A week after a devastating storm blew through the region, Jefferson County residents are still cleaning up and making repairs.
At the height of the storm, thousands of Jefferson County residents were without power, including 70 percent of Crystal City homes and about half of the homes in De Soto and Hillsboro.
By Tuesday morning, a couple of hundred homes in Jefferson County remained without power.
A 93-year-old De Soto-area man, Mitchell Rhodes, died in the aftermath of the storm. His home, in the 500 block of Dodson Lane, had been without power since the storm hit July 19.
When Jefferson County Sheriff’s deputies responded to his home at about 9 a.m. July 21, the temperature inside the house was approximately 85 degrees. His 82-year-old wife was taken to the home of a relative who had air conditioning.
Following the storm, temperatures soared past 100 degrees; 18 cooling sites opened in Jefferson County where people took refuge from the heat.
Trees were toppled; power lines downed and several buildings damaged by the high winds that accompanied the storm.
Speidel Custom Muffler flattened by winds
Tim and Deneen Speidel, owners of Speidel Custom Muffler, 1801 Rock Road, in De Soto were at home Wednesday night when the storm hit. As they looked at the lost shingles and downed limbs, a friend drove by and asked, “Have the police called you yet? Your shop is to the ground.”
Speidel had closed the shop early before the storm because the heat was so bad.
“We got in the car and drove over, not really knowing what to expect,” Speidel said.
“I guess it was just wind shear. It grabbed the roof and peeled it off. The walls collapsed without the roof holding it,” Speidel said.
Two vehicles inside the shop received minor damage. One was a D.A.R.E. Jeep recently donated to the local D.A.R.E. committee by Lucas-Smith Dodge of Festus.
Speidel has been in business nine and a half years and at his current location eight years. “When the tornado came through a few years ago, we were one of the only ones who didn’t get any damage,” he said.
This time, the building is a total loss. But, Speidel said his insurance company will cover the repairs. “We have Farmers Insurance and they said they will have a check in the mail today,” he said Monday. “They have been really awesome. My agent was here an hour after it happened. I didn’t even call him.”
Speidel said he plans to rebuild at the same location.
After the storm, Speidel brought his motor home to the business parking lot. “Me and my son and one of the (off-duty) De Soto Police officers stood guard,” he said. The shop had a number of tools that could have easily been stolen. But they didn’t have any problems. In addition, the motor home had power and electricity, unlike his home in rural De Soto, which was without power until Saturday afternoon.
“Even with all the walls collapsed, we still had electric power at the shop,” he said. “We stayed there (in the RV) until Saturday.”
“Luckily nobody got hurt,” he said.
The muffler shop wasn’t the only one damaged along Rock Road. Several other businesses had some damage, including the De Soto Auto Spa, a car wash owned by Jeff Adams of St. Peters. The car wash had opened in December.
Adams said about 80 percent of the roof and fascia were blown off in the storm. “But we were able to open on Friday as soon as we got power,” he said.
The car wash has a digital camera system, and Adams said he has reviewed photos taken during the storm.
“We never got to see the roof blowing off, but it was pretty crazy to see what was going on,” he said.
Historic oak tree toppled
A historic oak tree in the 300 block of Mississippi Avenue in Crystal City was uprooted by the storm.
It crashed between two homes causing some damage but no injuries.
Karry “Dink” Friedmeyer, street department supervisor, said the stump measured 9-by-13 feet. He said it was about the size of a small bedroom. The tree measured 140 centimeters in diameter and was 120 feet long he said.
Much of the giant tree landed on Sue Duncan’s driveway blocking her car. “Both my neighbor and I are very grateful that the tree landed on my driveway and her yard, missing people and homes and causing only minor damage,” Duncan said.
She said the storm disrupted her 911 cell phone call for help which was sent to Madison County, Ill., and then transferred to Jefferson County, Ill., before it was abruptly disconnected.
Duncan said the disaster brought out the best among her neighbors.
One neighbor brought morning coffee to the Mississippi Avenue residents whose vehicles were blocked by the downed tree. Another neighbor, whom Duncan hadn’t met before the storm, offered her the use of a car because Duncan’s was trapped behind the tree.
Duncan said the historic oak trees that line Mississippi Avenue need to be inspected.
A couple of years ago, another Mississippi Avenue tree fell between two homes, again causing only minor damage.
“It’s easy to imagine how devastating either of these incidents could have been if the tree had fallen directly on a home,” she said.
“After this experience, I suggest that it is time to have our lovely, old oak trees professionally assessed to determine which are still healthy and which need to be replaced,” she said. “It is time to replace some of these mighty, but unstable, giants before a true tragedy occurs.”
Unfinished Briarwood house damaged in storm
James and Courtney Ashe of De Soto have been racing the clock to get their Briarwood Estates home finished before the arrival of their first child, due Sept. 13. The Ashes, both 23, got something of a setback in the recent storm, however, when a section of the home was blown away by the high winds of the July 19 storm.
“I had it all framed and I was finishing putting plywood on the roof,” James Ashe said the day after the storm. “I’m a union carpenter. I go to work during the days, then go out to work on the house in the evening.
“I think this might set me back some.” Although the damage looks dramatic, Ashe said he doesn’t think it’s as bad as it looks.
“The wind took the garage walls completely – there’s nothing left there,” he said. “But the house itself seems to be in pretty good shape.”
Other homes in the neighborhood escaped serious damage, although there was a lot of debris in the area following the storm.
“The house right next to me, it twisted the garage door pretty bad,” Ashe said. “And something – maybe even one of my 2-by-4s, I don’t know – went through their side wall. It made a pretty good mess.
“I’ve got my work cut out for me, that’s for sure.”
It’s a disaster
The Jefferson County Office of Emergency Services responded to the storm by coordinating response in the county.
Water was distributed to storm victims at 11 area fire protection districts, including Rock Community, Antonia, Shady Valley, Springdale, High Ridge and Cedar Hill. Big River Ambulance District also was providing water. Those who still need water should bring their own containers between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.
Emergency meals provided by the American Red Cross were distributed by the office.
Earlier this week, Jefferson County received a federal disaster declaration for public assistance, said Stephen Orr, public information officer for the Jefferson County Office of Emergency Services.
That means state and federal dollars are available to help local governments respond to the emergency. “Public assistance is just to get local governments back and running,” Orr said.
Two key areas are road, bridge and other infrastructure repairs and debris removal.
“There may be opportunities down the road for individuals if we run across a major amount of unmet needs,” Orr said. “But we haven’t had that many calls about damage. If folks have any reports of damage, structural damage or heavy debris, they should call us.”
He expects debris removal to be the key concern this week.
“We need people to let us know if they have large amounts of debris that need to be removed,” Orr said. “We may need to set up debris collection sites or special collections.”
Orr said safety is also a priority this week.
“Safety is the number one issue while people clean up. We are worried about heart-related illness, back injuries, chainsaw accidents. People need to stay hydrated and stay cool.”
Orr said several churches have cleanup crews available to help those who can’t cut up large branches or trees. “The Baptist organization has chainsaw gangs to help residents,” he said. “All you have to do is set up an appointment.”
The Jefferson County Emergency Services office is compiling a list of storm damage in the country. Residents and businesses with unreported storm damage should call the Office of Emergency Services at 797-5381.
Festus cleanup scheduled
Festus city crews will be picking up limbs and other storm debris through Aug. 4. City Administrator Steve Stoll said residents should take branches, limbs and other debris near the street, and city crews will come around to pick up the debris.
Residents can call City Hall to place a work order. “But for most of the houses, we will see the debris as we drive around,” Stoll said.
City crews can’t help cut down trees or go down into yards to retrieve downed limbs or trees.
“If people have containers or paper bags with storm damage, we will dump those into the trucks too,” he said.
Too hot? Head to the pool
With the power and air conditioning out, temperatures quickly got too hot for residents at Twin City Residential Care in Crystal City to safely stay in their rooms. Owner Ron Harris decided it was time for a pool party. He invited everyone to his rural Festus home for swimming and relaxing in the air conditioning. The facility cares for people with physical and developmental disabilities. They range in age from 20 to 80, but most are in their 30s to 40s, Harris said.
Then the group o f46 residents and an assortment of staff members went to Faith Baptist Church, where they ate dinner and planned to spend the night. Luckily, the power was restored about 7 p.m. Thursday night, so residents were able to head home to cool rooms.
Kathy Gray, administrator of the facility, said the church was very gracious. “They gave us access to their kitchen and were prepared to let us stay the night,” she said. “But we were glad we could come home.”
Harris said in 15 years, this was the worst power outage. “We’ve lost our power for a long time before, but it wasn’t this hot,” he said.
Some information for this story provided by Laura Marlow and Clementine Carbery.