Tornado Causes Injuries at St. Louis Airport
- Posted on April 23, 2011 at 3:53am by
Scott Baker
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ST. LOUIS (AP) — An apparent tornado tore through a section of the Lambert-St. Louis International Airport on Friday, lifting the roof off a concourse, injuring several people and forcing the airport’s closure.
Planes were diverted to other locations as emergency crews probed the debris for more wounded. Mayor Francis Slay said Lambert would be shut down “indefinitely.”
The storm lifted the roof off Concourse C and sent plate glass flying everywhere. Four people were taken to the hospital with minor injuries after glass shattered as the storm hit, airport spokesman Jeff Lea said. An unspecified number of others were treated at the scene for cuts blamed on flying glass.
“We have all hands on deck here,” Slay said, noting that responders have included a cadre of workers from the city and county. “This is something we’re putting a lot of attention to.”
Passengers from at least two planes were stranded briefly on the Lambert tarmac because of debris but were later taken away by buses. An Air National Guard facility at the airport was reportedly damaged.
The airport’s main terminal sustained the most damage. Airport director Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge said roughly half of that structure’s windows were blown out, sending glass and rain into that building. Elsewhere on the property, trees were toppled and power lines downed, further limiting access to the airport even hours after the storm left its destruction.
“We‘re fortunate we didn’t have larger (numbers) of injuries,” she said.
AP
Pieces of twisted metal lay outside the terminal, the remains of a fierce line of storms that struck central and eastern Missouri. Unconfirmed tornadoes were reported in several counties in the St. Louis area, and thousands lost power.
Gov. Jay Nixon announced late Friday he had declared a state of emergency, allowing state agencies to assist local jurisdictions with their emergency responses to the storm’s aftermath, including the destruction at Lambert.
“The state of Missouri is ready to assist at every stage of this emergency to keep Missouri families safe and help communities recover,” Nixon said.
In the suburbs of Maryland Heights and New Melle, storms caused damage to several dozen homes. There were no immediate reports of major injuries. Some playground equipment in New Melle was left in a twisted heap by the storm that also tore up roofs and ripped off siding.
Damage, possibly from a tornado, was also reported at several towns near the airport — Bridgeton, St. Ann, Ferguson and Florissant. Interstate 270 in that area was closed. Trees and power lines were down. A tractor-trailer was sitting on its end.
St. Charles County Sheriff’s Lt. Craig McGuire said there were early reports of at least 20 homes damaged in the county.
“It was pretty wicked,” he said.
In downtown St. Louis, Busch Stadium officials hurriedly moved Cardinals fans to a safe area as tornado sirens blared. The game with the Cincinnati Reds was delayed for hours but later resumed.
The utility company Ameren Missouri reported more than 47,000 power outages, with another 7,000 reported in Illinois.
At Lambert, installation and roofing tile was strewn about the inside and outside of one terminal. Large, plate-glass windows were blown out, at times left lying on the exterior walkways. A shuttle was teetering precariously from the top level of a parking garage.
Dianna Merrill, 43, a mail carrier from St. Louis, was at Lambert airport waiting to fly to New York with a friend for vacation. She said her flight had been delayed by weather and she was looking out a window hoping her plane would pull up. But the window suddenly exploded.
“Glass was blowing everywhere. The ceiling was falling. The glass was hitting us in the face. Hail and rain were coming in. The wind was blowing debris all over the place,” she said. “It was like being in a horror movie. Grown men were crying. It was horrible.”
Merrill said she felt lucky to be alive and that airport workers quickly moved people to stairwells and bathrooms to get them out of harm’s way.
St. Louis County Police Chief Tim Fitch, who was at the airport when the storm was closing in, said he saw gawkers watching the weather outside as the tornado sirens blared. Moments later, they hastily scrambled inside the building and sought shelter in a restroom.
“About the time we came into the building, the doors blew off,” he said. “Literally 10 seconds later, it was over. It‘s amazing to me more people weren’t hurt.”
In Maryland Heights, a police dispatcher said a tornado hit the area, damaging homes and power lines. The dispatcher, who refused to give her name, said several officers were out dealing with reports of gas leaks and downed trees that were blocking roadways.
The department said it was unclear if there were any injuries.
The city’s community center was being opened as a shelter Friday night for residents affected by the storm.
“It looks like we probably had a couple touchdowns around Maryland Heights,” said Mary Vaughan, director of parks and recreation for the city. “We got some damage. I don’t even know all of it.”
A few residents were already at the center, and she expected more to come in later in the evening.
“We have electricity, and everything’s fine,” Vaughn said. “We have heat and air. We’ll be here as long as we need to be.”
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anutter
Posted on April 26, 2011 at 1:27amClean up on isle 4 please.
Report Post »dontbotherme
Posted on April 23, 2011 at 3:33pmWe live across the river in the “Metro East” (Southern Illinois). When the sky starts to turn green & the sirens go off you don’t mess around. You seek shelter immediately. This was a mess last night.
Report Post »goldmankc
Posted on April 23, 2011 at 1:38pmwhere’s the coverage of the black panther protests? flop?
Report Post »Societal Misfit
Posted on April 23, 2011 at 12:57pmFirst off let me just say that I have to agree that there is nothing funny about a tornado or the devastation it causes. I was at a bowling alley in AR when this line of storms rolled through. We were preparing for another night of bowling and of course were paying attention to the news at the same time. There were few confirmations of tornadoes on the ground in different areas to the southwest of us and heading in our direction so we were preparing for the possibility of being hit. The sirens went off all around us and we held off bowling for a bit. Many of us were standing just outside the doors of the bowling alley watching the clouds boiling heavily and one could began to descend slowly to the ground. It was quite a ways away from us but it was a majestic site to see. Luckily it never fully reached the ground and fell apart. While we were pummeled by torrential rain and some hail we were spared the full fury of natures wrath, however some were not in many areas and we need to hold those people in our prayers and as for the jokes, come on, really? I have a great sense of humor however there is a place and time for humor and this is not it.
Report Post »TeachX3
Posted on April 23, 2011 at 12:42pmWicked is the perfect word to describe last night… I was caught driving in it, huge hail, buckets of water, violent winds, green sky, etc… the flash flooding was so bad, that it ‘transported’ my vehicle from the inner to the outer lane of the highway and I was only driving 25 miles per hour!! I am truly surprised there was not more damage.
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on April 23, 2011 at 11:55amSt. Louis Lambert Airport air traffic controllers can sleep now.
Report Post »pattybbb1
Posted on April 23, 2011 at 11:06amwell, I hate that the first comment on this article was not serious. These people need our prayers. I‘ve been through a big tornado before and it’s not funny.
Report Post »thatoneguy
Posted on April 23, 2011 at 9:57amWell I’ve lived in tornado alley all my life you grow to expect to get a few big ones every now and then. all you can do is hope for the best and prepare for the worst.
Report Post »Danola
Posted on April 23, 2011 at 9:49amCan’t tell what is true or false about this story. It came from AP.
Report Post »Contrarian51
Posted on April 23, 2011 at 7:11pmThere are only about 60 other links available on line, in the event you don‘t own a television and the story’s been covered on and off since it happened. I’m no fan of AP but baseless accusations make you look like the biased one, not them. Next time do 4 seconds of homework before you pop off, ok?
Report Post »teddrunk
Posted on April 23, 2011 at 9:28amPlease God, don’t let the McDonalds be destroyed.
Report Post »Dale
Posted on April 23, 2011 at 11:45amhey, ted, I was just thinking that we haven‘t seen any ’incidents‘ at Arby’s.
Report Post »Paleo Archer
Posted on April 23, 2011 at 9:14am….”Grown Men were CRYING!”……come on…there’s no crying in Baseball…size Hail!
Report Post »jcldwl
Posted on April 23, 2011 at 9:11amSecond one of the year for us in St Louis. Don‘t forget we started the year off on New Year’s Day with several houses being levelled in Sunset Hills. Looks like more bad weather on the way too.
Report Post »daughterofscotland
Posted on April 23, 2011 at 7:27pmMy house got pummeled on Dec. 31st and the roof is not repaired. I am not griping after what I’ve seen from this storm…
Report Post »ltdsn133
Posted on April 23, 2011 at 9:05amLocal television reports indicated that during the storm hail the size of baseballs had fallen. there was even one report of 4 inch diameter hail!
Report Post »One question comes to mind about the airport, how did the storm get past TSA???
daughterofscotland
Posted on April 23, 2011 at 7:25pmsome of the hail in Herman, MO was the size of grapefruit!!! Never heard of that before and get to see hail here in St. Louis all the time.
Report Post »Protege
Posted on April 23, 2011 at 9:02amTornadoes hit here in right across the river, too. Tore roofs off of Arby’s, O’Reillys, about a dozen homes, and some other structures. trees and power lines down everywhere. My daughter was working at Arby’s when it hit. She’s fine, and is now a firm believer in God: apparently they had a long talk while the storm was hitting. Even Mother Nature can bring people to God. :D
Report Post »Dale
Posted on April 23, 2011 at 11:42amProtege;
“She’s fine, and is now a firm believer in God: apparently they had a long talk while the storm was hitting. Even Mother Nature can bring people to God. :D”
Report Post »————————————————
A constructive result from the devastation. Good post.
daughterofscotland
Posted on April 23, 2011 at 7:24pmThanks for sharing such an encouraging story! :)
Report Post »grandmaof5
Posted on April 23, 2011 at 8:34amThe power of nature is amazing! Thank goodness everyone seems to have only minor injuries, while Easter weekend may have been ruined for some, thank God lives weren’t lost.
Report Post »teddrunk
Posted on April 23, 2011 at 8:02amLuckily, no white people were forced to find shelter in a McDonalds. Now THAT would be dangerous.
Report Post »roachesneverdie
Posted on April 23, 2011 at 9:00amNaw, in that part of the county all the white people have long ago moved away. It would be dangerous for anyone to frequent a MickeyD‘s if they weren’t of a specifically recognized victim class deserving redistributive funds. No need to worry about anything like that.
Report Post »teddrunk
Posted on April 23, 2011 at 9:12amSo basically, after yesterday, St. Louis now looks like Detroit?
Report Post »Outlaw_Josey_Wales
Posted on April 23, 2011 at 9:31amDetroit Don’t look that good.
Report Post »flyoverbob
Posted on April 23, 2011 at 11:10amI go by there almost everyday it actually looks better it blew a lot of the garbage,used condoms,and wine bottles away
Report Post »Tundra4x4
Posted on April 23, 2011 at 11:47amI wonder if the air traffic controller was napping?
Report Post »daughterofscotland
Posted on April 23, 2011 at 7:23pmHow true!
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