Storm damages homes, municipal buildings, downs trees and power lines in south Cape Girardeau

High winds and rain swept through Cape Girardeau early Tuesday, damaging several municipal buildings and homes and toppling trees and power lines in the south part of the city, officials said.

The National Weather Service clocked the winds at 49 mph at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport, but the agency said the wind speed could have been higher in the city.

Tamara Buck, who lives in the 1100 block of South Sprigg Street, said the storm awakened her about 3:15 a.m.

“It was so loud,” she said Tuesday.

“I was shaking like a leaf. I’ve never been in a storm that bad,” Buck said.

A tree fell from a storm early Tuesday between two homes on South Sprigg street in Cape Girardeau.Andrew J. Whitaker

The storm was so violent, she thought it might be a tornado.

“I just grabbed my phone and glasses and ran down to the basement,” Buck said.

While it wasn’t a tornado, she said powerful winds toppled several old, large trees in her neighborhood and knocked out electrical power to her home and others.

Buck said the storm “completely twisted and tore up” a fabric and steel gazebo in her backyard and scattered it “across the yard.”

Buck said her house was largely undamaged.

Cristal Ryan and Alexis Councilor, 11, clean up debris from a storm Tuesday afternoon on South Ellis street in Cape Girardeau.Andrew J. Whitaker

“I’ve got some shingles down,” she said.

At least four homes were damaged by falling trees as the storm swept west to east, city officials said. Some damage has been extensive, the city said in a news release.

The city’s inspections division has been working with homeowners as they coordinate home repairs, officials said.

Fifteen customers in Cape Girardeau were without power Tuesday morning, according to Ameren’s website.

By 4 p.m. Tuesday, eight customers still were without power, the utility company reported.

High winds “caved in” two garage doors and damaged the trash scale at the city’s solid-waste transfer station on Southern Expressway, said solid waste superintendent Mike Tripp.

The damage prompted city staff to close the transfer station to the public.

It is expected to remain closed today as the city awaits parts to arrive and repairs to be made, officials said.

Residential curbside, trash and recycling pickups have not been affected and will continue on schedule, according to the news release.

The storm damaged a garage door on the nearby public works building and ripped off a 10-by-25-foot section of the structure’s metal roof, he said. The window of a city pickup truck at the site also was damaged by the storm, Tripp said.

At Shawnee Park, the storm damaged a light pole, bleachers and a bathroom roof, city officials said.

Public works crews worked to clean debris in the streets Tuesday. By early afternoon, all streets had been cleared with the exception of intermittent lane closures to remove limbs that had been damaged but had not fallen onto roadways, according to the news release.

Residents can call the public works department at (573) 339-6351 to request free curbside removal of tree limbs and storm debris, city officials said. Such requests should be made by March 17, officials said.

City street division crews already were busy cleaning debris from last week’s storm before Tuesday’s storm hit.

Street crews had removed 48 tons of tree limbs from the earlier storm, officials said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641