Tornadoes, thunderstorms sweep Law. Co.

High wind gusts uproot trees, knock over some 300 utility poles leading to widespread power outage
A massive thunderstorm system swept through Lawrence County, along with other parts of southwest Missouri, the morning of Tuesday, April 29, creating high winds and tornadoes that downed around 300 utility poles, uprooted trees, and left many without power. No injuries or deaths were reported.
According to the National Weather Service, two of the seven tornadoes in the weather event struck Lawrence County, one in Aurora and the other three miles south of Freistatt. Both were EF-1 tornadoes.

Tornadoes hit Aurora, just south of Freistatt
In Aurora, the tornado began at 9 a.m. and lasted for eight minutes, traveling a distance of just under five miles that the NWS said began “near Highway 60 between Verona and Aurora and ended in eastern Aurora just east of Highway 60.” The funnel had a maximum width of 100 yards and had winds that reached speeds of up to 90 miles per hour.
The NWS reported that the tornado “damaged the roof of a church, caused minor damage to several other structures, and uprooted many large trees.”
The tornado that struck south of Freistatt, the NWS reported, began at 8:55 a.m. near County Roads 1090 and 2210 and lasted for five minutes before lifting around County Roads 1125 and 1131. It had a path length of just over four miles, and like the tornado in Aurora, had a maximum width of 100 yards and had winds that reached a maximum speed of 90 miles per hour.
The NWS reported that the tornado near Freistatt created significant damage in the area it touched down.
“The tornado uprooted many trees and damaged many large limbs,” the NWS said. “It also damaged the roofs of outbuildings, including a turkey barn and a residence. At its peak intensity, the tornado destroyed a small outbuilding, uprooted many trees, downed powerlines, and threw tin well downwind.”
Besides the tornadoes, powerful wind gusts also struck other parts of Lawrence County. NWS reported winds reaching a maximum speed of 58 miles per hour hit Mt. Vernon, and Monett experienced winds with a maximum speed of 46 miles per hour.
“Numerous trees, powerlines, power poles, and structures were damaged,” the NWS said.
The resulting power outages resulted in early dismissal of some area schools, including Mt. Vernon.

Clean up, power restoration a major challenge
In Lawrence County, many were left without power due to the storm damage. Liberty Utilities reported that 23,000 of their customers across the four-state area experienced power outages due to the storms, while Ozark Electric Cooperative (OEC) said up to 10,000 of their customers were without power. Both utilities reported that all customers had power restored by Friday, May 2.
Kelli Price, director of Communications and Marketing at Liberty, said that the storm system was the most damaging they’d experienced “since the 2011 tornado”.
“Liberty experienced extensive damage to our system, including more than 200 broken poles and transmission structures,” she said. “This damage, caused by tornadoes and high winds, was the most common reason for power outages. More than 300 Liberty crew members and contractors supported service restoration efforts, much of it in challenging weather conditions, including rain, additional high winds, and muddy, wet conditions.”
Patrick Oehlschlager, general manager and CEO at OEC, also said that the damage caused by the storms was greater than usual. OEC lost 98 poles in the storms.
“This has been the largest storm event for OEC since the 2007 ice storm,” he said. “This particular storm damaged a higher-than-normal amount of three-phase poles, which are more difficult to replace. Additionally, the weather and wet conditions made it very difficult to get to where our lines are. Being a rural power provider places our lines in fields, across streams, through hollers, and up bluffs. Removing blown-over trees and other debris has to be accomplished before we can get to the repairs.”
Oehlschlager also thanked OEC’s members for their understanding during the repair process.
“Thank you for all your patience and encouragement throughout this storm,” he said.
Grant Selvey, Lawrence County Emergency Management director, urged local agencies to keep a record of all expenses incurred during the storms.
“Please keep track of all those man-hours (paid and volunteer), expenses incurred, and estimated costs for replacing damaged infrastructure,” he said. “This could potentially turn into a declared disaster that requires those things for reimbursement. If there is anything we can do to assist your agency, please let us know.”