“Across the state, Missouri’s first responders once again responded quickly and with strong coordination as much of the state dealt with extremely dangerous conditions that left people injured, trapped in homes, and tragically led to the death of three people,” Governor Mike Parson said. The National Weather Service confirmed that the large and destructive tornado moved over Jefferson City shortly before midnight on Wednesday. – A tornado caused heavy damage in Missouri’s capital city as severe weather swept across the state overnight, causing at least three deaths and injuring nearly two dozen people as homes and businesses were ripped apart. Officials in Oklahoma confirmed Wednesday that flooding was responsible for the death of a woman who drowned while driving around a barricade near Perkins, about 45 miles northeast of Oklahoma City.Jefferson City, Mo. Missouri’s three tornado deaths bring to seven the number of deaths from storms this week. Missouri authorities said heavy rain was a contributing factor in the deaths of two people in a traffic accident Tuesday near Springfield. Officials there said she was killed by a possible tornado that damaged a farmstead in Adair County. Fourteen people died when their vehicles plunged into the water.ĭeaths from this week’s storms include a 74-year-old woman found early Wednesday in Iowa. Over Memorial Day weekend in 2002, a barge struck the Interstate 40 bridge pier at Webbers Falls, causing part of the bridge to collapse into the Arkansas River. Still, the Interstate 40 bridge and a state highway bridge remained closed over the Arkansas River at Webbers Falls as a precaution, according to the Oklahoma Department of Transportation. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol said the barges were still tied together, and crews were working to secure them. If the dam breaks, it will be catastrophic!! Leave now!!”Īuthorities located the barges Thursday morning, stuck on rocks in the swollen river.
The barges are loose and have the potential to hit the lock and dam 16. A posting on the official Facebook page of Webbers Falls, Okla., said the runaway barges posed a dire threat to the river town’s 600 residents: “Evacuate Webbers Falls immediately. Two barges broke loose and floated swiftly down the swollen Arkansas River in eastern Oklahoma, spreading alarm downstream as they threatened to hit a dam. Authorities urged residents of several small towns in Oklahoma and Kansas to leave their homes as rivers and streams rose. Storms and torrential rains have ravaged the Midwest, from Texas through Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri and Illinois. Forecasters say the area most at risk for bad weather Thursday includes Baltimore and Pittsburgh. Forecasters at the Storm Prediction Center say parts of the Ohio Valley and the Mid-Atlantic could see tornadoes, large hail and strong winds. The severe weather was expected to continue Thursday as the storms headed east. The tornado caused some damage in the town of Carl Junction, about 4 miles north of the Joplin airport, where several injuries were reported. One tornado skirted just a few miles north of Joplin, Mo., on the eighth anniversary of a catastrophic tornado that killed 161 people in the city.
The weather service said it had received 22 reports of tornadoes by late Wednesday some could be duplicate reporting of the same twister. “There’s basically one building that’s basically one story now,” he said.
The windows broke, and he dove behind the washers and dryers.Īfter the weather calmed down, he walked outside to check the damage and retrieved a stuffed animal for his daughter from his damaged apartment. He saw sheets of rain coming down and a flagpole bend and then slam to the ground. Thomson, 25, was in the laundry room of the complex in Jefferson City when he noticed the wind had started picking up. The complex of two-story apartment buildings where Austin Thomson lives was heavily damaged in the storm. Missouri Public Safety tweeted that more tornadoes and flash flooding were possible. Authorities discouraged people from beginning clean-up efforts until power was safely restored. Williams spoke from the Cole County Sheriff’s office, where debris including insulation, roofing shingles and metal pieces lay on the ground outside the front doors. “It’s a chaotic situation right now,” Williams said. The capital city has a population of about 40,000 and is located about 130 miles west of St. The weather service reported that a “confirmed large and destructive tornado” was observed over Jefferson City at 11:43 p.m.