When a supercell storm hit northern Boone County, it appears it had its sights set on Hallsville.
Hallsville, Centralia and Sturgeon were under tornado warnings around 9:15 p.m. Thursday. The storm had strong, damaging winds, but the storm’s rotation never developed into a tornado, said National Weather Service meteorologist Melissa Mainhart.
“In Hallsville we heard reports of trees down, but we saw no evidence of a tornado,” she said. “Supercells rotate, so that’s what we were observing and evaluating the storm as it moved forward. We were confident enough that a tornado could be produced from this storm to issue this warning, but no tornado was produced.”
The weather service Thursday night issued its first severe thunderstorm warning for the squall line in northern Boone County at about 8:58 p.m., Mainhart said. About 20 minutes later, the first tornado warning was issued.
“This storm passed through Hallsville and continued southeast out of Boone County and into Callaway County, where it moved west and southwest of Kingdom City and moved into Fulton,” she said.
When the Tribune visited all three communities Friday morning, it appeared that Hallsville bore the brunt, with many tree limbs lying in the streets, including along one where Elizabeth Lackey and Kay Dollinger live.
Lackey said she never heard the warning sirens, but received an alert on her phone asking her to go to the basement of her home.
The Boone County Office of Emergency Management addressed reports of a lack of sirens in Hallsville and Centralia Thursday morning.
“Employees and contract agents are working to identify and correct any and all issues with tornado siren systems. The Office of Emergency Management will provide updated information once we determine the potential cause of the issue,” the office said in a news release.
The office also encouraged Boone County residents to sign up and create a profile on Smart911, opting in to receive Boone County weather alerts. He advised residents to also purchase “a NOAA weather radio and stay tuned to the weather by getting the most current forecasts from your local weather station.”
Lackey reported that the power failed at his home five or six times before going out completely at 9:30 p.m. Thursday. Power was restored to his home around 1 a.m. Friday.
“We had an impromptu party around 10 p.m. to make sure people were safe,” Lackey said, adding that a tree branch that fell across her driveway nearly hit her car. A tree next to her home “is half the size it used to be,” she said, adding that a neighbor was experiencing home damage from fallen branches.
At its peak, nearly 2,500 customers were without power Thursday night, a Boone County Electric Cooperative representative said. As of 10 a.m. Friday, there were still around 1,200 customers without power. During the Tribune’s visit to the three communities where tornado warnings were issued, a broken utility pole was observed along the road on Missouri Highway 22 between Centralia and Sturgeon.
When the cleanup began in Hallsville, Dollinger, who lives across the street from Lackey, was dealing with more than just fallen tree limbs in her yard. One of them fell and broke a bathroom window.
“I watched the weather reports and I wasn’t really afraid of tornadoes, but when I heard the window break I thought, ‘OK, I’m scared now,’” she said.
While tree limbs fell against her house and roof, another damaged her wooden backyard fence. An entire section of his fence was also pushed aside, but not by a tree branch, just because of the soft ground from the rain and wind.
Dollinger’s daughter and son-in-law and their children, who live about 3 miles away, showed up Friday morning to see the damage before leaving for work. Dollinger’s son-in-law had plans to come back after work to start cutting up what fell with a chainsaw, she said.
The Casey gas station in Hallsville was busy Friday morning, with many people likely filling gas canisters for generators or chainsaws, Lackey said.
Charles Dunlap covers local government, community stories and other general topics for the Tribune. You can contact him at cdunlap@columbiatribune.com or @CD_CDT on X, formerly Twitter. Subscribe to support vital local journalism.
This article originally appeared in the Columbia Daily Tribune: Hallsville Residents Face Damage After Severe Storm
