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Residents of Mexico cleared away wreckage Tuesday following a powerful storm that split trees, damaged homes and vehicles, and left some households without electricity for more than four hours. The National Weather Service still has yet to determine if it was a twister that tore through the city, or a severe thunderstorm.
"We've kind of been in a perfect spot for storms the last couple of days, likely due to the unstable air over the southwest area that has been pushed into northern Missouri and parts of Iowa," said Scott Truett with NWS. Little pockets of energy interacting with the unstable air, are what Truett said produced (Tuesday's) thunderstorm.
The damage in Mexico, Truett said, is hard to assess at this time.
"It's difficult to say without having actually looked at the damage," Truett said. NWS is short on manpower at this time, and Truett was uncertain when, or if, field representatives would be able to come and survey the damage. He noted however that straight line storms can produce damage similar to a tornado, and that people should pay attention when the warnings are issued.
Two homes on Emmons Street were damaged by fallen trees, a vehicle at one of the residences was also destroyed, and 2,600 AmerenUE customers – in the Mexico area, including Sturgeon and Center – lost power. City crews were out again today clearing storm damage in portions of South Coal, and assisting MoDOT with drainage issues on Muldrow. The city is holding a special brush pickup Thursday, July 29, and if necessary Friday, July 30. Brush needs to be at the curb by 6 a.m., and cut into 6-foot lengths.
Limbs and downed trees blocked several Mexico streets, power lines were entangled in some of the debris, and city maintenance crews worked most of the day to clear and re-open streets. The storm started around 6:30 a.m., clobbering everything in its path – cars, lawn furniture, almost anything left outside. The hardest hit areas included Monroe Street to Lakeview, and Agriculture to Fairground. Promenade Street also experienced drain issues.
"I logged in about 15 locations where we had limbs or trees in the streets that we worked on cleaning," City Engineer Kensey Russell told The Ledger. During the storm, Audrain County Joint Communications processed more than 200 calls. Calls included traffic accidents, property damage, fire alarms, power outages, downed utility lines, trees down, and flooding, as well as other day-to-day activity.
"The call volume for that time period was four times higher than that same period on a normal day," said 911 Director Christina L. Hardin. Joint Communications also experienced several failures due to lightning strikes and power surges, but had enough redundancy in place that service to the public was never affected."
The Help Center, Mexico Public Schools Central Office and Presser Hall all were without electricity for extensive periods. The Help Center eventually closed its doors, and the Williams Family Center was forced to send students home around 10 a.m., when the power was still out. The center opens at 7 a.m.
Mexico Public Safety Maj. Brice Mesko said the sirens were not sounded because nothing indicated the storm was coming. Mesko said sirens are only sounded if a tornado warning is issued by the NWS, or when a trained weather spotter reports a siting. Neither happened Tuesday. "It's like it slid right under the radar," he said.
Damage also occurred outside Mexico. A barn off of State Road JJ was completely destroyed. No animals were harmed, and no injuries were reported.
Though it's not typical to have this much rain in July, Truett said "it can happen." And this week, he added, "we''re winding up for more weather and flooding."
All of Missouri is under some type of weather warning, ranging from excessive heat, extreme thunderstorms, flash flooding to hazardous weather outlooks – all of which are ingredients for a possible tornado, Truett said.
Residents of Mexico cleared away wreckage Tuesday following a powerful storm that split trees, damaged homes and vehicles, and left some households without electricity for more than four hours. The National Weather Service still has yet to determine if it was a twister that tore through the city, or a severe thunderstorm.
"We've kind of been in a perfect spot for storms the last couple of days, likely due to the unstable air over the southwest area that has been pushed into northern Missouri and parts of Iowa," said Scott Truett with NWS. Little pockets of energy interacting with the unstable air, are what Truett said produced (Tuesday's) thunderstorm.
The damage in Mexico, Truett said, is hard to assess at this time.
"It's difficult to say without having actually looked at the damage," Truett said. NWS is short on manpower at this time, and Truett was uncertain when, or if, field representatives would be able to come and survey the damage. He noted however that straight line storms can produce damage similar to a tornado, and that people should pay attention when the warnings are issued.
Two homes on Emmons Street were damaged by fallen trees, a vehicle at one of the residences was also destroyed, and 2,600 AmerenUE customers – in the Mexico area, including Sturgeon and Center – lost power. City crews were out again today clearing storm damage in portions of South Coal, and assisting MoDOT with drainage issues on Muldrow. The city is holding a special brush pickup Thursday, July 29, and if necessary Friday, July 30. Brush needs to be at the curb by 6 a.m., and cut into 6-foot lengths.
Limbs and downed trees blocked several Mexico streets, power lines were entangled in some of the debris, and city maintenance crews worked most of the day to clear and re-open streets. The storm started around 6:30 a.m., clobbering everything in its path – cars, lawn furniture, almost anything left outside. The hardest hit areas included Monroe Street to Lakeview, and Agriculture to Fairground. Promenade Street also experienced drain issues.
"I logged in about 15 locations where we had limbs or trees in the streets that we worked on cleaning," City Engineer Kensey Russell told The Ledger. During the storm, Audrain County Joint Communications processed more than 200 calls. Calls included traffic accidents, property damage, fire alarms, power outages, downed utility lines, trees down, and flooding, as well as other day-to-day activity.
"The call volume for that time period was four times higher than that same period on a normal day," said 911 Director Christina L. Hardin. Joint Communications also experienced several failures due to lightning strikes and power surges, but had enough redundancy in place that service to the public was never affected."
The Help Center, Mexico Public Schools Central Office and Presser Hall all were without electricity for extensive periods. The Help Center eventually closed its doors, and the Williams Family Center was forced to send students home around 10 a.m., when the power was still out. The center opens at 7 a.m.
Mexico Public Safety Maj. Brice Mesko said the sirens were not sounded because nothing indicated the storm was coming. Mesko said sirens are only sounded if a tornado warning is issued by the NWS, or when a trained weather spotter reports a siting. Neither happened Tuesday. "It's like it slid right under the radar," he said.
Damage also occurred outside Mexico. A barn off of State Road JJ was completely destroyed. No animals were harmed, and no injuries were reported.
Though it's not typical to have this much rain in July, Truett said "it can happen." And this week, he added, "we''re winding up for more weather and flooding."
All of Missouri is under some type of weather warning, ranging from excessive heat, extreme thunderstorms, flash flooding to hazardous weather outlooks – all of which are ingredients for a possible tornado, Truett said.
