Tornadoes ripped through eastern Missouri Wednesday, flattening buildings, knocking out power and devastating part of the Main Street business district in De Soto, prompting the governor to call out the National Guard. More than 30 injuries were reported and one person was reported missing.
A late afternoon twister cut a 300-foot wide swath through the Malden Industrial Park housing project, a mobile home park, a country club and a small airport. It flattened homes and businesses, ripped out a wing of the country club and tossed a small, parked plane atop a hangar.
An elderly man identified as Louis Tippit died of a heart attack when the twister touched down on the northern edge of the Bootheel community.
Deputy Civil Defense Director Dennis Young said 25 people in Malden were injured, but only five required hospital treatment. Damage was estimated in the millions of dollars.
David Cowart, 16, said he ducked into a neighbor's house when he saw the tornado approaching.
'We went under the bed and it blew the roof in on us,' Cowart said. 'It really shook me up but I'm not hurt.'
Gov. Christopher S. Bond ordered the National Guard to provide help in De Soto, 45 miles south of St. Louis. The twister demolished the offices of the Republic and Press newspaper, a savings and loan office and an auto tire store. Three people were treated for minor injuries.
Rescue workers searched through the rubble of the Joachim Savings and Loan office, looking for an employee who may have been trapped inside the building.
Considerable property damage was reported by a tornado on the southern edge of East Prairie, Mo., which injured four people. One was reported in critical condition.
At least five funnel clouds were tracked through eastern Missouri late Wednesday.
'It's been one heck of an afternoon,' said Cpl. Charles Sisk of the Highway Patrol office in Poplar Bluff. 'In my 15 years here, I've never seen this many tornadoes go through at once.' Tornadoes also were reported in parts of illinois, Oklahoma and Texas but there were no immediate reports of injuries or damages. Tornado watches were posted in storm-ravaged states and extended into Tennessee, Arkansas and Kentucky.
Thunderstorms rumbled from the Plains to the Ohio Valley, but withering cold that ravaged fruit crops from Michigan to New York eased a bit.
The tornadoes swooped to the ground during powerful storms, hitting hardest in the southeast Missouri towns of Malden and East Prairie as well as De Soto.
'It's been one hectic day,' said a Highway Patrol dispatcher in Poplar Bluff.
The patrol said a tornado touched down at East Prairie in the early evening, causing considerable damage.
Telephone and power lines were down in many of the affected areas.
Forecasters warned of a new round of heavy rains in west Texas, where 4 inches of rain in 24 hours raised the threat of flash floods.
A few showers stretched over the Texas Gulf Coast.
Other rains spread over the Plains, the Mississippi Valley and the Ohio Valley -- but they brought an end to crop-devastating cold that caused more than $14 million damage in Michigan orchards and groves.
Temperatures remained on the chilly side, but the chill was less than deadly.
The mercury dipped to the 20s over New England and the northern and central Appalchians early Wednesday, but orchards and fruit groves hard hit by recent onslaughts of cold air were spared. The coldest weather was reserved for the mountains.
Sub-freezing temperatures Tuesday damaged a New York state fruit crop that could ill afford further injury.
'We've had a number of cold nights that have killed buds here and there,' said Richard Pease, a fruit specialist in New York's Niagara County.
'As we look at the total picture,' he added, 'we have substantial injury already and, as far as Monday night is concerned, we'll have to wait for a day or two.'
Many fruit crops were severely damaged by several early spring freezes. Sharp losses in peaches, tart cherries and various grape varieties have been reported, as well as some smaller losses in apples.
Dr. Robert Lamb, a Cornell University professor in pomology and viticulture, said it was too early for damage 'to show up fully' but added: 'It looks to me as if the sweet cherries and apricots and Japanese plums are hurt quite badly, practically all of them are damaged.'
'This looks like the shortest peach crop in quite some time,' he said. 'This could be one of the worst years (for all fruit) in about 30 years.'
A spokesman for the National Weather Service at the Rochester-Monroe County Airport said the worst appeared to be over. Wednesday's lows -- still on the chilly side -- were about 5 degrees warmer than Tuesday's, meaning no further damage.
But for many growers, the damage had already been done.
'For some, there'll be an economic hardship,' one expert says. 'There's no question about that.'
