Info from the storms the week of May 4, 2003

Dale brought some pictures from the latest tornado and storm destruction in Canton, Missouri. Dales' pictures are available here... Dale also filed this report:

When we (Red Cross unit and ARES communicator) arrived in the Canton area at 1 a.m. on Sunday, May 12, amateurs using the 94 repeater were just returning home. One of them summarized the damages for me: many homes and businesses were damaged, power and telephone lines were down throughout the city and county; many injured, but no known deaths. The city’s only grocery store had been destroyed. Their new hotel was extensively damaged.

The tornado appears to have destroyed or damaged over 70 homes in Canton and surrounding Lewis County. The dispatch radio towers for the city and for the Sheriff’s Department were destroyed in the storm, but the tower and radio system used for 911 dispatch was operable and all services used the 911 frequency. The 146.94 repeater was outside the area of damage, and ARES communications had served communities in NE Missouri and bordering Illinois throughout the storm and its immediate aftermath until well past midnight, after immediate needs had been attended to.

A command post was established at the site of the grocery story and hotel location. The Canton Red Cross set up a shelter operation at the Methodist Church. There was one Salvation Army Canteen at the command post. The Red Cross convoy in which I was traveling brought in 300 “heater meals,” 20 cots, 100 blankets, 40 cases of bottled water, and personnel. At 4:00 a.m all supplies had been unloaded at the command post and trucks had been sent back for more supplies. By 7:30 that morning, arrangements had been made to bring in 500 more meals, more bottled water, and a shelter agreement with the local college had been reached so the Red Cross could provide food and housing for families. By noon, a Baptist Church kitchen unit was on its way to Canton to provide cooked meals at the shelter, and hot meals were being provided to public safety, power, water, and communications workers.

At 7:30, we made a preliminary damage assessment of the town and at 8:00 the survey of homes in the county was begun. A county sheriff’s deputy drove me to the known sites and people with whom we talked told us of other homes that had been hit. Phone service and power lines were down, and cellular service was spotty, although functional. Public service radio traffic was continuous but effective, in spite of limited frequencies.

Here are some pictures of the hail that fell in District I, more specifically 12 miles South of Rolla on Hwy. O. Pictures by Butch Leuthart, NØPEE of Lacoma , MO.

NWS Springfield office has details of the Southwestern Missouri Tornados here...

NOAA also has this page with more info on the series of storms and tornados in Missouri and surrounding states.

NWS Pleasant Hill has details of the Northwestern Missouri Tornados here... The site has been updated and now contains details of actual paths from damage assessments including strengths of the tornados on the Fujita scale. The Fujita scale is explained here on this chart from the National Weather Service.

Christian County had a F2 tornado at 19:45 on 5-4-03, it hit the towns of Billings and Clever in western Christian County. The EOC was established at the Court House in Ozark MO. at 20:45 by EMA and ARES. ICS was established at The Billings Fire Department, and the High School. ICS was established at Clever Fire dept. Shortly after midnight ARES members started Damage assessment. All communications were finished by 15:07. 27 homes farms and barns were completely destroyed. 18 homes received major damage, 8 received minor damage. Christian County ARES EC is WA6JGM. Help in Lawrence County is still going on 5-10-03 with Red Cross and FEMA. Volunteers from Barry County Lawrence County and Greene County. Most of the traffic is in Aurora and Marionville with Damage assessment.

I sent more help to Pierce on 4-8-03 two from Springfield and one from Shell Knob. The two from Springfield helped with communications but the last one to get there from Shell Knob was given a shovel and broom to help clean up. I would think that they are just about done and enough local
help is all that is needed. Telephone water electricity and sewer are working, but the cleanup will take months.

SUNDAY - May 4, 2003
Tornado struck Wyandotte county at +/- 4:30 pm SATERN activated net on 145.290 at 5:00 p.m. - with HF operations on 3.920; 7.265; 14.265 Terminated net at 1:00 a.m. when canteens were returned to EDS. Total time of operations = 8 hours No command center was setup. Primary HF Operator for EDS Hdqtrs = N0ZIZ [Gardner, KS] NControl at Gardner, KS = KB0WEQ EDS Headquarters KC MO = N0HS 8 operators on 7 canteens in the field...includes 1 operator also a driver 10 other operators assisted Operators from Kansas City Metro SATERN and Johnson County Kansas ARES Total manhours = 144 Total operators = 18

MONDAY - May 5, 2003
SATERN activated net on 145.290 at 6:30 am - with HF operations on 3.920; 7.265; 14.265 Terminated net at 9:00 p.m. when canteens were returned to EDS. Total time of operations = 14.5 hours No command center was setup HF Operator for EDS Hdqtrs = KC0HHO; KC0HHN [Gardner, KS] HF Operator for EDS Hdqtrs = KA5YFC [Olathe, KS] HF Operator for EDS Hdqtrs = WG0G [Miami County KS] Primary HF Operator for EDS Hdqtrs [primary] = N0ZIZ [Gardner, KS] HF Mobile Operator Crawford County = WB0CNK [SATERN member reporting from Johnson County, KS] NControl at Gardner, KS = KB0WEQ NControl at Olathe, KS = KC0NYS NControl at Kansas City, MO = KA0JLF EDS Headquarters KCMO = N0HS & KA0JLF 10 operators on 7 canteens in the field ...includes 2 operators also a driver 21 other operators assisted in the Kansas City metro area Johnson County ARES members assisted Kansas City Metro SATERN members for Salvation Army support. Jackson County Missouri ARES had one operator in support of SATERN Total manhours = 460 Total operators = 32

TUESDAY - May 6, 2003
SATERN activated net on 145.290 at 6:30 am - with HF operations on 3.920; 7.265; 14.265 Terminated net at 8:00 p.m. when canteens were returned to EDS. Total time of operations = 13.5 hours No command center was setup Primary HF Operator for EDS Hdqtrs = N0ZIZ [Gardner, KS] NControl at Gardner, KS = K0NK NControl at Kansas City, MO = KA0JLF EDS Headquarters KCMO = WA6VQS and KA0JLF 10 operators on 7 canteens in the field ...includes 3 operators also a driver 18 other operators assisted Johnson County ARES members assisted Kansas City Metro SATERN members for Salvation Army support. Total manhours = 378 Total operators = 28

WEDNESDAY = May 7, 2003
SATERN activated net on 145.290 at 6:30 am - with HF operations on 3.920; 7.265; 14.265 Terminated net at 6:00 p.m. when canteens were returned to EDS. Total time of operations = 11.5 hours No command center was setup Primary HF Operator for EDS Hdqtrs = N0ZIZ [Gardner, KS] NControl at Gardner, KS = KC0HHO NControl at Gardner, KS = KC0HHN EDS Headquarters KCMO = WA6VQS and KA0JLF 7 canteens in the field with 9 operators ...includes 3 operators also a driver 20 other operators assisted Johnson County ARES members assisted Kansas City Metro SATERN members for Salvation Army support. Total manhours = 310
Total operators = 27

In response to a request for assistance from the ARES group on site in Girard and Franklin, KS, ARES members in District F provided communications on VHF and HF on Tuesday, May 6, 2003. The team included Kurt Bleich, KB0HNR, Robert Jett, K0YBN, Brian Nehl, K0EMT, Jim Oney, KE0UY, and Dale Huffington, AE0S, team leader and District F EC.

At 9:00 a.m. The team reported in to the Salvation Army Center in Pittsburg, KS, where the command post was established. Captain. Womack, S.A., briefed the District F team and local amateur Taylor Francis, KA5NOM (from near-by Nevada, MO). Communications on Monday were provided by KA5NOM and a SATERN team that included George McCarville, WB0CNK, Daniel Reed, N0ZIZ and other amateurs from the region.

KA5NOM set up the 40 meter station at Girard with K0YBN. KA5NOM maintained contacts with Kansas City on the half hour and K0YBN manned the VHF link on 146.52. The site received donations and inquiries which were relayed to Salvation Army HQ in Pittsburg. KE0UY and AE0S set up a mobile station at the command post in Franklin, adjacent to the S.A. canteen. There they monitored the 40 meter link and carried traffic regarding supplies for the canteen and accommodations for volunteers. At the Pittsburg Salvation Army location, KB0HNR and K0EMT set up another 40 meter station and a 146 and 440 MHz station. KB0HNR coordinated traffic among all sites and several outside stations relaying weather information about tornado watches and warnings affecting our locations. K0EMT served as a roving station for much of the day. He also set up an alternate HF station with wire antennas on 40 and 80 meters and provided communications with Kansas City Salvation Army HQ when communications at the primary location became marginal.

Equipment provided by the team and set up on site included dual band VHF/UHF mobile units, dual band hand-held units, transceivers, wire and vertical antennas for 80 and 40 meters, push-up poles for VHF and HF antennas, batteries, inverters, coax, spare VHF/UHF antennas and repair equipment including antenna analyzers.

During the afternoon the District F team was advised of reported tornado touchdowns in their home location. Since KB0HNR and K0EMT are Emergency Operations Manager for and ARES Emergency Coordinator, respectively, for Moniteau County, they maintained close contact with the amateurs providing information from NWS via Internet link and broadcast reports.

By 3:30 supplies had been distributed and volunteer housing arranged. Communications needs at the KS sites were minimal. The team broke down stations and checked out with Salvation Army HQ in Pittsburg, returning through areas under tornado warnings. Only heavy rain and hail were experienced.