Perryville recovering from April windstorm

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- The people of Perryville know what it's like to be beaten up by angry winds.

A little more than a month after the community was hit by straight-line winds that its residents say felt a lot like a tornado, Perryville residents watched the images coming out of Joplin, Mo., pummeled Sunday by a twister that claimed at least 116 lives.

While he knows the devastation in his Southeast Missouri city of about 7,700 people was not comparable to that in Joplin, Perryville city administrator Brent Buerck said the images hit home.

"I said a prayer right away for those folks. It's heart-wrenching, all that misery to think about," he said.

Buerck and the city council had just concluded a closed session meeting about 7:50 p.m. April 19, when the sirens began wailing. He hustled home to his wife and three children and huddled with them in the basement. Like dozens of homes, businesses and public buildings in Perryville that night, the Buercks' property was not spared. The home's roof was badly damaged.

The worst of the destruction occurred at the Hilltop Apartments building, ripping through the low-income rental property's 19 units and displacing about 25 people. Most of the injuries were minor, but a Hilltop resident suffered a punctured lung, Buerck said. The Red Cross provided temporary shelter, and Buerck said the tenants have now found permanent residences after the apartment complex was condemned.

Tenant Lou Vigano was credited for helping fellow apartment dwellers out of the mess.

Several Perryville schools were damaged, including the roofs of the senior high, old senior high, elementary gym and career center. Windows also were broken in several buildings. Athletic fields and storage sheds were damaged as well.

One month later, Buerck said, the city is beginning to bounce back.

The sewer plant is back to normal, and the overfill lagoon is functioning after raw sewage backed up into some of Perryville's homes.

Insurance numbers remain to be crunched, however, and Buerck said the city will be cleaning up for a long time.

Damage and related labor costs to the city is estimated at about $75,000, he said. Much of the infrastructure repairs have been completed, although the traffic lights at St. Joseph and Main streets -- slapped around by debris from the nearby regional planning building -- are on the to-do list.

Emergency personnel estimate the storm cost Perryville property openers about $2.7 million.

"My neighborhood, you drive through and you'll still see blue tarps on the roofs," Buerck said.

Kevin Dunn, superintendent of Perry County School District, said as bad as the damage was in Perryville, he knows it could have been a lot worse.

"We're still putting it together. We have lots of roofs and things we're dealing with, but it's nothing like that loss of life" in Joplin, Dunn said. "We got a small taste by comparison."

mkittle@semissourian.com

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