NWS rules storm damage here caused by straight-line winds

Ozark Countians are coming up for air this week with a forecast of hot and dry weather, a welcome reprieve from the hit-after-hit severe weather that residents have endured over the last couple weeks. The storms have left hundreds of thousands of dollars of destruction in their wake. 

So, did a tornado touch down in Ozark County? According to the National Weather Service in Springfield, no. Officials have declared that there was not a tornado with any of the recent storms.

Ozark County Emergency Management Director Curtis Ledbetter said that as responders assessed the damage, most of the trees were laying in a east/southeast direction and were within 5 to 10 degrees of the same directional fall, which is indicative of straight-line winds. 

Downed trees, blocked roadways

Although Ozark County endured its first severe storm on July 29, most of the current damage came from a storm that blew through the area last Wednesday, Aug. 9, bringing a torrential downpour followed by severe weather, intense lightning and winds that local storm spotters clocked at more than 80 miles per hour, according to Ledbetter. 

The storm lasted well into the night Wednesday, and when the sun rose the next morning, it was evident that it had left its mark across the county. 

Hundreds of massive trees were uprooted, falling onto homes, cars and utility lines, causing thousands of residents to be without electricity, phone access and internet.

As trees fell, residents across the county began reporting blocked roadways. “We’ve been extremely busy,” said Western District County Commissioner Layne Nance. “It’s unbelievable how many trees were downed.”

Local volunteer firefighters, the Missouri Department of Transportation and Ozark County’s Road and Bridge crews all got to work cutting trees and clearing roadways. 

Ledbetter said that the sheriff’s office dispatch phone was ringing every few minutes with report after report of downed trees blocking roadways across the county. 

“I was amazed at how fast the county guys were able to clear the roadways,” Ledbetter said. “When you consider the sheer number of roads that were blocked, it was surprising just how much they were able to clear in the amount of time they did it in.”

But, Mother Nature didn’t give the county employees much of a break, as another round of storms developed over the weekend. 

“We just got nearly all the roads accessible and then Sunday’s storm hit,” Nance said, adding it wasn’t as bad or widespread as last week’s storm. “There were some trees downed around Thornfield and some in the Dora area too Sunday night,” he said. Nance said the county will be cleaning up downed trees and storm damage for weeks to come.

The late-night Sunday storm prompted a tornado warning until just after midnight.

Lutie School superintendent Kathalee Cole said Sunday’s storm blew down a new bus barn at the school measuring 50-feet by 102-feet that was under construction.

James Henning, a local contractor, told the Times Monday that his crew had the building framed and trusses set and they were planning to start putting on metal Monday morning.

“Now we start over,” Henning said. “But first we have to clean up this mess. I’ve been doing this for 30 years, and this is the first time I’ve ever lost one during framing.”

Henning said he hoped most of the framing could be salvaged. Last week’s storm also blew some metal onto Henning’s truck, damaging it. “I guess you could say we’re getting hit here,” he said.

More than 3,300 residences out of power

At the height of the Aug. 9 storm outage, White River Valley Electric Cooperative, which services the east and center areas of Ozark  County including the areas hit hardest by the storm, had more than 3,300 residences without power. Howell Oregon Electric Cooperative, servicing the east  side of the county, also had a handful, a little over a 100 residences, in the Bakersfield area without power. Many residences in Theodosia and Isabella were experiencing their second power outage within a week, enduring the first outage during the July 29 storm. 

Cassie Cunningham with WRVEC told the Times that the cooperative counted more than 80 broken electric poles in Ozark County following the Aug. 9 storm, an intimidating feat for workers. 

“In ideal conditions, if the crews can get in there and fix the pole without any complications, it usually takes between three and four hours. If there are downed trees or difficulty getting to the locations, you can easily triple that time,” Cunningham said. “...and the conditions these crews were facing was anything but ideal.”

Southern Construction

Linemen worked day and night to restore power to residences across the county. In many areas, WRVEC crews were unable to get to the lines to work on them. They worked with Southern Construction, a company it contracts to clear power line right-of-ways, to clear the trees and debris and allow the linemen access to the lines. 

David Murphy with Southern Construction said that WRVEC called around 9 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 10, and requested the company send crews to Theodosia where the major damage was to help clear the way for the linemen. 

“The area we worked was pretty bad with a lot of big trees down and right-of-ways that were inaccessible to White River and BBC crews so we had to clear a path for them to replace many broken poles and get the power lines back in the air,” Murphy said, referencing BBC, an electrical contractor that WRVEC uses for pole construction and line maintenance. 

Murphy said that the Southern Construction crews had trimmed the Theodosia area power line right-of-ways early last year to prevent outages, but the trees that fell and caused issues were outside the normal right-of-way easement area.

“Anytime a storm like this blows through, the danger factor increases by a huge amount. We had trees laying across power lines and on top of houses. White River did a fantastic job of making sure the lines were de-energized and grounded so our crews could work as safely as possible from the risk of electrocution. The biggest danger came from the tension on the limbs from the pressure of power lines, phone line and other structures,” Murphy said. 

In all, Southern Construction had about 30 employees working on the project Thursday and Friday, split between ground crews, climbing crews, bucket truck and tractor operators. 

“We kept a crew of five on standby for Saturday and Sunday, but they weren’t called out. Southern Construction has a long history with White River Valley Electric and are always ready and willing to jump in whenever and wherever they need us to continue safe and reliable service to their customers,” he said. 

Linemen worked day and night for four days to restore power to all Ozark County residences Sunday afternoon. 

Reports of damage

The storms caused several hundred thousand dollars in damage, with the total costs yet to be determined.

Lost Woods Golf Course sustained an estimated $400,000 in damages to the golf course and storage buildings. The roof of the clubhouse was also damaged in the storm.

“I’ve been here 20 years and have never seen anything like it,” said Lost Woods co-owner Matt Shockey.

Shockey said they lost more than 70 giant 100-year-old oak trees. Additionally a large storage building next to the golf course was destroyed along with debris and trees downed on the course itself.

A portion of the roof on the clubhouse was also damaged and was covered with a tarp on Monday.

The golf course planned to remain closed until Aug. 18 to make repairs.

Another business that sustained heavy damage was Theo’s RV Park and Storage. Several RV trailers were flipped over or blown off their pads by the storm and a large storage building was heavily damaged.

Some debris from that business landed up against a neighboring house, and, along with several trees falling, trapped the occupants inside.

Vickie Shrewsbury and her son Brian Williamson couldn’t get out of their house in Holiday Hills subdivision immediately after the storm.

“We were trapped,” Shrewsbury said. “Fortunately, my son keeps his chainsaw right by the door so he was able to get it and start cutting us out.”

Shrewsbury’s house sustained moderate damage in the storm. “We’ve had enough wind for a while,” Shrewsbury said. “And Brian is getting tired of running that chainsaw.”

Ledbetter said that, amazingly, there were very few houses that were severely damaged. The one structure that was reported as sustaining major damage was a home located on Piranha Drive off County Road 865 in the Haskins Ford area of Isabella. 

The home was split into two pieces (see page 16 for a photo). Ledbetter said thankfully the homeowner and a young child left the residence a short time before the storm hit, and no one was injured. 

No injuries

In fact, there were no serious injuries reported at all - but that doesn’t mean there weren’t a few close calls. 

Among the reported surprising non-injury incidents was a resident who was near a house window when a tree fell, Ledbetter said. The branch of the tree smashed through one of the home’s windows and hit the man in the face; however, remarkably, he only sustained minor scratches. 

In another incident, a woman was driving on EE Highway when a tree fell onto her vehicle while she was inside. The Bakersfield VFD responded, but the woman was able to get out of the vehicle on her own, and did not have any serious injuries. 

In another incident, a utility pole fell onto a vehicle, smashing the window but not injuring those inside.  

Disaster relief assistance

Missouri Governor Mike Parson announced last week that the state has begun the process of obtaining federal disaster assistance in response to the severe storms. 

“The State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) has been working closely with local emergency managers and believes the damage clearly warrants the need for FEMA to participate in joint assessments in preparation for a federal disaster declaration request.” 

Ledbetter led SEMA officials around the county to view damage firsthand as part of the process last Thursday and Friday. Officials are working through the official process of requesting federal major disaster declaration. Ledbetter says he thinks it will be likely that Ozark County will receive money to reimburse the county, municipalities and public entities to fund the manpower, labor and material to clear the roadways of downed trees and washed out roads. 

“At this point, I think the Village of Theodosia has as high of a damage amount as the county does,” Ledbetter said. “Both are several hundred thousand dollars.”

Individual financial assistance is less likely, he said, based on lack of individual homes destroyed in the storms. Instead, homeowners and residents will unfortunately need to file claims with their own insurance companies and are responsible for removing downed trees on their own property, he said. 

Ledbetter emphasized the importance of homeowners and residents calling 911 to be connected to the Ozark County Sheriff’s Office to report damages to homes from the storm. The reports can help the county in its process of obtaining funding for individuals if enough major damage to structures is reported. 

***

Editor’s note: The Times staff acknowledges that this article does not mention everyone who worked tirelessly through the storms and afterward to clean up damage and downed trees or the extensive damage that residents sustained in all areas of the county. Hundreds of neighbors, first responders, county and state employees provided aid in various ways. We applaud all of you. Those who have photos of storm damage from the last few weeks in Ozark County are encouraged to send them in to the Ozark County Times by emailing to Editor Jessi Dreckman at jessi@ozarkcountytimes.com. Include information on when and where the photo was taken and names of anyone pictured.