POTOSI, Mo. – Powerful tornado tore through Potosi, Missouri, leaving families with nothing but rubble and heartbreak.
One family barely made it to safety.
Jenna Long, a local school teacher, had just gotten home with her three children after school let out early due to tornado warnings.
Minutes later, her phone lit up again with a second alert—and that’s when they made the call to head into the storm cellar.
“We were maybe there for only a minute and we decided to go into our storm cellar and we literally just shut the door,” Long said. “And then we kind of hear everything get torn away above us.”
Just seconds after shutting the door, the EF-3 tornado tore through their home—ripping off the roof, leveling the kitchen, living room and all three bedrooms.
The Longs say debris from their home, including hardwood floor panels, was found nearly two miles away.
Cleanup began the following day but was delayed by heavy rain.
“It was pretty chaotic; very surreal; we had a lot of help! Tons of people, from family to friends to even co-workers, are even coming out to kind of help us to just salvage what we could possibly get together,” Long said.
The community stepped in—washing muddy clothes, delivering meals, and lending hands wherever they could.
Thankfully, the Longs are staying with nearby relatives whose home was spared. It was also a close call for their neighbor.
“He was within seconds of not making it in there when it directly landed basically on top of his home,” Long shared. “But if you look at his property over there, there is no house at all.”
Their tractor was tossed into a nearby field, trees were snapped in half, and insulation now hangs from the ones still standing.
The National Weather Service confirms it was an EF-3 tornado with winds up to 165 miles per hour—on the ground for nearly 19 miles across Crawford and Washington counties.
Hope and help are on the way for families here in Potosi—but they need more.
Cleaning supply donations will be accepted until Friday, April 11 to aid in recovery efforts.