12 people dead, severe damage across Missouri after Friday tornadoes, storms

Yahoo

17-03-2025

Severe storms to start the spring tore through Missouri this weekend, leaving several people dead.
According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, as of 3:30 p.m. Saturday, a 12th fatality was confirmed in St. Louis County. The majority of fatalities occurred in Wayne County, where six deaths occurred, and Ozark County, where three died.
"We extend our sincere condolences to the loved ones of the 12 storm victims," the patrol stated. "We also continue to assist the individuals and communities who have been severely affected."
Severe storms including tornadoes entered Missouri around 3 p.m. Friday afternoon in the Kansas City area and continued across the state through the evening and night.
Initial reports from the statewide office of emergency management indicated there were up to 19 tornadoes of varying strengths that struck 25 counties in the state.
Gov. Mike Kehoe declared a State of Emergency Friday, activating the State Emergency Operations Plan to support response and recovery efforts. The State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and Missouri State Highway Patrol coordinated with local officials to assess damage and provide assistance.
'Friday and through the night, Missouri first responders, volunteers and our faith-based partners worked tirelessly in response to a series of devastating tornadoes and severe storms, and before that, dangerous and damaging fires,' Kehoe said. 'Our state team members and responders are working to support communities, have begun to assess the damage with local partners, and will be gathering more information in the coming days. I appreciate the heroic work of all those who are assisting their fellow Missourians. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families grieving loved ones, and we stand with all those impacted by these devastating storms."
In addition to the deaths in Wayne and Ozark counties, fatalities were reported in Butler, Jefferson and St. Louis counties.
In mid-Missouri, the Camden County Commission declared a 'state of emergency' due to the historic wildfire outbreak and severe weather that impacted the Lake Region. The EOC was activated, Road & Bridge provided heavy equipment and the sheriff's office provided intelligence and reconnaissance for the Unified Command. The Region F Fire Mutual Aid system requested strike teams from throughout the state, bringing in crews to assist, according to the county's emergency management office.
Boone Electric had more than 800 of its customers without power at 4:15 p.m., according to its outage map. The number had decreased to 481 around 5 p.m. The outages appear to have occurred south of the Thornbrook area. More outages were reported near Prathersville. All were resolved by the evening, according to KMIZ.
In Columbia, five outages had cut power to more than 1,200 city utility customers before 5 p.m., according to the city's outage map. All of the outages were resolved by 6:30 p.m. Friday.
The largest outage impacting around 1,100 customers was reported at 4:25 p.m. in south Columbia near Green Meadows Road.
Convoy of Hope, a nonprofit relief agency based in Springfield, reported Saturday that it had a team en route to Rolla and St. Louis and was responding to areas near Hartville, West Plains, Van Buren, and the Bootheel in Missouri, well as the Mountain Home area in Arkansas. The team planned to deliver initial relief supplies, assess the needs in damaged areas and discuss larger distribution plans with local partners.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: 12 people dead, severe damage reported across Missouri after storms