State Assisting Missouri Communities Affected by Deadly Tornadoes and Severe Storms

The State Emergency Operations Center remains activated and state agencies continue to assist Missouri communities affected by a series of strong tornadoes and severe storms that swept through the state Friday night, December 10. The storms killed at least two people and destroyed or did major damage to hundreds of homes and buildings, based on initial assessments.

At this time, the state has been able to confirm the below information resulting from Friday night’s severe storms and tornadoes.

In St. Charles County, a woman was killed at home and two others were hospitalized. In Pemiscot County, a young child was killed at home and at least nine people were transported to hospitals.

Also, a semi-truck driver on I-55 and a motorist on Missouri Route 84 were killed in Pemiscot County. Those deaths remain under investigation by the Missouri State Highway Patrol (MSHP).

Through the overnight hours, the National Weather Service (NWS) issued a total of 31 tornado warnings for Missouri. NWS assessment teams are in the field surveying storm damage and will determine EF tornado ratings.

Electric utility crews are continuing to work to restore power after outages peaked overnight with at least 30,000 customers without power. Outage figures have already been reduced to below 7,000.

The MSHP continues to assist local authorities in St. Charles County and southeast Missouri. Troopers have assisted with door-to-door searches and highway and road closures. The Missouri Department of Transportation has assisted with clearing debris and reopening highways. State Emergency Management Agency regional coordinators have been working with local partners to assess resource needs and preliminary damage estimates and will continue to do so in the coming days.

Earlier today, Governor Parson, along with Governors from other impacted states, spoke with President Joe Biden to coordinate state and federal resources for communities affected by yesterday’s severe weather and tornadoes.

The Office of the Governor, State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Department of Public Safety (DPS), and other state agencies remain in constant communication with local emergency response personnel in affected areas, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and other federal partners to ensure Missouri communities are receiving the resources and assistance they need.

December 12, 2021, Governor Parson and members of his emergency management team will be in Defiance around 9:30 a.m. and then Pemiscot County communities around 12:20 p.m. to assess storm and tornado damage in the regions and visit with impacted Missourians.