180 structures damaged in Perry County tornado

PERRYVILLE, Mo. — By a quarter to 4 a.m. Wednesday, the lightning was back over Perryville.

The flashes illuminated the ruined homes and crumpled cars that marked where Tuesday night’s fatal tornado had passed.

Scores of trees lay broken, pointing east along the storm’s 15-mile path through Perry County.

People help cleanup the damage left behind from a tornado along Perry County Road 806 near Kyle Lane on Wednesday, March 1, 2017, in Perry County.Andrew J. Whitaker ~ Southeast Missourian

By the time the sun rose, the work of assessing the damage had begun.

A life was lost.

Twelve people went to hospitals to be treated for injuries. One hundred eighty homes were damaged; 30 were destroyed.

People help cleanup the damage left behind from a tornado along Perry County Road 806 near Kyle Lane on Wednesday, March 1, 2017, in Perryville. The tornado struck Tuesday night, crossing Interstate 55.(Laura Simon ~ Southeast Missourian)

Perryville Mayor Ken Baer said during a news conference Wednesday the storm traveled from a point near Route N all the way into Illinois and was touching the ground for most of that progress.

That, he said, made the event all the more devastating for anyone affected by the event.

“Sixty families have lost just about everything,” he said. “Some have nothing but the clothes on their back.”

Travis Koenig, 24, of Perryville was killed when the vehicle in which he and another person were traveling was swept off Interstate 55, Perryville fire chief Jeremy Triller said.

Both occupants were thrown from the vehicle, he said.

Triller did not identify the vehicle’s other occupant, but said the person received medical treatment and is “going to be OK.”

All 12 people who were treated at a hospital for tornado-related injuries were released Wednesday, he said.

Van Robinson, CEO of Citizens Electric Corp., said as many as 2,200 customers were without power, and about 800 remained without power as of Wednesday afternoon. He said it may be days before power is fully restored.

Rick Shanklin of the National Weather Service said the storm would easily have registered as an F-2 or F-3 tornado and could have been half- to three-quarters of a mile wide.

The most concentrated population hit by the tornado was in the Moore Drive neighborhood in the northern part of Perryville.

Glenn and Judy Naeger were in bed when the tornado hit their Moore Drive home. Debris trapped them, but Judy Naeger was able to call 911. Gene and Justin Koenig later helped free the couple.

The Naegers’ house was unrecognizable after the damage, with only a few walls standing. Judy Naeger tried to give directions to her location in the house, but it was impossible to tell a hallway from a bedroom.

The Naegers had owned their home on Moore Drive since 1972. Glenn Naeger expects insurance to pay for the damage and temporary living arrangements.

“The most upsetting thing is we can’t live here right now,” Judy Naeger said, pointing to one of the standing walls of her house.

For homeowners such as Kyle Noennig, whose home on Rock Valley Lane was less than a mile from some of the worst damage, the ordeal was horrifying.

“All of these trees,” he said, gesturing to the dozens of broken or uprooted trees in his yard. “I didn’t hear one of them snap, the wind was so loud. It’s the scariest thing I’ve ever been a part of.”

He said his family instead could hear only the storm overhead as he held his pregnant wife, Sara, who held their son, Brodie, who held their dog, Bella.

He said he felt fortunate his house was still standing at all, which several of his neighbors could not say for their homes.

Down the hill, Andrea Donnelly and her family scoured the wreckage of what used to be her mother’s house for salvageable keepsakes.

Above them, on the splintered remains of a tree, flew an American flag Donnelly said her husband and his friend put up earlier Wednesday morning.

“My Marines put it up for me,” Andrea Donnelly said.

Matt Bohnert, who helped raise the flag, said he didn’t quite know why he and Donnelly did it.

“Something about it,” he said, “just felt right.”

tgraef@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3627

bkleine@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3644