Latest news with #CentennialChristianChurch
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Five killed in St. Louis tornado before storm blows east with more carnage
The call came late Friday to the Rev. Derrick Perkins: Three people were trapped in the Centennial Christian Church in St. Louis after a tornado had toppled part of its steeple, leaving it in dusty piles of bricks and stones. A signal from one person's cellphone helped Perkins and emergency workers find those trapped inside. But one of the people, a beloved longtime ministry leader, was killed, Perkins said. 'I was in disbelief -- heartbroken,' he said, holding back tears. 'Not only for the church but for the entire community.' The grief and damage there is just a fraction of the devastation from the several tornadoes that have torn across the nation since late Friday, killing at least 23 people in Missouri, Kentucky and Virginia and injuring dozens more. Officials warned the death toll could rise as they assessed the damage Saturday. 'I would describe this as one of the worst storms' in the city's history, said Mayor Cara Spencer of St. Louis at a Saturday news conference. 'The devastation is truly heartbreaking.' The National Weather Service Office in St. Louis will continue to survey the damage before making a final determination, but a statement issued Saturday stated the tornado was 'at least' an EF-3, with winds topping 165 mph. The metro-east escaped the worst of it, though hail and high winds damaged homes and vehicles in Granite City, Collinsville and Fairmont City. Multiple metro-east fire departments, including Belleville, have assisted in search and recovery in the ravaged St. Louis neighborhoods, according to press releases. A tornado also reportedly touched down in Williamson County near Marion in southern Illinois. No injuries have been reported. The spring tornado season has been especially brutal in this part of the country, coming just weeks after similar storms caused deadly destruction in the region. On Friday, these tornadoes were caused by a major storm over the Midwest and the mid-Atlantic. By Saturday morning, government forecasters said they had confirmed 26 tornadoes in a preliminary count, with most of those occurring in Indiana and Kentucky. While that number so far is not the most recorded in a single day this year -- there were 107 during a tornado outbreak April 2 -- states like Kentucky and Missouri were still recuperating from the damage from other storms this year. In Kentucky, at least 14 people were killed this week, Gov. Andy Beshear said Saturday morning. The governor is expected to tour the damage in Laurel County, about 90 miles south of Lexington, later Saturday. The sheriff's department there sent staff to the Faith Assembly Church in London, Kentucky, to help people trying to locate a loved one. This week's storm also comes at a precarious moment for disaster relief efforts, as sweeping staffing and funding cuts have upended the usual processes for getting assistance from the federal government. Officials in Kentucky and Missouri confirmed that they had been in touch with the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Federal Emergency Management Agency. 'There's no daylight between the delegation, the federal delegation or the mayor or the governor in that effort' to get assistance, said Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., on Saturday morning. The tornadoes killed at least seven people in Missouri, with five of them in St. Louis. Two people were killed in Scott County, in southeastern Missouri, according to the county sheriff's office. In St. Louis, cellphone towers were damaged and traffic lights were down, city authorities said, and there was severe damage to homes and buildings. Spencer said early estimates showed that about 5,000 buildings had sustained damage. Holly Lammert, who lives near the destroyed church where three people were trapped, was among the residents surveying the impact Saturday morning. Pieces of her neighbor's roof were in her backyard. There were dozens of jagged tree limbs and trunks in her community garden. 'This poor neighborhood,' she said. 'I don't know how we will come back.' As sirens rang out Friday in nearby Forest Park, a nearly 1,300-acre public park that houses several of the city's cultural sites, workers quickly hustled visitors off the grounds and the handball court into a basement until the wind died down. By Saturday morning, light fixtures were shattered, structures had splintered into pieces, and some entrances to the park were blocked by fallen trees. Steve Burkhardt, the facilities and security manager for Forest Park Forever, which works with the city to protect the urban park, said, 'It's a whole different experience to see how beautiful the park is before and how it looks now.'
Forbes
17-05-2025
- Climate
- Forbes
Tornado Activity In Kentucky, Missouri Leaves 21 Dead
At least 21 people are dead in Kentucky and Missouri on Saturday after a night of severe weather and tornadoes battered cities large and small across the two states, with officials warning the death toll is likely to rise. Part of Centennial Christian Church in St. Louis, Missouri, collapsed on Friday, May 16, 2025 when ... More severe storms, including a possible tornado, swept through the city. (AP Photo/Michael Phillis) At least 14 people have been killed in Kentucky while seven have been reported dead in Missouri, according to state officials. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said 'we lost at least 14 of our people to last night's storms,' noting the 'number is expected to grow as we receive more information.' This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
BBC News
17-05-2025
- Climate
- BBC News
Five dead after tornado tears through St Louis
At least five people have died and more than 5,000 buildings were damaged after a tornado tore through St Louis in Missouri. The tornado swept along a major road, tearing roofs off houses, uprooting trees and knocking down power lines on Friday evening. About 100,000 properties were left without power and the fire department said house-by-house searches were conducted in the worst-affected US National Weather Service reported at least six other tornadoes in Missouri and neighbouring Illinois, with other severe weather conditions also stretching eastwards to the Atlantic coast. National Weather Service radar suggested the tornado touched down shortly after 14:30 local time in the west of the city close to Forest Park - home to St Louis Zoo and the site of the 1904 Olympic Louis Fire Department said three people had to be rescued after part of the nearby Centennial Christian Church collapsed. One of those people died.A curfew was imposed from 21:00 to 06:00 local time in the two areas where most of the damage took place, to prevent injuries from debris and reduce the potential for Louis Mayor Cara Spencer said: "Our city is grieving tonight. The loss of life and the destruction is truly, truly horrendous."We're going to have a lot of work to do in the coming days. There is no doubt there, but tonight we are focused on saving lives and keeping people safe and allowing our community to grieve."
CBS News
17-05-2025
- Climate
- CBS News
At least 5 people dead in St. Louis after severe storm sweeps through city
At least five people have died Friday after severe storms, including a possible tornado, swept through St. Louis, Mayor Cara Spencer announced. Several other people were reported injured after the Friday afternoon storms, which tore roofs off some buildings, ripped bricks off of siding and downed trees and power lines as residents were urged to take cover. "The loss of life and the destruction is truly, truly horrendous," Spencer said. "It truly is a hard night for many, many people and many, many families in our community." Spencer said more than 5,000 homes were damaged by the storms. The city implemented a 9 p.m. curfew in parts of St. Louis on Friday night, encouraging people to stay home as officials sweep every building in the path of the storm to search for potential victims. "We're going to have a lot of work to do in the coming days. There is no doubt there, but tonight we are focused on saving lives and keeping people safe and allowing our community to grieve," Spencer said. In addition to asking people to stay home, Spencer urged people to stay off their phones unless it's an emergency, as the storms have disrupted cell service in the city, and officials want to make sure people who need to call 911 can get through to get help. At Centennial Christian Church, City of St. Louis Fire Department Battalion Chief William Pollihan told The Associated Press that three people had to be rescued after part of the church crumbled. One of those people died. Part of Centennial Christian Church in St. Louis, Missouri, collapsed on Friday, May 16, 2025 when severe storms, including a possible tornado, swept through the city. Michael Phillis / AP National Weather Service radar indicated that a tornado touched down between 2:30 p.m. and 2:50 p.m. in Clayton, Missouri, in the St. Louis area. It received reports of damage, mostly downed trees, weather service meteorologist Marshall Pfahler said. The apparent tornado touched down in the area of Forest Park, home to the St. Louis Zoo and the site of the 1904 World's Fair and Olympic Games the same year, Pfahler said. The St. Louis Zoo posted a message on X, the messaging platform formerly known as Twitter, that it would remain closed for the rest of the day because of the weather. The post included no information on damages, a zoo spokesperson didn't immediately return a phone message seeking comment. "We can't definitively say whether or not it was a tornado -- it likely was," Pfahler said. Radar confirmed a tornado above Venice, Illinois, about 2:50 p.m. CDT. It could be accompanied by golf ball-size hail, the National Weather Service in St. Louis said. Venice is northeast of St. Louis, just across the Mississippi River. The weather service described the tornado as "extremely dangerous" and moving east at 50 mph. The tornado is part of a severe weather system that spawned tornadoes in Wisconsin, downed trees, left thousands without power in the Great Lakes region and brought a punishing heat wave to Texas. Weather forecasters warned that severe storms with hail and even hurricane-force winds also could hobble parts of Appalachia and the Midwest on Friday. Tornadoes were also a risk there. The National Weather Service said severe weather was likely across parts of the central Appalachians and the Mid-Atlantic states. Residents in Kentucky, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, parts of Tennessee, Missouri, Arkansas and Ohio should brace for intense storms that could include baseball-sized hail. The weather service's Storm Prediction Center said that "strong, potentially long-track tornadoes and very large hail" could be expected. The threat for damaging winds in excess of 75 mph will increase into this evening as storms grow into larger clusters. A tree lays on a house in Dorr, Mich., after a severe storm ripped across Michigan the night before, on Friday, May 16. 2025. Neil Blake / AP Ahead of Friday night's anticipated storm, Appalachian Power, which serves 1 million customers in West Virginia, Virginia and Tennessee, said Friday it requested 1,700 additional workers from neighboring utilities along with sending its own crews from unaffected areas to assist with service restoration. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, in a post on the social media platform X, put residents on notice. "Kentucky, there is a dangerous weather system moving through our state with a significant round this afternoon through tonight. Strong winds, hail, flooding and tornadoes are possible starting at 2 p.m. CT in Western Kentucky and reaching Louisville around 5 p.m. ET," he said. Shelters were opening in the Paducah, Kentucky, area. Faith Borden, a meteorologist in the National Weather Service Nashville office, said Friday that middle Tennessee could expect "all types of severe weather. Winds up to 70 mph. We're talking seriously large hail up to 3 inches, which for us is big hail." Texas, meanwhile, faced searing heat. A heat advisory was issued for San Antonio and Austin, with temperatures at a blistering 95 degrees Fahrenheit to 105 degrees Fahrenheit. Parts of the southern East Coast, from Virginia to Florida, battled with heat in the 90s. The National Weather Service Office for Austin/San Antonio said Friday the humidity coming in over the weekend is expected to make temperatures hotter. "There are concerns of heat exhaustion for people that aren't taking proper precautions when they're outdoors," meteorologist Jason Runyen said. He advised those affected to take breaks and stay hydrated. Overnight Thursday, storms accompanied by booming thunder, lightning displays and powerful winds swept through parts of Wisconsin, Illinois, northern Indiana and Michigan — leaving scores of trees down and thousands of homes without power. Several tornadoes touched down Thursday in central Wisconsin. None of the twisters have received ratings yet, said Timm Uhlmann, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Green Bay. "We're still gathering reports," Uhlmann said. "We're assessing some of the damage and still getting video and pictures. The damage that we have is fairly widespread. There was a lot of large hail. In Eau Claire was one report of softball-sized hail." No injuries have been reported. Surveys also were underway Friday of damage in Michigan to determine if any tornadoes touched down there, said Steven Freitag, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in White Lake Township, northwest of Detroit. The storms were fueled by temperatures in the lower 80s that stretched from Illinois into Michigan and were activated by a cold front that pushed through, Freitag said. The threat of severe weather in Chicago delayed a Beyonce concert by about two hours Thursday at Soldier Field. Associated Press writer Haya Panjwani in Washington and Heather Hollingsworth in Kansas City, Missouri, contributed to this story.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
4 dead, over 600,000 without power as new tornadoes, storms erupt
Clusters of severe thunderstorms erupted across the central and eastern United States on Friday afternoon less than 24 hours after hailstorms, tornadoes and straight-line winds blasted the Midwest. At least four people have died and several more injured in the St. Louis area after a tornado-warned storm moved through the city on Friday afternoon. Multiple buildings were damaged, including Centennial Christian Church, according to The Associated Press. "Very terrifying," Gina Gooch told AccuWeather after she rode out a tornado that struck the small town of Blodgett, Missouri, about 120 miles southeast of St. Louis. "I went into this little pantry because I have no basement and all I could hear was trees crashing down one by one by one." The tornado hit the town just after tracking across Interstate 55 during the Friday evening commute. AccuWeather Storm Chaser and Meteorologist Tony Laubach was just a few hundred yards away as it lofted debris into the sky as it swirled across the highway. The tornado-warned storm passed near the meeting point of Missouri, Illinois and Kentucky before eventually tracking over Paducah, Kentucky, early Friday evening. A rare tornado emergency was issued near Creal Springs, Illinois, in the southern part of the state, as a violent thunderstorm moved through around 6:30 p.m. CDT. "Flying debris may be deadly to those caught without shelter. Mobile homes will be destroyed," the emergency alert stated. Farther east, a cluster of severe thunderstorms rumbled across the mid-Atlantic with a tornado warning being issued for downtown Baltimore shortly before 6 p.m. EDT, although it has yet to be confirmed if a tornado did strike the city. •Have the app? Unlock AccuWeather Alerts™ with Premium+ Over 600,000 electric customers were in the dark on Friday evening as power outages mounted. This included over 200,000 in Michigan who lost power during storms on Thursday night. Weather contributed to some of the more than 3,000 flight delays at airports directly impacted by thunderstorms on Friday, according to FlightAware. This had a ripple effect across the country, causing disruptions at some airports where the weather was clear. Continue to check back with AccuWeather for more information about the ongoing severe weather.
