GOODMAN, Mo. -- A suspected tornado ripped through the southeastern part of Goodman on Tuesday night, right around the dinner hour.
Emergency crews reporting damage over the scanner said trees and power lines were down, Main Street was blocked, and the tornado had demolished a car wash and the Goodman Fire Station, Mayor Greg Richmond said.
Emergency crews quickly took to the streets, directing traffic. Some tall, mature oak trees along B Street and Splitlog Street were uprooted or sliced near the roots.
On a street about three blocks over, several tall pines were downed.
The car wash on Splitlog Street was reduced to a pile of rubble. Responders also reported the Fire Station and Goodman Elementary School were demolished.
The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for the area, based on rotation as indicated on radar. At 6:45 p.m., eyewitnesses reported rotation and debris in the area above the field by City Hall. Hail pummeled the area. The sky to the south was a dark, ominous image. The sky to the west was yellow-green.
Members of the City Council, some city staff and several visitors were on hand for the council meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m.
The threatening weather, however, caused those on hand to hover in the hall and the restrooms. After the wind died down and more reports began to flood the scanner, Mayor Greg Richmond said a council meeting wouldn't take place. He said he needed to help emergency crews with their efforts.
Irwin Johnson and his wife, Sandy, live north of Seneca, Mo., and were planning to attend the meeting. They're interested in purchasing land and moving a double-wide mobile home there, and were expecting to discuss the issue with council members.
Irwin Johnson said they arrived at City Hall before 6:30 p.m. and began to see the weather develop into a strange and potentially dangerous situation, and he felt the impending conditions were getting "pretty serious." About that time, he began to see rotation and debris.
By 7:30 p.m., many people weren't out on the streets. One man was walking down the road with a chainsaw, and several neighbors were checking on other neighbors and elderly family and friends.
Emergency crews, however, were tightly directing traffic, asking folks to drive to a destination and stay there.
By 8 p.m., the McDonald, Mo., County Emergency Management Agency posted a message on Facebook that access to Goodman was being closed to those who weren't residents.
NW News on 04/05/2017