CLAYTON, Mo. — A tornado likely touched down near Clayton, went across St. Louis County and City and then went across the Mississippi River. They will be conducting the survey here. The storm was wide with an initial estimate of 100 mph winds.
Ben Herzog, with the National Weather Service, says that this has been an active weather year with stronger-than-average tornadoes. It is still too early to tell if this was a tornado, and the National Weather Service is conducting their service today to determine the path and strength of the storm.
The National Weather Service is working with first responders to assess the damage in this area. They are asking people to stay away from the area as they conduct their ground survey.
8 minute warning
The tornado warning in the city was issued at 2:34 p.m. Friday. The probable tornado touched down seven to eight minutes after that. The watch went out well before the warning did. Kimberly Vanden Berg with St. Louis City Emergency Management says the warning was sent with a cell phone notification to city residents. There are over 200,000 contacts in the St. Louis City system.
Cell service
People have noted that there was disruption in cell service during the storm. A representative from St. Louis says that there was damage to the cell phone network infrastructure. They have added equipment to bring back service to the area.