wx Saint Louis, Missouri

FLASH FLOOD WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO 849 PM CDT WED JUN 10 2009

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ST LOUIS HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR... FRANKLIN COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL MISSOURI JEFFERSON COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL MISSOURI NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL MISSOURI ST. LOUIS COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL MISSOURI ST. LOUIS CITY IN EAST CENTRAL MISSOURI

* UNTIL 300 AM CDT THURSDAY

* AT 846 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAINFALL ACROSS THE WARNED AREA. RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 1 TO LOCALLY 4 INCHES CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THIS THUNDERSTORM COMPLEX...WHICH WILL LIKELY LEAD TO FLASH FLOODING ACROSS THE WARNED AREA.

* RUNOFF FROM THIS EXCESSIVE RAINFALL WILL CAUSE FLASH FLOODING TO OCCUR. SOME LOCATIONS THAT WILL EXPERIENCE FLOODING INCLUDE... AFFTON...ANTONIA...ARNOLD...BALLWIN...BARNHART...BEL-RIDGE... BELLEFONTAINE NEIGHBORS...BERKELEY...BLACK JACK...BRENTWOOD... BRIDGETON...BYRNES MILL...CEDAR HILL...CHESTERFIELD...CLARKSON VALLEY...CLAYTON...COOL VALLEY...CRESTWOOD...CREVE COEUR...CRYSTAL CITY...DE SOTO...DELLWOOD...DES PERES...ELLISVILLE...EUREKA... FENTON...FERGUSON...FESTUS...FLORISSANT AND FRONTENAC.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE DANGERS OF FLOODING. IF FLASH FLOODING IS OBSERVED ACT QUICKLY. DO NOT ENTER THE WATER. TURN AROUND AND MOVE UP TO HIGHER GROUND TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS. DO NOT STAY IN AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.

&&

LAT...LON 3808 9062 3805 9064 3805 9092 3820 9100 3821 9138 3870 9137 3854 9091 3868 9067 3869 9055 3881 9047 3883 9037 3889 9031 3881 9012 3871 9020 3861 9018 3834 9037 3822 9036 3813 9026 3809 9030 3800 9061

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO 827 PM CDT WED JUN 10 2009

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ST LOUIS HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... NORTHWESTERN ST. CLAIR COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST ILLINOIS... NORTH CENTRAL JEFFERSON COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL MISSOURI... CENTRAL ST. LOUIS COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL MISSOURI... ST. LOUIS CITY IN EAST CENTRAL MISSOURI...

* UNTIL 915 PM CDT

* AT 827 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING QUARTER SIZE HAIL...AND DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH. THIS STORM WAS LOCATED NEAR MURPHY...AND MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE... BALLWIN...MURPHY...MANCHESTER...VALLEY PARK...FENTON...TOWN AND COUNTRY...SUNSET HILLS...DES PERES...KIRKWOOD...CRESTWOOD... MARYLAND HEIGHTS...CREVE COEUR...OAKLAND...FRONTENAC...WARSON WOODS...GLENDALE...MEHLVILLE...LAKESHIRE...WEBSTER GROVES AND LADUE.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH... DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN. FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS. HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO DO NOT DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA. TORNADOES CAN DEVELOP QUICKLY FROM SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. ALTHOUGH NOT IMMEDIATELY LIKELY...IF A TORNADO IS SPOTTED...ACT QUICKLY AND MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY INSIDE A STURDY STRUCTURE...SUCH AS A BASEMENT OR SMALL INTERIOR ROOM.

&&

LAT...LON 3839 9058 3854 9069 3883 9041 3883 9039 3858 9011 TIME...MOT...LOC 0127Z 245DEG 16KT 3852 9052

**Local reports say this could be a heavy rain maker, and strong possibility to tornado activity.

ST> LOUIS, MISSOURI, NWS

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED TORNADO WATCH 367 IN EFFECT UNTIL 1 AM CDT THURSDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING AREAS

IN MISSOURI THIS WATCH INCLUDES 18 COUNTIES

IN CENTRAL MISSOURI

AUDRAIN BOONE CALLAWAY COLE MONITEAU OSAGE

IN EAST CENTRAL MISSOURI

CRAWFORD FRANKLIN GASCONADE JEFFERSON LINCOLN MONTGOMERY ST. CHARLES ST. LOUIS WARREN WASHINGTON

IN SOUTHEAST MISSOURI

IRON REYNOLDS

IN MISSOURI THIS WATCH INCLUDES 1 INDEPENDENT CITY

IN EAST CENTRAL MISSOURI

ST. LOUIS CITY

THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF...COLUMBIA...JEFFERSON CITY... MEXICO...ST CHARLES...ST LOUIS AND UNION.

ST. CLAIR COUNTY,Iliinois


Residents across St. Clair County spent much of Tuesday picking up the pieces after a small tornado cut a 13-mile path across the area. In O'Fallon, the storm struck Fulton Jr. High School, damaging a significant portion of the roof, before moving into the old part of town. Near Main Street, residents were working to cut trees off of several houses in the area. Chainsaws and wood chippers created an almost constant din in the neighborhood, just north of Interstate 64. Jack Thompson had just arrived home from work Monday afternoon, when the storm moved in.

"It happened so quick I couldn't tell you what it was," he says. "Like I said, I opened the door and when I opened the front door I saw the rotation and debris from everybody's homes and I just shut the door and we went in the hall."

The shed in his back yard landed in a neighbor's swimming pool three doors down. Thompson says his only instinct through the whole thing was, "getting out of the way."

The tornado wasn't finished. It hipped I-64 then moved into a subdivision off Lebanon Road near Greenmount. Michael Anderson was just arriving at his home when his neighborhood was struck, "I tried to open my front door. I couldn't open my front door, the pressure was so high. It was like someone was holding the door closed."

It was then, he says, that he and his family went for cover, "I watched the tornado come across. It almost like jumped his house and went between my house and the neighbors here. We were down in the basement and we seen it rip off the side of her house."

Signs from more than a dozen roofing companies were posted in front of the subdivision, where more than a dozen houses had damage. Some roofers are warning residents to ask workers to show state issued licenses before hiring them. They say scam artists have been showing up in areas down state, taking advantage of storm victims.

The tornado that ripped across Madison County Monday skirted towns, but wreaked havoc on some farms. Machine shops, grain bins, and storage sheds were knocked over. Swirling winds took down towering trees and ripped off roofs.

The twister destroyed the home of Kenneth Eidman, 80, and his wife Shirley. It also damaged their historic farm house next door where their son David and his family live.

"If we had been in the kitchen we'd be dead," said Shirley Eidman. "It took the kitchen, it took the sink and all that cabinet..just blew it away."

Tuesday some fifty friends and family attacked the piles of debris with bob cats, chain saws and even a crane. Salvaged furniture was quickly hauled to neighbors' sheds that survived the roaring winds.

By mid afternoon the collapsed machine sheds were pulled apart, metal debris in one pile, shattered lumber in another.

Neighbor Darryl Stein who brought the crane said the tornado came at a bad time, "What we're really trying to do is get him to where he's up and operating. Of course the hogs are most important to him, but he needs to plant his corn and beans."

David Eidman, who is following generations of farmers in his family, welcomed the help. His immediate family and several employees were on the farm when the tornado struck. No one was injured. Eidman foresees days of cleanup ahead, "Most of my machinery is in pretty good shape," he said while admitting there were a few repairs to make. "It's not gonna be easy because it's like any industry it's a damage to the infrastructure so it's serious," Eidman said.

Neighbor Stein described this tornado as the second worst he had seen in his lifetime. "Farmers are used to having tough things happen to them," he said noting Eidman is a religious man too. "So that's in his pocket also," he added. "I think everything will be fine."