Sen. Josh Hawley tours tornado damage in Eldon, Jefferson City
U.S. Senator Josh Hawley will visit areas affected by tornado damage in Mid-Missouri on Saturday.
Hawley visited the City of Eldon Fire Department at 11 a.m. Eldon officials confirmed there was only one injury from the tornado. A man suffered a back injury when a truck flipped over, officials said.
Hawley then visited the Cole County Sheriff’s Office in Jefferson City at 1 p.m., where officials from multiple agencies provided updates on recovery efforts.
Watch playback of the news conference below:
Emergency Management Director Bill Farr said 70 people stayed at Thomas Jefferson Middle School, which was used as a shelter for people in need, on the first night after the tornado.
Kevin Wieberg, planning section chief, said the focus Saturday is the organization of volunteers and the cleanup process. He said crews are continuing damage assessment throughout the county. He said an objective for Saturday was to open up all roads and restore all power to customers. He also addressed the levee breach in north Jefferson City. He said emergency operation center resources allocated to the tornado were now tasked with the levee operations.
Lt. David Williams with the Jefferson City Police Department provided more information about an arrest made in the tornado zone. Williams said a witness reported a man attempting to burglarize an Ameren utility truck around 4 a.m. Saturday in the 1600 block of Jefferson Street. When officers responded to the area, they reportedly found that several Ameren UE trucks had been broken into and were missing tools. Carson Bailey, 38, of Jefferson City was found hiding at a local hotel and was taken into custody after a short foot chase.
Williams said the department is still deciding if there will be another curfew in place Saturday night. So far, there have been curfews Thursday and Friday nights from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.
Cole County Sheriff John Wheeler said building inspection teams will be out Saturday. There are three teams accompanied by county deputies, Wheeler said.
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Matt Lindewirth, the chief of the Cole County Ambulance Service, said crews responded to 19 calls for service after the impact of the tornado Wednesday and transported 16 people. Lindewirth also said there have been a total of 32 storm-related injuries, but it’s not clear yet which injuries happened during the storm and which occurred during storm cleanup. Twelve different agencies brought ambulances to Jefferson City, he said.
Hawley then took the podium to thank first responders.
