The National Weather Service in Springfield confirmed a small tornado touched down in Christian County on Dec. 5.
No one was injured. The twister was classified as an EF1 tornado, and damaged property northeast of Highlandville around the Selmore area south of Ozark. The storm uprooted several trees and damaged a pool house and a shed off of Crabapple Road. The tornado’s path was about 3.4 miles long.
On Friday, deadly storms ripped through six states, including Missouri. Six people died at an Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville, Illinois. One resident of nursing home in Monette, Arkansas, was killed when the facility took a direct hit.
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell toured some of the most heavily-damaged parts of Kentucky on Dec. 12.
"We've been seeing the pictures of this, but standing there in these communities, you don't get that feeling from a picture. When you stand in one direction and look and see all of the devastation and then just turn to your right and all of the devastation around you, you can't understand how this has impacted these communities until you're there," Criswell said.
The National Weather Service describes a tornado as, “a violently rotating column of air extending from the base of a thunderstorm down to the ground. Tornadoes are capable of completely destroying well-made structures, uprooting trees, and hurling objects through the air like deadly missiles.”
While spring is typically a heightened season for tornado risks in Missouri, tornados can and do occur at any time of year.
Presently, there are 12 FEMA-approved public safe rooms in Christian County. The newest safe room is in Sparta at the Sparta Early Childhood Center at the intersection of Highway 125 and Division Street.
Safe rooms open to the public during tornado watches and warnings. Some of the safe rooms have varying rules and regulations about opening during school hours. None of the safe rooms allow pets, except for registered service animals.
As of Dec. 1, the Christian County Office of Emergency Management switched to a new cell phone-based emergency notification system. Smart911 replaces the Swift911 system.
Contact lists for those who opted-in for certain alert categories through Swift911 have been transferred over, so those users will continue to receive alerts from the new system. However, in order to change your communication preferences or contact information, you will need to create a Smart911 account.
To sign up to receive important alert messages and emergency notices in Christian County, anyone may visit http://www.Smart911.com to register a profile for their household, or download the Smart911 app by Rave Mobile Safety. All emergency mass texts, calls and emails from Christian County public safety agencies will be generated using Smart911 technology. This is offered as a free service, which could help save your life or a loved one's life.
While this time of year is generally reserved for winter emergency preparation, the outbreak of tornados across the Midwest serves as a reminder to be prepared for severe weather in any month or season.
The American Red Cross urges families to identify a safe place in your home where household members and pets will gather during a tornado: a basement, storm cellar or an interior room on the lowest floor with no windows.
In a mobile home, choose a safe place in a nearby sturdy building. If your mobile home park has a designated shelter, make it your safe place. No mobile home, however it is configured, is safe in a tornado.
If winds exceed 70 mph, the Christian County Emergency Management Agency has a policy that storm sirens are to be activated. However, emergency management officials and first responders across Christian County discourage all residents from relying on the sirens to warn them of incoming stores.
While the warning siren systems in Ozark and Nixa are radio controlled, sirens in Clever, Billings and Sparta must be activated manually in order to sound. That’s why it’s better to rely on warnings from the Swift 911 system and the National Weather Service via a NOAA weather radio or radio and television stations from Springfield.
Christian County tornado safe rooms
Billings school
Chadwick High School
Clever High School
Clever EleMiddle School
Highlandville Elementary
Inman Elementary, Nixa
Mathews Elementary, Nixa
Nixa High School
Nixa Junior High
Ozark Community Center (The OC)
Ozarks Technical Community College-Richwood Valley
Sparta Early Childhood Center
More information: http://ema.christiancountymo.gov/saferooms.html
Watch for tornado danger signs:
• Dark, often greenish clouds — a phenomenon caused by hail
• Wall cloud — an isolated lowering of the base of a thunderstorm
• Cloud of debris
• Large hail
• Funnel cloud — a visible rotating extension of the cloud base
• Roaring noise
Preparing
• During any storm, listen to local news or a weather radio.
• The safest place to be is an underground shelter, basement or safe room. If these rooms are not available, pick a safe room in your home where household members and pets may gather during a tornado.
• Create an emergency kit in the event rescuers cannot reach you immediately. Items to consider are: Medications required by family members or employees, drinking water, easy-to-access food items, battery-operated radio, flashlight and first-aid kit.
• Mobile homes are not safe during tornadoes or other severe winds.
• If flying debris occurs while you are driving, pull over and park. Now you have the following options as a last resort: Stay in the car with the seat belt on. Put your head down below the windows, covering with your hands and a blanket if possible. If you can safely get noticeably lower than the level of the roadway, exit your car and lie in that area, covering your head with your hands.
More information at Ready.gov: https://www.ready.gov/tornadoes
Christian County Emergency Management Agency: http://ema.christiancountymo.gov/
