Storm cleanup underway in Diehlstadt

DIEHLSTADT, Mo. -- A big effort was underway Wednesday to clean up damage Monday night's fatal storm left in the small southeastern Scott County town of Diehlstadt.

By the end of Tuesday, a pile of fallen trees, limbs and other debris had formed. Several dump trucks hauled it away Wednesday, making a significant dent in cleanup efforts, said Tom Beardslee, Scott County emergency management director.

The storm hit Diehlstadt around 8:40 p.m. Monday, causing varying degrees of damage to 52 homes, a church and an agriculture business building. Three people were killed on Highway 77, when an EF-2 tornado tore apart a mobile home. Funerals for Loy Miller, 70, Jasper Miller, 49, and Randy Miller, 47, will be held today and Friday in Charleston, Mo.

Despite damage to many structures, no one else was injured in the storm, which Beardslee said he considered lucky. He estimated Wednesday afternoon that around 80 percent of town had so far been cleared of debris. Residents also seem to be coping well, he said.

"Really, most everyone is doing OK," Beardslee said. "The townfolk are really pulling together."

Many residents were assisted in clearing debris Tuesday and Wednesday by volunteer crews from the community. Kelly High School football team members, as well as other students and school staff, helped around town Wednesday, and school district administrators said a busload of students plans to return today.

The Charleston Baptist Association, based in Benton, Mo., planned to set up a trailer Tuesday in Diehlstadt for disaster relief services for residents and worked to organize a chain-saw crew. The association found, however, that after completing their own assessments Tuesday and Wednesday that not as much help in either area was needed as was expected.

"As you would find in most rural communities, they have already taken care of most of it themselves," said Ed Barnhill, an association member.

County emergency management staff have been working since Tuesday to set up storm recovery-related services and attempting to make residents aware of how the county can assist. So far access to free counseling for residents who request it has been set up through Bootheel Counseling Services, according to Beardslee. He said if residents have a need for the services that they can contact the county's emergency management office, a local clergyman or directly call the service at 573-471-0800.

A long-term recovery committee made up of emergency management staff and disaster relief agencies, which serves Scott County and three others in the region, will also help residents who qualify with financial assistance in the case their property damaged in the storm was uninsured or the amount paid by their insurance company runs out before repairs are complete. Beardslee said the committee was organized during spring 2011 flooding.

Beardslee said the area would be visited late Wednesday by a representative of homeland security to check for disaster relief needs, but that he still doesn't expect any federal assistance will be designated for the county through a disaster declaration because the area damaged is small.

National Weather Service reports showed the storm that damaged Diehlstadt contained a downburst with 100 mph winds that damaged a half-mile-wide area for 3.5 miles, followed by the EF-2 tornado, which stayed on the ground for half a mile.

Scott County Emergency Management can be reached by calling 573-545-3549.

eragan@semissourian.com

388-3627

Pertinent address:

Diehlstadt, MO