Clean-up crews work throughout Maries County after reports of storm damage
VICHY, Mo. (KMIZ)
Hours after Mid-Missouri residents were encouraged to take shelter for Saturday’s tornado warning, reports of the weather’s damage came rolling in. Golf ball-sized hail left dents in the sides of homes, grass and trees were uprooted and a house was even completely lifted off its foundation.
In Maries County, crews gathered near Vichy for clean-up efforts.
“We had advanced warnings from the National Weather Service,” Scott John, the Chief Deputy of the Maries County Sheriff's Office and the Emergency Management Director of the county said. “It came in pretty much how they told us we received a lot of hail, wind and tree damage.”
That damage varied across the county. After the weather began to calm down, the Maries County Emergency Management System asked for reports of hail and any other damage from the storm. The post quickly grew to over 190 comments on Facebook.
“Numerous barns, sheds, roofs, and exterior walls of homes are seriously damaged,” the department shared in a post.
And crews have found their focus for the next few days.
“Clean up,” John said. “Rural people are pretty independent, everybody's offered all the resources that we could possibly need, so we're happy, right.”
Some departments on the roster include Maries County crews, MoDOT, and power companies from Gasconade and Three Rivers. Power outages as a result of the storm were seen across the county. John said the inner county areas have been hit the hardest.
Additionally, first responders set up temporary camp at the Rolla National Airport. The airport itself received damage from the weather with one hangar having its roof completely removed, and several others damaged.
Two first responders said that damage could be seen up and down Highway A.
“One house has been completely leveled,” John said. “The homeowner was in it at the time, he said it lifted from its foundation about four or five feet. He was able to roll under the wall out of the house before the house came crashing back down.”
Still, with few reported minor injuries, the departments say they’re grateful.
“We’re just lucky and thankful no one was seriously injured,” John added.
