Thursday, May 23rd

Tornado hits Missouri capital as deadly storms sweep state

By DAVID A. LIEB Associated Press

This image posted on Twitter account of Stechshultsy shows tornado-hit Jefferson City. MO., Thursday, May 23, 2019. The National Weather Service has confirmed a large and destructive tornado has touched down in Missouri's state capital, causing heavy damage and trapping multiple people in the wreckage of their homes.(Stechshultsy via AP)

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - A tornado tore apart buildings in Missouri's capital city as severe weather swept across the state overnight, killing at least three people and injuring nearly two dozen others.

The National Weather Service confirmed that the large and destructive tornado moved over Jefferson City shortly before midnight on Wednesday.

"Across the state, Missouri's first responders once again responded quickly and with strong coordination as much of the state dealt with extremely dangerous conditions that left people injured, trapped in homes, and tragically led to the death of three people," Gov. Mike Parson said.

The three deaths occurred more than 150 miles away in the Golden City area of Barton County, near Missouri's southwest corner, Missouri Public Safety said. The severe weather moved in from Oklahoma, where rescuers struggled to pull people from high water.

This week has seen several days of tornadoes and torrential rains in parts of the Southern Plains and Midwest.

The damage spanned about a 3-mile area in Jefferson City, said Police Lt. David Williams. About 20 people were rescued by emergency personnel, and although there were no reports of missing people, authorities planned door-to-door checks Thursday, he said.

A destroyed sign for a car wash is seen in tornado-hit Jefferson City, MO., Thursday, May 23, 2019. The heavily damaged gas station is at background. The National Weather Service has confirmed a large and destructive tornado has touched down in Missouri's state capital, causing heavy damage and trapping multiple people in the wreckage of their homes. (AP Photo/David A. Lieb)

The weather service reported that a "confirmed large and destructive tornado" was observed over Jefferson City at 11:43 p.m. Wednesday, moving northeast at 40 mph (64 kph). The capital city has a population of about 40,000 and is located about 130 miles (209 kilometers) west of St. Louis.

"It's a chaotic situation right now," Williams said.

Williams spoke from the Cole County Sheriff's office, where debris including insulation, roofing shingles and metal pieces lay on the ground outside the front doors. Authorities discouraged people from beginning clean-up efforts until power is safely restored. Hospitals set up command centers if needed.

Missouri Public Safety tweeted that more tornadoes and flash flooding were possible.

A wall is collapsed in Jefferson City, Missouri on Thursday May 23, 2019. The U.S. National Weather Service says a "violent tornado" has touched down in Jefferson City, Missouri, causing possible fatalities and heavy damage. (AP Photo/David Lieb)

Austin Thomson, 25, was in the laundry room of his complex of two-story apartment buildings in Jefferson City and noticed the wind started picking up. He saw sheets of rain coming down and a flagpole bend and then slam to the ground. The windows broke and he dove behind the washers and dryers.

After it calmed down, he walked outside to check the damage, and retrieved a stuffed animal for his daughter from his damaged apartment.

"There's basically one building that's basically one story now," he said.

The weather service said it had received 22 reports of tornadoes by late Wednesday; some could be duplicate reporting of the same twister.

One tornado skirted just a few miles north of Joplin, Missouri, on the eighth anniversary of a catastrophic tornado that killed 161 people in the city. The tornado caused some damage in the town of Carl Junction, about 4 miles (6.44 kilometers) north of the Joplin airport, where several injuries were reported.

The severe weather was expected to continue Thursday as the storms head east. Forecasters at the Storm Prediction Center say parts of the Ohio Valley and the Mid-Atlantic could see tornadoes, large hail and strong winds. Forecasters say the area most at risk for bad weather Thursday includes Baltimore and Pittsburgh.

Storms and torrential rains have ravaged the Midwest, from Texas through Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri and Illinois. Authorities urged residents of several small towns in Oklahoma and Kansas to leave their homes as rivers and streams rose.

The Keystone dam on the Arkansas river on Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Authorities on Wednesday encouraged people living along the Arkansas River in the Tulsa suburb of Bixby and low-lying areas near creeks both north and south of Okmulgee, about 35 miles (56 kilometers) south of Tulsa. to leave their homes. (Tom Gilbert/Tulsa World via AP)

Two barges broke loose and floated swiftly down the swollen Arkansas River in eastern Oklahoma, spreading alarm downstream as they threatened to hit a dam. A posting on the official Facebook page of Webbers Falls, Oklahoma, said the runaway barges posed a dire threat to the river town's 600 residents: "Evacuate Webbers Falls immediately. The barges are loose and has the potential to hit the lock and dam 16. If the dam breaks, it will be catastrophic!! Leave now!!"

Authorities located the barges Thursday morning, stuck on rocks in the swollen river. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol says the barges were still tied together, and crews were working to secure them.

Still, the Interstate 40 bridge and a state highway bridge remain closed over the Arkansas River at Webbers Falls as a precaution, according to the Oklahoma Department of Transportation. Over Memorial Day weekend in 2002, a barge struck the Interstate 40 bridge pier at Webbers Falls, causing part of the bridge to collapse into the Arkansas River. Fourteen people died after their vehicles plunged into the water.

Deaths from this week's storms include a 74-year-old woman found early Wednesday in Iowa. Officials there say she was killed by a possible tornado that damaged a farmstead in Adair County. Missouri authorities said heavy rain was a contributing factor in the deaths of two people in a traffic accident Tuesday near Springfield.

Missouri's three tornado deaths bring to seven the number of deaths from storms this week. Officials in Oklahoma confirmed Wednesday that flooding was responsible for the death of a woman who drowned while driving around a barricade near Perkins, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) northeast of Oklahoma City.

The sign for the Hidden Oaks apartment complex in Jefferson City Missouri stands bent on May 23, 2019, from an apparent tornado in front of a tree that was ripped apart. A "violent tornado" touched down in Jefferson City, Missouri, causing possible fatalities, according to the National Weather Service (AP Photo/David A. Lieb)

This still image taken from video provided by Chris Higgins shows a tornado, Wednesday, May 22, 2019, in Carl Junction, Mo. The tornado caused some damage in the town of Carl Junction, about 4 miles (6.44 kilometers) north of the Joplin airport. (Chris Higgins via AP)

This still image taken from video provided by Shayla Brooks shows a tornado on Wednesday, May 22, 2019, in Carl Junction, Mo. The tornado caused some damage in the town of Carl Junction, about 4 miles (6.44 kilometers) north of the Joplin airport. (Shayla Brooks via AP)

A car is trapped under the fallen metal roof of the Break Time gas station and convenience store in tornado-hit Jefferson City, MO., Thursday, May 23, 2019. The National Weather Service has confirmed a large and destructive tornado has touched down in Missouri's state capital, causing heavy damage and trapping multiple people in the wreckage of their homes. (AP Photo/David A. Lieb)

Plastic chairs lie in the road and metal from a damaged gas station roof is twisted around a downed power line in Jefferson City Missouri Thursday, May 23, 2019. The National Weather Service has confirmed a large and destructive tornado has touched down in Missouri's state capital, causing heavy damage and trapping multiple people in the wreckage of their homes. (AP Photo/David A. Lieb)

Downed power lines stretch into a street in tornado-hit Jefferson City, MO., Thursday, May 23, 2019. The National Weather Service has confirmed a large and destructive tornado has touched down in Missouri's state capital, causing heavy damage and trapping multiple people in the wreckage of their homes. (AP Photo/David A. Lieb)

This image provided by John Dolson shows the damage of a car dealership in Jefferson City, MO., Thursday, May 23, 2019. A "violent tornado" touched down in Jefferson City, Missouri, causing possible fatalities, according to the National Weather Service.(John Dolson via AP)

Samantha Karnes and her son Anthony Pickett, 3, walk up to their neighbor's mobile home to check on him as floodwater from the Arkansas River approaches at the Riverside Mobile Home Park in Muskogee, Okla., Wednesday, May 22, 2019. (Mike Simons/Tulsa World via AP)

A severe overnight storm that may have been a tornado destroyed this home, in rural Adair, Iowa, seen Wednesday, May 22, 2019. (Kelsey Kremer/The Des Moines Register via AP)

Flood water encroach homes near 118th and Delaware on the Arkansas river on Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Authorities on Wednesday encouraged people living along the Arkansas River in the Tulsa suburb of Bixby and low-lying areas near creeks both north and south of Okmulgee, about 35 miles (56 kilometers) south of Tulsa. to leave their homes. (Tom Gilbert/Tulsa World via AP)

O'Brien Park on North Lewis Ave during flooding on Bird Creek in Tulsa, Okla., on Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Authorities on Wednesday encouraged people living along the Arkansas River in the Tulsa suburb of Bixby and low-lying areas near creeks both north and south of Okmulgee, about 35 miles (56 kilometers) south of Tulsa. to leave their homes. (Tom Gilbert/Tulsa World via AP)

Flood waters encroach the River Spirit Hotel and Casino in Tulsa, Okla., on Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Authorities on Wednesday encouraged people living along the Arkansas River in the Tulsa suburb of Bixby and low-lying areas near creeks both north and south of Okmulgee, about 35 miles (56 kilometers) south of Tulsa. to leave their homes. (Tom Gilbert/Tulsa World via AP)

The Gathering Place near the Arkansas river on Wednesday, May 22, 2019. Authorities on Wednesday encouraged people living along the Arkansas River in the Tulsa suburb of Bixby and low-lying areas near creeks both north and south of Okmulgee, about 35 miles (56 kilometers) south of Tulsa. to leave their homes. (Tom Gilbert/Tulsa World via AP)

The sign for the Hidden Oaks apartment complex in Jefferson City Missouri stands bent Thursday, May 23, 2019, from a tornado in front of a tree that was ripped apart. The National Weather Service has confirmed a large and destructive tornado has touched down in Missouri's state capital, causing heavy damage and trapping multiple people in the wreckage of their homes. (AP Photo/David A. Lieb)