Cape Girardeau County mostly misses worst of Friday night storms

Although Cape Girardeau County and the immediate surrounding area missed the worst of Friday night’s/Saturday morning’s storms, March 14 and 15 there were effects felt.

A number of suspected tornadoes roared through Southeast Missouri in the evening hours Friday. Wayne County officials confirmed six fatalities as of Saturday afternoon, and Butler County and the Poplar Bluff area were hit about as as hard as any locale in the region, with extensive damage to various buildings in the county.

Various structures in Perryville in Perry County also sustained damage when a suspected twister came through at about 11:30 p.m.

The storm line did not arrive in Cape Girardeau County until just before midnight Friday night. Although several tornado warnings were issued for the county, the storms were generally on the northern end of the county near Perry County.

However, two recorded wind gusts not associated with tornadic storms exceeded 60 mph in the area. According to National Weather Service data compiled by the Paducah, Kentucky, staff, a 61 mph gust was recorded about 3 miles west/northwest of Scott City at 11:44 p.m., and at 12:28 a.m., a 77 mph gust was recorded at the same site.

The strong winds felled a number of trees in Cape Girardeau.

A social media post from the City of Cape Girardeau indicates Public Works personnel worked overnight to clear trees from various properties in the city.

Perryville tornado

A release from Perryville police chief Derek Hunt says a suspected tornado hit the city at about 11:41 p.m.

The storm damaged Perry County School District #32, continued through City Park and across U.S. 61 before crossing the Mississippi River into Illinois.

One of the high school’s walls collapsed, Hunt said.

“Although there is a wide debris field stretching from Highway B to the bottoms, we are fortunate to have no reported injuries at this time,” Sheriff Jason Klaus reported.

In Perryville, officials temporarily closed 17 streets because of downed power lines.