Here's a map of the general motion through our county. Jennifer was housesitting about 1.5 miles from the path, and had NO damage whatsoever! I called her numerous times that night to double-check!
The tornadoes of May 4 in SW Missouri were very unusual for our area which is more hilly and usually doesn't have sustained tornadoes. The tornado that hit Stockton, about 30 miles west of Bolivar, stayed on the ground for 75 miles and varied from F1 to F3.
Here's
a map of the general motion through our county. Jennifer was housesitting about
1.5 miles from the path, and had NO damage whatsoever! I called her numerous times
that night to double-check!
This
is an arial shot of the Stockton square. In the upper left is the park which no
longer has any trees.
Here's
another view of Stockton looking West down Hwy 32.
This
is what was left of the Stockton Post Office!
"A
90-foot silo was picked up and slammed to the ground at the Denzil and Donna Jo
Roberts farm north of Polk during the tornado Sunday evening, and the 80-ft concrete
silo next to it was blown to bits, leaving only the base. Every outbuilding on
the farm, including the old milk barn just beyond the silos, was destroyed. Debris
was scattered all over the countryside."
The storm initially entered Cedar county near the Vernon-Barton-Cedar County line northwest of Jerico Springs around 615 pm. The tornado passed to the north of Jerico Springs staying in mainly rural areas. The storm caused roof damage to several homes in the area and destroyed at least one mobile home in this area prompting an F2 rating.
The storm continued to down power lines and cause tree damage until it reached the intersection of Highway Z and County Road 825. Here the tornado completely destroyed a frame house and two out buildings sweeping debris across the road. This house did appear to have the walls anchored to the foundation warranting an F3 rating. From there, the tornado entered the town of Stockton around 630 PM. The tornado passed just to the north of the courthouse square through the city park. At this point the tornado was estimated to be between one-half and three-quarters of a mile wide. Three fatalities occurred in downtown Stockton.
Damage within the town of Stockton was extensive with numerous buildings destroyed or damaged within the downtown area. Two cars from a local dealership were also blown approximately one block to the northeast. Survey of the most extensively damaged buildings was indicative of an F3 rating. The tornado proceeded east-northeast of Stockton for about three miles where a two-story frame house had the roof and approximately two-thirds of the upper story destroyed. In addition, a van had been blown onto the road and a pickup truck was flipped over in the ditch warranting an F3 rating.
From this point until the tornado exited the county about two miles northwest of Dunnegan around 7PM, it remained over mainly rural areas causing damage to trees and power lines. When the storm did come in contact with homes, damage to roofs and exterior walls was noted. A mobile home was blown off its foundation and destroyed prompting an F2 rating within this area.
In Polk County, two miles north of Dunnegan, a dairy farm sustained F1 damage, with trees sheared off and barns roofs completely blown away. It appeared at this point that the tornado briefly became elevated since the tops of trees right up against a well constructed house were sheared off yet the roof of the house remained intact with little damage. Four miles southeast of Humansville, a frame house sustained F2 damage losing a roof and at least 2 outside walls. The tornado path remained unbroken through northeast Polk County. The damage path was wide, about 300 to 400 yards from one mile south of Rondo to the Mohawk Corner area. F1 damage was observed about a half mile west of Mohawk Corner where one exterior wall was destroyed on a frame house and several barns were destroyed.
The storm initially entered Dallas county near the Hickory-Polk-Dallas County line southwest of Urbana around 730 PM. This storm appears to be two tornados running parallel to each other about a quarter of a mile apart. The northern storm was about 200-300 yds wide while the southern storm was about 100 yds wide. Two fatalities occurred in the Urbana area.
From the entry point until it reached U.S. Highway 65, damage was confined to the tops of tress being snapped or uprooted. As the northern storm crossed Highway 65, it destroyed three mobile homes throwing debris northeastward across the road warranting an F2 rating. Both tornados remained over rural areas producing tree damage. The southern storm took the roof off an equipment shed. The southern storm is rated F1 between Highway 65 and County Road U while the northern storm remains at F2.
The southern storm appears to have dissipated near County Road U. As the northern storm crossed County Road U, it destroyed a mobile home. In addition, the trees across the road were stripped of leaves and many small branches. The tornado then began taking a more eastward track running parallel to Judges Branch Road with a width of about one-quarter mile. Two frame homes along this road sustained damage to the roof and exterior walls and three mobile homes were completely destroyed.
The tornado next encountered two frame homes as it crossed State Highway 73. The brick home had most of the outside walls destroyed while the frame home across the road had the outside walls destroyed on the south and west sides. Also noted at this point was that a compact car was picked up and flipped across the road. Based on this damage, the storm is rated at F3.
The storm then continued for approximately three miles crossing County Road T south of Lead Mine. Here the tornado caused some roof damage to one home for an F1 rating at this point. The tornado appears to have dissipated about a half mile east of this point just inside the Lead Mine Conservation area at approximately 750 PM.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
National
Weather Service
Springfield Weather Forecast Office
5805 West Highway EE
Springfield,
MO 65802-8400
There
is always still hope and spirit though!