FEMA, SEMA teams assess damage from Wednesday storms in Cape County

Assessments of damage from Wednesday's storms were conducted Friday morning in Cape Girardeau County.

Workers from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and State Emergency Management Agency descended upon areas near Oak Ridge and Pocahontas after gathering outside Oak Ridge High School around 7:30 a.m.

Their work was wrapping up just before tornado warnings were issued in Bollinger County as another line of severe thunderstorms pushed through Southeast Missouri around noon. The storm dropped small hail and heavy downpours in Cape Girardeau and areas to the south, but the northern part of the county received only a little rain. A funnel cloud near Cape Girardeau was reported to the National Weather Service but not officially confirmed. There was some damage on the construction site of Menards on Siemers Drive in Cape Girardeau when some large building materials were blown out of place.

FEMA and SEMA were assessing damage in Stoddard and Scott counties Saturday, and they should have their hands full in the coming weeks.

Friday's storm system spawned numerous deadly tornadoes as it moved east through the afternoon. By Saturday, 38 people were reported killed in Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio and Alabama as searches for survivors continued. One woman was killed by a Georgia tornado Saturday. National Weather Service preliminary reports say many of the tornadoes were likely EF3s and EF4s.

The National Weather Service is calling the Wednesday event a tornado outbreak.

A report on whether the storm that damaged Oak Ridge and surrounding areas contained a tornado is not complete. However, Cape Girardeau County Emergency Management director Richard Knaup said preliminary reports he received from the National Weather Service say a strong EF1 or weak EF2 tornado with winds around 120 mph hit Cape Girardeau County. The report also said there was a possibility the storm contained multiple vortexes and organized into the storm that created the EF4 tornado in Harrisburg, Ill. That tornado killed six people and damaged or destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses.

An EF3 tornado killed one man in Puxico, Mo., and an EF1 tornado hit Scott County but caused no injuries.

FEMA spokesman John Mills said the agencies conduct the assessments to determine whether state and federal assistance is needed. The assessments are broad and do not include a detailed look at every home and business.

"Does the damage overwhelm the abilities of local emergency management, the local community and the state? That is what FEMA is looking at," Mills said.

Knaup said the majority of people with damage to their homes in northern Cape Girardeau County have insurance. If a disaster declaration is not issued, a list of faith-based assistance avenues will be provided by the governor's office, he said, or help may be available through the American Red Cross or Salvation Army.

Southeast Missouri American Red Cross director Sara Gerau said all the agency could do to assist storm victims was done for now. Red Cross workers handed out food and water following the storm, and Gerau said the Red Cross would step in and do what it could for people who are uninsured and contact the agency.

Local officials have said most people unable to stay in their homes in Cape Girardeau County are staying with family and friends. Such is the case of Virgil Mowery Sr., 89, who was injured Wednesday when a possible tornado tore the roof from his home and destroyed his garage. He is still recovering in an area hospital, but he will stay with his son until a decision is made about his home. Walter Mowery said his father does have insurance and that he wants to rebuild.

His neighbor across the road, Eildeana Matthews, had the front porch torn from her two-story house. She, her husband and their two teenage children have remained in the house since the storm. Wind also caused several holes in the walls and the top floor of the house to become unstable. Matthews, like Mowery, is insured, but after an adjuster assessed the damage following the storm and told her the house was reparable, said she still felt uneasy about how things would turn out.

"I kind of feel like we might have ended up better off if the whole top floor blew off," she said. "Looking at it now, I just don't see how it can be fixed."

Matthews said so far the community has reached out with offers of help for her family and that she is appreciative.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

eragan@semissourian.com

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