Tornadoes ripped through the St. Louis metro region Friday night, causing damage in at least five counties.
National Weather Service teams were assessing damage Saturday in St. Charles and St. Louis counties in Missouri and Madison, Bond and Fayette counties in Illinois. Unseasonably warm weather met with a cold front, creating dangerous weather conditions.
The storm hit the area around 7:30 p.m., setting off tornado sirens and wind gusts up to 70 miles per hour. Using radar, weather officials confirmed a tornado approaching St. Louis and St. Charles at roughly 7:45 p.m.
The storm proceeded from St. Charles County northeast through St. Louis County, skirting the city, before passing diagonally through Madison County and into Bond and Fayette counties.
The National Weather Service reported a radar-confirmed tornado east of Edwardsville at roughly 8:40 p.m. The storm caused an Amazon warehouse to collapse, killing at least two people. Missouri and Illinois residents in the path of the storm reported flying debris and damage to trees and structures.
Weather officials rated the tornado an EF-3 on a scale of zero to five, but said the rating could increase. The National Weather Service uses the Enhanced Fujita scale, or EF scale, to measure tornado wind speeds based on damage left behind. It’s an improved version of the original Fujita, or F-scale.
One person was killed in Defiance, Missouri, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. The National Weather Service rated the tornado there as an EF-3. The rating could increase.
Red Cross reported homes were destroyed in Defiance, and the storm damaged homes in Wright and Stone counties in Missouri. The agency had sent workers to assist Saturday in Edwardsville, St. Charles County and other areas affected by the storm.
A severe thunderstorm followed, and by 11 p.m. storms had left the St. Louis area but threatened other parts of central and southern Illinois.
The National Weather Service reported a radar-confirmed tornado at roughly 9:40 p.m. near the central-eastern township of Lakewood, and another at 10 p.m. in the village of Gays, just west of Mattoon.
Ameren Illinois reported there were 652 customers without power as of Saturday morning, and there were 28 without power in the Mascoutah area, according to the utility’s outage map. Ameren spokesman Brian Bretsch said crews would continue working throughout the day to restore power.
Strong winds with gusts up to 40 miles per hour continued in the St. Louis region Saturday.
The storm likely killed more than 50 people in Kentucky and three people in Tennessee, the Associated Press reported.
President Joe Biden said on Twitter he had been briefed on the tornadoes across the Midwest. His administration was working with governors to provide assistance in searching for survivors and assess damage.
———
