Friday morning storm causes heavy storm damage, fatalities in Southeast Missouri

Winds in excess of 70 mph and heavy rainfall this morning are to blame for severe damage in Fredericktown, Patton and Meadow Heights School and two deaths in Poplar Bluff, Mo., Sgt. Dale Moreland of the Missouri State Highway Patrol said.

Moreland said property damage is widespread throughout Bollinger County and Highway 51 near Patton and Highway 72 between Patton and Fredericktown are blocked. Emergency management officials are on the scene.

Further south on Highway 53 near Poplar Bluff, Grover and Wanda Neeley of Campbell, Mo., were killed when high wind blew a tree on their 2005 Ford.

Fire erupts from a downed power line in the 600 block of N. Mount Auburn Friday afternoon following high winds in the area. Mount Auburn was closed to through traffic in the area. (KIT DOYLE)

Gov. Jay Nixon has signed a State of Emergency Executive Order in response to the storm system that moved throughout Missouri today, knocking out power to thousands and causing widespread property damage reported in areas such as Bollinger County.

The executive order activates the Missouri State Emergency Operations Plan, which opens the State Emergency Operations Center and allows Missouri's agencies to help local jurisdictions with emergency protective actions.

"A large portion of southern Missouri has been affected by the high winds, reported tornadoes and flash flooding associated with this system, and we also have received reports of widespread power outages," Nixon said in a written statement. "My primary concern is the safety of Missourians and this executive order makes state agency resources available to help communities respond to the storms."

Several other reports of downed power lines were reported by area police, as well as spot flooding throughout the region, some affecting local schools.

At around 2 p.m. today AmerenUE reported on its website

that 1,671 of its customers in Cape Girardeau County were without power, down from 3,055 outages that were reported at 12:10 p.m. The highest number of outages reported in Southeast Missouri were in St. Francois County, where 10,751 AmerenUE customers were in the dark.

Earlier in the day Cape Girardeau police responded to reports of power lines down and water in the roadway near several locations.

Cpl. Adam Glueck said that power lines were down near the 600 block of N. Mount Auburn Road, the Independence and West Street and Bloomfield Road and Siemers Drive. Water was reported in the roadway near Themis and Wisteria Street, Whitener Street and Silver Springs Road and Good Hope Street and Sheridan Drive.

"It came so quickly and went away so quickly," Glueck said. "Anytime there is a lot of rain we can expect problems like downed power lines. But it's unusual to have this many at once."

Meanwhile in Jackson, Police chief James Humphreys said that several trees had fallen throughout the community, including one that rolled over on a car near Orchard Elementary School. No one has been injured in any of the incidents.

"Our main concern now is getting the trees and damage clear before school lets out, which is about an hour," Humphreys said at 2 p.m. "Just be patient. We're working to clear the area so it will be safe."

A crew from the Jackson Public Works responded to water in the road near Main Street and Union Avenue.