AREA BRACES FOR BITTER COLD, SNOW; TORNADO HITS EAST PRAIRIE ON THURSDAY

A tornado that damaged businesses and homes in East Prairie Thursday morning was part of a winter storm that delivered high winds and torrential rain across Southeast Missouri.

The storm caused scattered power outages in the region and sent temperatures plummeting. Bitterly cold temperatures in the lower to middle teens were forecast for Thursday night.

During a 15-minute period early Thursday afternoon, the temperature dropped 12 degrees in Jackson, from 51 to 39 degrees.

The Cape Girardeau Regional Airport registered a high of 66 degrees at 3 a.m. Thursday. By 5 p.m., the temperature had dropped to 24.

The storm system that dumped rain, sleet and snow across the street produced wind gusts of up to 56 mph in Cape Girardeau County Thursday morning.

The tornado touched down about 9:07 a.m. on the east side of East Prairie. There was no warning.

"It just dropped in," said East Prairie Police Chief Richard Gregory.

The tornado destroyed a farmer's concrete-block machine shop. No one was in the shop at the time.

It damaged about a dozen homes and a handful of businesses, including a storage building at a popcorn factory. The tornado blew out windows and damaged roofs in the town of 3,400.

A 28-year-old woman was cut by flying glass from a house. The storm caused power outages and a natural gas leak.

By late afternoon the gas leak had been repaired and power was being restored.

It could have been worse. Gregory said the tornado passed within 300 yards of an elementary school where classes were in session.

The tornado cut an approximately 2-mile path running from just north of East Prairie to just south of the town. The tornado's path was similar to one that struck the town in 1981, killing one person.

Gregory didn't see the tornado himself. He was in his office in the police station on the opposite end of town when it hit. "It was just raining and the wind was blowing here," he recalled.

High winds broke two transmission poles, causing power outages for about 680 customers of Citizens Electric in the Friedhiem, Old Appleton, Longtown and Uniontown area.

The first outage occurred about 9 a.m., when a transmission pole broke along Highway 61 near Longtown.

Power was restored about 12:20 p.m. Around 2 p.m., another power outage occurred when a transmission pole broke near Uniontown. Power was restored around 3:15 p.m.

John Rauh of Citizens Electric said the second pole may have been damaged at the same time as the first.

"That wind was mean," Rauh said.

High winds damaged the metal facade on the Wal-Mart store in Jackson.

"We were getting very strong, gusting winds," said Brian Miller, Cape Girardeau County emergency preparedness director.

The initial stage of the storm came through the area about 8 a.m. The main part of the storm came through after 9 a.m. By 11 a.m., the bulk of the storm had subsided, Miller said.

High winds toppled a recreational vehicle in Christian County and overturned a mobile home near Piedmont. Hail 1 inch in diameter was reported in Newton and McDonald counties.

The storm dumped freezing rain and sleet on southwest and south central Missouri. Dozens of schools canceled classes.

Heavy sleet iced roads and wind chills made the temperature feel like 30 below zero in some locales.

The Associated Press provided some information for this story.