Thunderstorm Wind — Perry, Missouri

2009-05-08 · near Silver Lake, Perry, Missouri

Event narrative

Widespread damaging winds affected most of the county. Hundreds of trees were blown down, roofs were blown off, and signs became airborne. In Perryville, the exterior wall of a tire company collapsed. The entire building was deemed a total loss. Structural damage occurred in many communities, mostly due to falling trees. Among other structures, a machine shed was destroyed in Millheim. Most residents of the county experienced some type of damage, ranging from downed trees to roofs off. Vehicles were smashed by falling trees. At a church, the roof was damaged, and tombstones were toppled at an adjacent cemetery. The glass of the front door was blown out. At another church in Altenburg, a 22,000-pound steeple constructed in 1867 blew down onto the roof. A large portion of the roof was peeled off an apartment complex in Perryville, forcing its evacuation. The roof of the new senior center in Perryville was destroyed. Emergency workers conducted door-to-door checks using vehicles and helicopters.

Wider weather episode

A mature, very intense derecho moved rapidly east along a stationary front across the Mid Mississippi Valley into the Lower Ohio Valley. With a very moist and unstable atmosphere, along with strongly veering winds aloft, embedded tornadic supercells were associated with the derecho. Widespread damaging winds were the primary impact. The bowing portion of the system caused extensive damage from the Poplar Bluff area west. The comma head at the northern end of the bow caused locally catastrophic damage along and north of a Marble Hill to Jackson line. Winds were estimated slightly over 100 mph there.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (37.7034, -89.9945)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 164141. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.