Tornado causes damage in rural Scott County

Damage from storm at the intersection of Highway O and Scott County Road 532 is seen following the EF-2 tornado that came through the area Monday, July 24. (Alyssa Lunsford/Southeast Missourian)

A tornado roared through Scott County shortly after 2 p.m. Monday, July 24, destroying a grain silo and a metal building near Bertrand, Missouri.

A social media post from SEMO Electric Cooperative included a photo of the silo and pieces of the building across Route O between Sikeston, Missouri, and Bertrand. The cooperative’s online outage map showed a handful of power outages in Scott and Cape Girardeau counties.

A team with the National Weather Service office in Paducah, Kentucky, investigated the area Tuesday. The NWS preliminary report found an EF2 tornado touched down in Scott County on Monday afternoon. According to the report, it had 115 mile-per-hour winds. The path was approximately a half-mile long.

At the time of the storm, radar indicated a strong downburst in the area. According to NWS, downburst occurs when water in a large thunderstorm begins to fall and evaporates. As it does, it cools the surrounding air, accelerating the warmer air toward the ground. Such events can create winds of 80 mph over a small area. These intense winds do not expand over a large area and usually last a matter of minutes.

No injuries were reported.