Storm downs trees; flash flood warnings issued

Southeast Missourian

A brief but strong storm blew through the area Thursday afternoon, knocking out power in Fruitland for a while and battering some trees.

According to Charlie Griffith, deputy director of the Cape Girardeau County Office of Emergency Management, some 40-mph winds knocked down trees north of Jackson. Around 4:30 p.m., strong winds knocked a tree onto a car in front of the D-Mart on Highway 61 in Jackson.

A severe weather warning for the area expired at 4 p.m., and was followed by a storm that blew through Bollinger County and into Cape Girardeau County around 5. Flash-flood warnings were in effect until 7:30 p.m, but high water receded almost as quickly as it rose.

Griffith said 6 inches of water flooded Route D north of Jackson by Country Estates subdivision and about the same amount of water covered Highway 61 about a quarter mile south of Route Y.

As the storm progressed through the afternoon, water covered Main Street in Jackson.

Just before 7 p.m., a spokesman for the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department said that the flooded areas were clearing up.