Weather service: Perryville tornado was an EF-4

PERRYVILLE, Mo. (AP) – The National Weather Service has reclassified a tornado that killed one person and destroyed dozens of homes in the Perryville area as an EF-4 twister.

The weather service’s preliminary finding classified Tuesday night’s tornado as an EF-3.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports (http://bit.ly/2mnK8KG ) the new information was released Saturday by the Perryville Police Department, which was briefed by the weather service Friday.

Meteorologist Rick Shankland says the tornado carried winds up to 180 mph. Shankland told police the tornado was six-tenths of a mile wide and traveled 50.4 miles, the longest track in 25 years.

A 24-year-old Perryville man died when the he was thrown from his vehicle as it was blown off of Interstate 55.

More than 100 homes in the area were damaged, with many of them destroyed.