Winds from Friday's storm wreaked havoc in area

SEDGEWICKVILLE, Mo. -- Bud Sharrock drove around his property in northern Bollinger County on Friday assessing the damage to his fences, tractors and three barns.

"I've got to start by keeping my cattle in," he said. "From then on, it's everything else."

High winds ripped through the area, uprooting trees and tearing off roofs.

On Sharrock's property, the storm also snapped a white oak tree, which he estimated was more than 200 years old.

"It was the biggest, prettiest tree in the county, and now it's gone," said Margie Cook, who surveyed the property with him.

Bud Sharrock of Sedgewickville talks about his more than 200-year-old white oak tree after it was toppled Friday by high winds. He sat with Margie Cook on his property near the tree. (Fred Lynch)

Sheets of metal were scattered throughout the fields around his property. Winds destroyed his hay barn and tipped over a 28-foot camper he used for traveling to rodeos.

Down the road from Sharrock, workers at Henschel Manufacturing lingered in the parking lot among shingles and twisted metal. Six cars parked in front of the building were crushed by metal beams.

Sara Reed said she did not know whether she could get home because so many roads were closed. Workers at the hat factory fled to the basement during the storm, she said. Light flooded into the area when part of the building was torn off during the storm.

"We were hoping just the windows were gone, but that wasn't the case," Reed said, who worked in the cutting room of the factory.

The factory, which is housed in the former Sedgewickville School, is closed indefinitely, she said.

High winds blew part of a roof onto vehicles parked at Henschel Manufacturing Co. on Friday in Sedgewickville. (Fred Lynch)

"That's cutting," she said, pointing to her department in the damaged part of the building. "Was cutting."

Steve Moldengraft, a warehouse worker, said all he could hear was the sound of the wind as he waited in the basement.

"It's something you don't want to go through," he said. "It really wakes you up."

State of emergency

Gov. Jay Nixon has signed a state of emergency executive order in response to the storm system that moved through Missouri, knocking out power to thousands and causing widespread property damage. 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.

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)

"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."

Trees, lines down

Throughout the day several hundred volunteers manned an emergency management center at Meadow Heights School in Patton, Mo., near an area where Bollinger County emergency manager Jim Bollinger believes a tornado touched down.

He compared the situation to a hurricane.

"Trees and power lines are down all over the place," Bollinger said. "The power structure is gone in the north part of the county."

Bollinger spent most of the afternoon surveying the damage.

Most roads were closed since late morning, Bollinger said. By 5 p.m. officials began opening the main roads, but he suspected it could be awhile before the side roads are passable.

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, said Sgt. Dale Moreland of the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

Other than one other fatality, Moreland said he did not know of any other injuries in the affected areas.

He urged all unnecessary travel to be avoided in Bollinger County, an area Moreland said was one of the hardest hit.

"Don't go looking around because there's so much damage," Moreland said. "We urge people to stay at home unless they really have to get out and go to one of the areas."

Cape's damage

Cape Girardeau police responded to reports of power lines down and water in the roadway near several locations. At one point, more than 3,000 AmerenUE customers were without power in Cape Girardeau County.

Cpl. Adam Glueck said power lines were down on several streets, including North Mount Auburn Road, Independence Street, Bloomfield Road and Siemers Drive. Water was reported in the road on several streets.

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

Blanchard Elementary School lost power for an hour and a half during lunchtime, said principal Dr. Barbara Kohlfeld.

"We had to go through lunch with kids sitting in the gym under the skylights," she said.

In Jackson, police chief James Humphreys said several trees had fallen, including one that rolled over on a car near Orchard Elementary School. No one was injured in any of the incidents.

abusch@semissourian.com

388-3627

bblackwell@semissourian.com

388-3628

Pertinent address:

Route EE, Sedgewickville, MO