Page 2 - aruba-today-20230406

A2 UP FRONT
Thursday 6 april 2023

Predawn Missouri tornado kills at least 5, sows destruction

From Front area of Bollinger County, by with its lights on in Glen Based on early data, the assess damage and deter-
about 50 miles (80 kilome- Allen, where he owns a tornado received a prelimi- mine what resources are
By JIM SALTER and ters) south of St. Louis, said storage facility. nary EF-2 rating, packing needed. They planned a
SCOTT McFETRIDGE Sgt. Clark Parrott of the Mis- "That was a sad, sad sight wind speeds of 130 mph news conference in the af-
Associated Press souri State Highway Patrol. -- knowing there was bod- (228 kph). Gibbs noted that ternoon.
GLEN ALLEN, Mo. (AP) — A Trees were uprooted and ies in there," said Collier, tornadoes are especial- Missouri's U.S. Sens. Eric
large tornado tore through homes turned into piles of who wasn't entirely relieved ly dangerous when they Schmitt and Josh Hawley,
southeastern Missouri be- splinters. One building was when he saw his facility was touch down late at night meanwhile, said they're in
fore dawn on Wednesday, flipped on its side. Drone spared. "I was just numb, or early in the morning, as touch with local leaders
killing at least five people footage showed emergen- thinking about all these this one did. "It's definitely and ready to help. Schmitt
and causing widespread cy crews peering into the other people, what they're a nightmare from a warn- also warned Missouri resi-
destruction as a broad wreckage with flashlights. going through." ing standpoint," Gibbs said. dents in a statement to stay
swath of the Midwest and More than 20 agencies Josh Wells said that the tor- "It's bad anytime, but it's es- alert "as there's more severe
South kept a wary eye out were part of the search nado tore half of the roof pecially bad at 3:30 in the weather on the horizon."
for further storms that could for survivors and victims, off his Glen Allen home morning." The storms moving through
spawn additional twisters with the damage so bad and pushed in his bedroom A phone weather alert the Midwest and South on
and hail. that they sometimes were wall. Luckily, he fled before- awakened Bobby Masters, Wednesday threaten some
Wednesday's severe forced to use chainsaws to hand with his son to his sis- who said debris was slam- areas still reeling from the
weather was the third in cut back trees and brush to ter's home because it has a ming his Glen Allen home deadly bout of bad weath-
a series of massive storms reach homes, Parrott said. basement. as he took shelter in his er last weekend. The Storm
over the last two weeks "It's just heartbreaking to "We all ran down and hud- basement with his family. Prediction Center said up
that have spawned doz- see it," Parrott said. dled against the wall and He recalled hearing a roar to 40 million people in an
ens of tornadoes, mainly in The damage was concen- my brother-in-law made as the tornado passed. area that includes major
the South and Midwest, kill- trated around the small it down just seconds be- "I had never heard a tor- cities including Chicago,
ing at least 63 people. Just rural communities of Glen fore we heard the roar- nado before. They say it Indianapolis, Detroit and
last weekend, confirmed or Allen and Grassy, which ing sound of the wind and sounds like a freight train Memphis, Tennessee, were
suspected tornadoes in at are separated by a hunting debris crashing around and that is exactly what it at risk from the storms later
least eight states laid waste area, said Bollinger County us," he said. Justin Gibbs, a sounds like," he said, add- Wednesday.
to neighborhoods across a Sheriff Casey Graham in a National Weather Service ing: "The good Lord spared Schools in Little Rock, Ar-
broad swath of the coun- Facebook post announc- meteorologist in Paducah, us, our family and our kansas, canceled Wednes-
try. ing the five deaths. He Kentucky, said the tornado house." Keith Lincoln, 56, day classes because the
The Missouri tornado didn't immediately release remained on the ground who also was awakened by storms were expected to
touched down around the victims' names. for roughly 15 minutes, trav- a phone alert, huddled in a move through the area
3:30 a.m. Wednesday and Charles Collier, 61, said he eling an estimated 15-20 bathtub with his wife and during the morning rush,
moved through a rural saw the coroner's van drive miles (24-32 kilometers). 18-year-old daughter and KFVS-TV reported.
prayed: "Just save us and In central Illinois, authori-
the house." He spent the ties said five people were
afternoon patching his roof hurt and about 300 homes
but was thankful his prayer were without power due
was mostly answered. to a tornado that struck in
Chris Green, 35, found a Fulton County on Tuesday
small black dog dead in evening. Chris Helle, who
the debris. "I can't just leave directs the county's Emer-
it here," he said as he and gency Services Disaster
his father buried the ani- Agency, said one of the
mal. people injured was in criti-
The area is rural, with resi- cal condition.
dents mostly farming, cut- Helle said the damage
ting timber or working con- was concentrated near
struction jobs, said Larry the town of Bryant, about
Welker, Bollinger County's 200 mile (322 kilometers)
public administrator. The southwest of Chicago. Fire
entire county's population departments and other
only totals around 10,500. first responders were still
The battered communities cataloguing the damage
are tiny, little more than a there, but Helle said nu-
few scattered homes and merous homes had been
businesses. destroyed. He credited
Debris covers the ground as homes are damaged after severe weather in Glen Allen, Mo., on Gov. Mike Parson said he people for listening to ad-
Wednesday, April 5, 2023. would join emergency per- vance warnings and taking
Associated Press sonnel on the ground to shelter.q