Tornado in 2011
On April 22, 2011, a violent EF4 tornado, with winds of , struck the St. Louis metropolitan area. The tornado, which was the strongest to hit St. Louis County or City since January 1967, moved through many suburbs and neighborhoods, damaging and destroying many homes and businesses. The worst damage was in the Bridgeton area, where a few homes were completely leveled. In its track across the St. Louis metropolitan area, the tornado damaged thousands of homes, left thousands without power, and caused heavy damage to St. Louis Lambert International Airport, closing it for nearly 24 hours. The tornado crossed into Illinois and tore the roofs off homes in Granite City before dissipating. The tornado was part of a period of high tornado activity that preceded the 2011 Super Outbreak.
Tornado summary.
The tornado touched down to the northwest of Creve Coeur Lake along Creve Coeur Mill Road at 7:59 PM (00:59 UTC). Damage was initially limited to EF0-EF1 level damage to trees along Creve Coeur Mill Road. The tornado began moving east, first reaching EF2 intensity near a golf clubhouse, where a flag pole and light were pushed over. The tornado briefly weakened to EF1 before reaching EF3 intensity in a subdivision in the northern part of Maryland Heights, where most walls of a house were collapsed. EF2 damage was also found in areas around the house, with EF1 damage in the northern part of the neighborhood along the edge of the track. Low-end EF2 damage continued further east. After crossing Highway 270, the tornado weakened to EF1 intensity as it impacted more homes on the other side of the highway. As the tornado moved into Bridgeton, it reached EF4 intensity along the northern side of Old St. Charles Road, with several adjacent homes in this area being flattened. A condo in the area was also heavily damaged by the winds, with a large portion of the roof and decking being torn off. High-end EF3 damage was also reported at several houses at the end of Beaverton Drive, with most being flattened. A power station and a few retail locations were also nearly flattened at EF3 intensity.
The tornado weakened to a high-end EF1 as it crossed Highway 67 and Highway 70, damaging some houses in neighborhoods to the east. The tornado turned slightly north as it hit the eastern section of St. Louis Lambert International Airport at around 8:10 PM. Concourse C had a large section of its roof torn off when the tornado struck. Many windows at the airport were blown out, and signs were damaged as well. Vehicles outside were tossed by the tornado, including a van that was partially pushed over the edge of a parking garage. Lambert Airport released a surveillance video showing debris swirling inside the airport as people ran for cover. It was reported that an aircraft was moved away from its jetway by the storm, with passengers still on board. One plane from Southwest Airlines was damaged when the wind pushed a conveyor belt used for loading baggage into it. American Airlines said that four of its planes were damaged, two of them significantly. One was buffeted by crosswinds while taxiing in from a landing when the tornado hit and the other had possible damage to its landing gear. The tornado was at EF2 intensity when it hit the airport.
The tornado continued at low-end EF2 intensity as it moved into the suburbs of Berkeley, Kinloch and Ferguson, where many homes suffered roof loss, along with Berkeley High School, which did not suffer much damage, however, tree and outbuilding damage was reported around the edges of the property. Homes on the western edge of Kinloch saw EF2 damage, while the Kinloch City Hall was narrowly missed. EF1 tree damage with occasional EF2 damage to structures continued through Kinloch and the eastern part of Berkeley. The tornado would move just to the north of the downtown area of Ferguson. A restaurant and church on Blackburn Avenue lost the majority of their roofing, with several windows being broken at the church. More low-end EF2 damage was reported to houses northeast of downtown Ferguson. The tornado weakened back to EF1 intensity further east, where light damage was reported at the Griffith Elementary School. The tornado passed north of the main areas of Dellwood, where houses and trees would be damaged at EF1 intensity, however, some areas of EF2 damage were reported at several locations east of Dellwood, which included several large power poles that were snapped. The tornado continued into the community of Bellefontaine Neighbors, where light to moderate roof damage was reported at several homes. Isolated low-end EF2 damage was found, but most damage was EF1-level in this area. Further east, trees and some homes suffered low-end EF1 damage. Light tree damaged occurred at North Riverfront Park before the tornado crossed the Mississippi River into Illinois. Low-end EF1 damage would occur in areas west of Nameoki Township, with the tornado narrowly missing an industrial park along Highway 3. The tornado reached EF2 intensity for the last time in areas north of Maryland Place and Pontoon Beach, before dissipating just to the north of Pontoon Road at 8:31 PM.
Aftermath.
More than 54,000 Ameren customers were left without power after the storm: more than 47,000 in Missouri and about 7,000 in Illinois.
By 5:40 a.m. CDT on April 24, 21,667 customers in Missouri and 131 in Illinois were still without power.
The St. Louis Lambert International Airport was closed by the FAA at 8:54 p.m. CDT (01:54 UTC), and reopened at temporarily reduced capacity on April 23. It was expected to be at 70% capacity on April 24.
On April 24, the "St. Louis Post-Dispatch" reported more than 2,700 buildings were severely damaged in St. Louis County, including 900 in Bridgeton, 450 in Berkeley and 1,170 in Maryland Heights.
Another tornado also hit New Melle in St. Charles County, about 30 miles west of the airport.
No deaths resulted from the tornado, and only five people were injured.
References.
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