ST. LOUIS – Severe storms Thursday left damage across the St. Louis area.
The National Weather Service confirmed that a small tornado, an EF-0, touched down in Kirkwood as severe storms hit the area. The tornado hit the area at about 5:00 p.m. and brought wind speeds of about 80 miles per hour. Where the EF-0 tornado touched down, trees were completely ripped from the ground. One car was completely crushed. The owner said he’s just happy he wasn’t in the car when it happened.
There was a flash flood warning for metropolitan St. Louis. I-55 flooded near Loughborough Avenue. The high water flooded the highway and a number of cars were stuck. Officials want motorists to know that if they see water, they should not drive through it. Their motto is, “turn around, don’t drown.”
Over in Freeburg, Illinois, many residents saw downed trees, power lines, and property damage scattered across their homes. Downed trees and branches seem to be common around town as many homeowners found their yards covered in them around 6:30 p.m. Ameren Illinois activated their Southern Region Emergency Operations Center. Statewide, they’ve recorded almost 10,000 power outages. The majority of those are in St. Clair County.
The storm might be gone but it has left a big cleanup on people’s hands. Fortunately, we did not see any significant damage to homes and there were no reports of any injuries.