-term prognosis might be in terms of condemned and buildings that are not habitable so people know if they will need to find shelter in the new future,” Schofield said.

The Public Works Department worked to clear the streets following the storm, too, Morasch said.

Jefferson City Mayor Carrie Tergin signed a declaration of emergency regarding the Missouri River flooding Wednesday. On Thursday, she updated that declaration to include the tornado damage.

Shelter and assistanceThe city and county have a shelter set

up at the Thomas Jefferson Middle School, as well as two other shelters at undisclosed locations, for displaced residents. Residents wanting to know the locations of the shelters can call the Jefferson City Police Department at 573-634-6400, Police Chief Roger Schro-

eder said.Nearly 100 people were using the three

shelters as of noon Thursday, Williams said.City buses were not running Thursday

because many of the buses run through the impacted areas, Jefferson City Public Works Director Matt Morasch said. The buses are available to transfer people to the shelter, he added.

Those in need of assistance or resources can also call the American Red Cross Cen-tral & North Missouri Chapter at 1-800-RED-CROS or 1-800-427-4626.

They can also call the United Way’s toll-free number at 2-1-1, where a specialist will assist in finding health and human service resources, according to a United Way of Cen-tral Missouri news release.

Volunteering and donatingOfficials said the United Way of Central

Missouri is coordinating potential volunteers for cleanup efforts in Jefferson City. Individuals should visit unitedway/cemo.org/volunteer.

Those wanting to volunteer with the American Red Cross must get a background check and receive training first. Those inter-ested can begin that process by visiting red-cross.org/volunteer.

Those interested in donating can visit the American Red Cross Central & Northern Mis-souri Chapter’s website at redcross.org. The United Way of Central Missouri, located at 205 Alameda Drive in Jefferson City, is accept-

ing cash, checks and water donations.Debris removal

The city is also contracting with Twehous Excavating to provide a drop-off location for vegetative debris at 2619 N. Shamrock Road. The facility will operate 8 a.m.-6 p.m. through the holiday weekend. After that, the facility will be open those times Monday through Saturday.

The drop-off items must be vegetative debris like tree branches or brush. Staff will not accept building debris and household trash.

Republic Services will accept other waste and storm debris at their landfill, 5645 Moreau River Access Road (Gate 1).

Severe weather-related waste that will be disposed of at the landfill by third party contractors must have an approved waste profile properly filed with Republic Services before disposal. Residents needing waste profiles can contact Republic Services at 573-635-8805.

Waste residential owners and business owners dispose of directly will not require a waste profile, according to a Thursday city news release.

Republic Services will place a three-day limit on dumpster rentals, the news release notes.

Gov. Mike Parson’s executive order tem-porarily removed the current ban on yard waste and appliance disposal at Missouri landfills, according to the news release.

Rebecca Martin/News Tribune

An official with the University of Missouri Police directs traffic Thursday at the intersection of Madison and East Dunklin streets in Jefferson City.

Searches for residents became door-to-door

By Nicole Robertsnicole@newstribune.com

In compromised buildings, people urged to seek shelter

By Rebecca Martinrebecca@newstribune.com

Wednesday night’s tornado bounced its way up U.S. 54, hit-ting several Cole County neigh-borhoods on its way from Eldon to Jefferson City.

Along Heritage Highway on Thursday, broken trees bowed north toward one major center of damage midway between the road’s two intersections with U.S. 54 as area residents sifted through debris with help from friends and family.

At the leveled site of RC Race Barn, Curtis Trippensee worked Thursday afternoon to clear a path to the piled remains of the haven for remote-controlled race car drivers he bought early last year.

“It’s really devastating,” he said. “I’m still having a hard time getting a hold of it.”

Trippensee had already worked in the early morning hours Thursday to clear debris from the road.

“The road was impassable last night,” he said. “I just tried to help out where I could so that emergency vehicles could get through if they needed to.”

Trippensee and a crowd of racers had been at the RC Race Barn until about 20 minutes before the tornado hit.

“It could have been a lot worse,” he said. “Usually we have a bigger crowd on Wednesdays, and thank goodness it was a small crowd last night and they got done early, otherwise there would have been people here.”

Trippensee, who also owns Meadow Ridge Trains and Hob-bies in Taos, hopes to rebuild the RC Race Barn once insurance claims have gone through.

Right across Heritage High-way from the ruins of the RC Race Barn, Paul and Janet Smy-er’s stone home since Jan. 1, 1999, still stood tall — not the case for their carport or for many homes in the neighboring Twin Bridges Mobile Home Village.

“It picks and chooses,” Paul said of the tornado.

His 1970 Nova race car lay in pieces down the street, while four or five hummingbirds fluttered around a feeder on the porch that hadn’t moved — what Janet called her “one bit of normalcy in a sea of chaos.”

The Smyers’ home wasn’t untouched. Janet pointed to a toppled china cabinet that had held now-ruined antiques in the family room where the tornado’s winds broke windows and tore apart the ceiling.

The only contents of the china cabinet not damaged was a small wooden box holding the cre-mains of a friend who died last year.

“We managed to save him,” Janet said. “It was just sitting right there. I went and turned the cab-inet a little bit, and it just kind of plopped to the front — so it was meant to be.”

The Smyers have long extend-ed an invitation to residents of

‘It picks and

chooses’Tornado haphazardly

rambles through county neighborhoods

Please see Response, p. 7

Please see County, p. 7

Mark Wilson/News Tribune

Workers and residents clean up debris at the corner of Marshall and McCarty streets following the Wednesday night storm that rolled through town. The city is contracting with Twehous Excavating to provide a debris drop-off location at 2619 N. Shamrock Road.

EYE OF THE STORM FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2019 A7

www.newstribune.com

The United Way has stepped up to be the go-to resource for volunteers wishing to help their Jefferson City neighbors recover from Wednesday night’s tornado.

Jefferson City officials and Cole County Emergency Management have asked people to contact the nonprofit organization to find out how to help.

People wishing to volunteer and assist with the community-wide disas-ter recovery efforts should visit unit-edwaycemo.org/volunteer, according to Ann Bax, president of the United Way of Central Missouri. United Way is gathering names of potential volunteers and will notify them when appropriate disaster responses are identified.

“We are partnering with the city to facilitate the volunteer piece of the puzzle,” Bax said. “So many wonderful people are coming forward wanting to volunteer.”

But, it was still unsafe Thursday afternoon to send volunteers out. And, city officials continued to identify and prioritize projects, she said.

Once on the website, click on “VOL-UNTEER.” That will take you to a page where you can sign up and create a volunteer account with contact infor-mation.

After the city and agency identify projects, they will email potential vol-unteers, who may then sign up for the opportunity.

“Do not self-deploy to the scene of the disaster,” the website states. “The arrival of unexpected volunteers will interfere with initial response and assessment efforts.”

And, arrival of unexpected people may put them in danger. Assistance will be needed most during the recovery period of the disaster.

The Red Cross is taking volunteers too, Bax said.

To volunteer for the Red Cross, according to American Red Cross of Central and Northern Missouri Direc-tor Abigail Anderson, visit redcross.org, and click on “Volunteer.” From there, click on “Apply Now.”

Once signed on, the site will ask for a zip code, Anderson said. It will ask for

what type of disaster relief volunteers are searching for.

“Because this is a big event, it will be the first position in the list — titled: May 2019 Storms,” Anderson said. “The Red Cross has a handful of folks processing those applications for the next few days, so they won’t have the normal two-day waiting period.”

Background checks are necessary for much of the work the Red Cross does.

If somebody wishes to volunteer, they should very strongly consider donating a full week of service toward the tornado relief to be certain the assignments are at the forefront of the current mission, Anderson said.

“We want to train the right people in the most efficient way — and make it really worth their while,” she added.

There are other ways to help.Text “REDCROSS” to 90999 to make

a $10 donation to the nonprofit organi-zation.

And, please, don’t show up at the shelter with food or donations. People don’t want to gawk, but it happens. If you feel like you should make a mone-tary or water donation to the Red Cross, the United Way, at 205 Alameda Drive, has agreed to accept them for disas-ter relief on the organization’s behalf. Checks should be made payable to the American Red Cross of Central & North-ern Missouri Chapter.

Wednesday’s weather disrupted a number of events that were to happen in the Capital City over the next few days. Among them was the Grow With Google event at Missouri River Regional Library, in which Google folks were to train job seekers and small-business owners in digital skills. Organizers can-celed the event because of the weather, but since it was a catered event and the food was already on hand, MRRL offered the food free to victims, first-re-sponders and anyone else who wanted a free meal.

Library staff walked up the street and told cleanup crews the food was avail-able. About 50 people enjoyed the free meal. And, some folks who lost power were able to go to MRRL and charge their wireless devices or hook up to the internet.

A blood drive, scheduled for 10:30 a.m.-4 p.m. today at the library is still

occurring.The American Red Cross has pro-

vided canteens (vans that deliver water, soft drinks, snacks and meals to first responders, victims or others who need them during disasters) in the affected area since early Wednesday morning, Anderson said.

The Salvation Army served 215 meals above and beyond the meals it serves every day at the Center of Hope on Jef-

ferson Street. On Thursday, it provided canteens in the Eldon area, according to Salvation Army Major Nancy Hol-loway. One of the canteens is based in Sedalia. The other is in St. Louis. A third is expected to be based in Columbia to serve the Columbia and Jefferson City areas, but it has not yet arrived.

The organization is working with the Red Cross to operate two shelters for people from Eldon whom the storm

displaced.The two organizations served about

100 people Thursday in Eldon.“The Red Cross does the shelter-

ing and the Salvation Army does the feeding,” Holloway said. “The meals are made (in Jefferson City) and taken down there.”

Anyone who is hungry is welcome to go to the emergency shelter, Anderson said.

“When a lot of people think of shel-ters, they automatically think of a home-less shelter,” Anderson said. “That’s not the case at the disaster shelter.”

The shelter can provide assistance victims can’t get anywhere else — emotional and spiritual care, logistics, replacement of identification cards and other resources. The Red Cross can put victims up in hotels if they are uncom-fortable in the shelters.

“We have a couple of pastors who provide spiritual and mental health care for victims,” Anderson said. “The volun-teers at the shelter know who to contact if that need is there.”

For food or shelter in Jefferson City, go to the disaster shelter at Thomas Jef-ferson Middle School, 1201 Fairgrounds Road. Or, go to The Salvation Army Cen-ter of Hope, 927 Jefferson St.

In Eldon, go to the shelters at Upper Elementary School, 407 E. 15th St., or the community center, 309, E. Second St.

Volunteers may sign up to help in recovery

By Joe Gammjoe@newstribune.com

Jenna Kieser/News Tribune

Liza Loughridge sits with her Labrador mix, Tilly, on her cot Thursday at the Red Cross shelter at Thomas Jefferson Middle School. Loughridge’s daughter was working at the Sonic Drive-In on Ellis Boulevard on Wednesday night when a tornado touched down. “I felt the pressure in my ears and the loud boom,” she said.

Jenna Kieser/News Tribune

A client of the Red Cross sleeps on a cot Thursday morning at the Red Cross Shelter at Thomas Jefferson Middle School.

into Jefferson City, to work on build-ing inspections today.

“SAVE is a group of volunteer engineers, architects, building inspectors and other trained profes-sionals that assists the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency with building damage inspections,” O’Connell said. “After a disaster, SAVE volunteers are trained to move quickly, to determine which buildings are safe to use and which should be evacuated.”

At a 6 a.m. briefing Thursday — even as officials still were deter-mining what areas had experi-enced the storm damage — Gov. Mike Parson said he appreciated the first responders and their work.

“Across the state, Missouri’s first responders once again responded quickly and with strong coordina-tion as much of the state dealt with extremely dangerous conditions,” the governor — a former Polk County sheriff — said.

“I want our responders — and all the neighbors who acted self-lessly to help their neighbors — to know how much their heroic efforts are appreciated by all Mis-sourians.”

Williams said law officers were aware of social media posts that some buildings had collapsed and people were trapped, but those reports were not accurate.

“There was a lot of social media,” he said, especially in the early hours after the storm hit — primarily from people who trav-eled into the areas where the dam-age had occurred.

However, those reports less-ened, Williams said, as emergency services people were able to deter-mine what had happened and how much damage had occurred.

Even 12 hours after the storm passed through Jefferson City, he said, people who don’t belong in

those areas should stay away from them — and the city imposed a curfew from 9 p.m. Thursday through 5 a.m. today for the area between Madison Street on the west and Lafayette Street on the east, and bounded by the Missouri River on the north and Stadium Boulevard on the south.

Mayor Carrie Tergin’s procla-

mation also allows Police Chief Roger Schroeder to “reinstitute this curfew on a nightly basis,” or to “reduce the curfew area in his discretion.”

Several ambulance providers from other parts of the state offered to help out — but Cole County EMS reported taking only about 2 dozen people to hospitals for treatment.

the mobile home park to take shelter in their basement during bad weather, and six of them did Wednesday night, Paul said.

“I guess overall we were lucky because we’re all still here,” Janet said.

The tornado also made its way to the Rustic Oaks subdivision off Monticello Road on the west side of U.S. 54, where trees were twisted and snapped throughout the neighborhoods, some which fell on homes and property, and many which had to be cleared from the roads to restore access early Thursday morning.

Continuing its path along the highway into Jefferson City, the storm also toppled semi-trucks,

tore up roofs at businesses includ-ing Tractor Supply and brought near-complete damage to Don-

nie Braun & Sons Auto Repair and Braun Storage on Renns Lake Road just west of U.S. 54.

Response:Continued from p. 6

County:Continued from p. 6

Rebecca Martin/News Tribune

Ron Pringer points to splintered trees Thursday in the backyard of his home on Rustic Lane just outside Jeffer-son City limits after a tornado hit late Wednesday.

Mark Wilson/News Tribune

A sheriff’s department officer directs traffic as residents clean up debris along McCarty.

Jenna Kieser/News Tribune

FBI agents navigate their way through debris on Thursday along Jackson Street. Missouri Task Force 1 and FEMA were dispatched to Jefferson City after the tornado.

Rebecca Martin/News Tribune

Janet Smyer looks at toppled furniture in the family room of her home on Heritage Highway after a tornado hit the area south of Jefferson City late Wednesday.

EYE OF THE STORM

www.newstribune.com

A8 FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2019

Tornadoes were blamed for three deaths in one Southwest Missouri town and millions of dollars in damages in another community.

Kenneth Harris, 86, and his 83-year-old wife, Opal, were found dead about 200 yards from their Golden City home, and Betty Berg, 56, was killed and her husband, Mark, seriously injured when their mobile home was destroyed, authorities said.

The severe weather moved in from Oklahoma, where rescuers struggled to

pull people from high water. This week has seen several days of twisters and torrential rains in the Southern Plains and Midwest.

A twister in Carl Junction also caused damage and several injuries in the town not far from Joplin, on the eighth anniversary of the catastrophic tornado that killed 161 people in that city. Police Chief Delmar Haase said nearly three dozen homes had sig-nificant damage and several people sustained minor injuries. He estimated total damage in Carl Junction was “in the millions.”

The National Weather Service was trying to determine whether a single or multiple tornadoes hit the area Wednes-day night along a path of 50 miles.

The severe weather was expected to push eastward Thursday, with forecast-ers saying parts of the Ohio Valley and the mid-Atlantic — including Baltimore and Pittsburgh — could see tornadoes, large hail and strong winds.

Storms and torrential rains have rav-aged the Midwest, from Texas through Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri and Illinois, in the past few days.

Southwest Missouri tornado claims 3By the Associated Press

Emergency responders in Eldon are working to assess damages from Wednesday night’s tornado.

The National Weather Service alerted of a dam-aging tornado in the area around 11 p.m.

The tornado hit Eldon before heading toward Brazito and Jefferson City from Missouri 17, offi-cials said. No preliminary report has been given for Eldon.

Miller County Commissioner Tom Wright worked with emergency dispatch that night to locate resi-dents who needed assistance. Throughout the area, roofs, trees and several objects were displaced.

Eldon Police Cpl. Mark Beauchamp said officers worked through Wednesday night and Thursday to clear debris and go door to door for search and rescue. They will continue to rotate shifts and work on several street closures. The Miller County Sher-iff’s Department continued to offer assistance in the area.

Eldon Police Chief Brian Kidwell said in a Face-book post around 1 p.m. Thursday no deaths had been reported.

Some of the worst damage in the city was south of U.S. 87 along North Street, officials said. From Manor Street to Business 54 is closed.

Missouri Department of Transportation and county road department crews cleared debris and moved power lines off the county roads. Miller County Sheriff Louie Gregoire said those affected should contact the Red Cross and Miller County Emergency Management.

Those not affected should remain away to allow responders to do their jobs, he added.

“The people who want to drive around and sightsee need to stay off the roads,” Gregoire said.

Power outagesAs of 11 a.m. Thursday, Three Rivers Electric

Cooperative reported 760 power outages in the area.“Members should prepare to be without

power for several days during the restoration process,” assistant manager Thayne Barton said in a news release.

Some traffic lights were restored about 10 a.m. Ameren Missouri is also working to restore power.

Historic Randles Court cancels reopening

A planned reopening of the Historic Randles Court has been canceled due to extensive damage to the building. Co-owner Jennifer Hart said the motel will be closed until further notice.

“We will repair,” Hart said. “… It’s still standing; it can be repaired.”

The business was recently renovated after a fire at the former Eldon Philly Diner destroyed rooms in August 2017.

An open house event scheduled for today to display the seven rooms will be rescheduled.

As the tornado approached, Hart’s family took shelter as sirens and high winds shook the win-dows, inviting one rental tenant into their living quarters.

“We heard the noise, and so that was the end of it,” Hart said.

After waiting for the all-clear, they discovered it was not the burst they expected. The tornado had touched down and broke windows and ripped the roof from the back of their building. The building’s sign was also destroyed.

Hart remained grateful for the family and friends who worked through the night to move the historic furniture.

“The stuff that I put in these rooms you can’t replace,” Hart said.

Community members stopped by early Thurs-day to offer assistance in cleaning the property.

Community members clean up, take cover in shelters

Shelters opened Wednesday night at the Early Learning Center Tornado Room, 407 E. 15th St., and Eldon Community Center, 309 E. Second St.

Free clinic services are available at the Early Learning Center through the Central Ozark Medical Center.

Red Cross volunteer Kay Webery said those able were quick to assist. Brew Brothers Coffee, Osage Beach Police and FEMA coordinated meals, ice, cots and pillows.

“Some have gone or family members have picked them up,” she added.

She said the Eldon Community Center was housing a slightly higher number of residents who suffered severe damage to their homes.

“Usually, with my experience with Red Cross, immediate needs are met with the local hotels and motels,” Webery said.

“If anyone would like to donate items, they can come by and ask what we need. We will not turn them down,” she said.

Webery said both shelters will remain open as long as there is a need, and more Red Cross rep-resentatives and FEMA will work to find places for displaced people.

At one time 60 residents went to shelters, Fire Chief Randy Vernon said. Later, more than 100 were confirmed to have used the shelters.

Business owner Shannon Loveall cleared debris at Rock Island Recycling. He said he felt blessed with the limited damage they’ve seen and will work with community members to clean up the city.

Eldon R-1 Superintendent Matt Davis met crews early Thursday at the Eldon softball fields, which received damage to its concession areas, dugout and bleachers.

“Even though the schools are closed, thank-

fully the school buildings were not damaged,” he said.

Local residents confirmed extensive damage to homes and apartments on the south side of town. One area worst hit was at and surrounding the Eldon Estates apartment complex.

Tammy Clines and her boyfriend, Derrick Vun-cannon, are staying at the tornado shelter, await-ing word when they can go back and assess the damage. However, the Eldon Fire Department told them Thursday morning it may be a few days before that can happen, as the building suffered extensive damage and the road is closed while they are trying to restore power and clear debris.

Clines said she called Vuncannon over to her apartment in the same complex and waited about an

hour in the bathroom until they knew the tornado had passed. Vuncannon said he had a lot of broken glass and damage to his apartment, which suffered the brunt of the destruction from the tornado.

Clines has been through five tornadoes in her life while living in Missouri.

“They are just devastating,” she said. “I’m wor-ried about our medications and also about my cats, who I had to leave behind.”

Vuncannon experienced his first tornado Wednesday night after moving to the area 11 years ago from California. He said experienced a 7.9 mag-nitude earthquake there and seeing this tornado was just as upsetting.

“It was really scary,” he said. “I’m just glad we are OK.”

Damage being assessed in EldonBy Danisha Hogue and Samantha Pogue

news@newstribune.com

Samantha Pogue/ News Tribune

The tornado that swept through Eldon on Wednesday night toppled power lines and caused extensive damage to many homes and businesses throughout the Miller County city, as seen here by Refills Ink and across from Lake Regional Health Sys-tem's clinic.

Danisha Hogue/News Tribune

Signage for Historic Randles Court in Eldon was destroyed during the tornado Wednesday. Broken windows and roof leakage have canceled the re-opening of the business, which had been planned for today.

Samantha Pogue/ News Tribune

Concession area, dug-outs and bleachers were part of damage done at the Eldon School Softball fields after a torna-do swept through Eldon late Wednesday night.

Danisha Hogue/News Tribune

A tornado late Wednesday uprooted trees uprooted at Rock Island Park in Eldon.

AP

A worker walks past damaged cars Thursday at a dealership in Jefferson City after a tornado tore through late Wednesday.