Tornado season is here.

On Wednesday May 13 we were under tornado watch most of Wednesday afternoon. It was overcast and warm there is often an eerie feeling in the air during a tornado watch. I went for my walk and watched the news. The alerts were going crazy around 6pm. I heard that a large tornado was spotted heading towards Kirksville, Missouri. Kirksville is in our stake and is where our stake president lives so we know quite a few people who live there. No one we know was hurt but there was a lot of damage.
The storm was moving up towards us and we were hit for just a brief time with a hard rain and a very strong wind. I had to go to work at the temple at 8pm the wind hit shortly after that and was over really quickly. By the time I was finished at 12am it looked like nothing had happened at all.
Three people were killed in this storm and there was a lot of damage.







Here is the official press release from the city:

(Kirksville, MO) — The E911 Dispatch Center has received reports of four tornados that touched down in Adair County this evening. Two of these cells were located near Novinger and were reported at approximately 5:48 pm. An additional tornado was reported in Kirksville at approximately 6:00 pm. The Fourth tornado was reported in the Troy Mills area.

The tornado in Kirksville touched down in the general area of Industrial Road and continued through Jim Robertson’s and to the general area of Bobwhite Drive. There have been numerous reports of substantial damage in the immediate area of this storm path. At this time, The City of Kirksville has not received any reports of fatalities and an few reports of minor injuries associated with this storm.

The Local Emergency Planning Commission activated the Emergency Operation Center at approximately 6:15 pm. All emergency personnel that have been called into service should report to the Department of Public Safety at Truman State University, Franklin Street.

Highway 63/Baltimore has been closed from the intersection of Baltimore and Highway 6 West to Highway T. The public is advised to stay clear of the area. There are power lines down and emergency personnel are on-site.