A strong line of thunderstorms with heavy rain and confirmed tornadoes swept through Monroe County and neighboring counties Sunday night, damaging houses, farm buildings and school grounds.

There were a total of four tornadoes in the Republic-Times readership area.

Monroe County Emergency Management Agency Director Kevin Scheibe told the Republic-Times early Monday afternoon the National Weather Service had confirmed that two tornadoes touched down in Monroe County, with the most impactful being an EF-1 tornado beginning at 8 p.m. 

This twister lasted seven minutes, beginning in the area of Fischer Road near Maeystown and continuing north and slightly east to Rock Road, KK Road, LRC Road, JJ Road, Route 3 just south of Vandebrook Drive, then at Waterloo High School before causing downed power poles on Route 156 at Goeddeltown Road and then supposedly lifting.

Wind speeds during this 7.3-mile long tornado were estimated at 100 miles per hour.

WHS received significant damage, perhaps the most notable taking place at the school’s track, where a 250-pound soccer goal on the south end of the turf field managed to catch the wind, cracking the bars and tearing up parts of the track as it ultimately landed to the north of the field.

Waterloo Superintendent of Schools Brian Charron said the soccer goal was able to be welded together in time for a Monday girls soccer game thanks to a Waterloo resident, and parts of the track that have been torn are set to be sealed professionally in the near future.

Additional damage as confirmed by Charron centered chiefly on the outskirts of the WHS school grounds.

Charron reported the main school building was not compromised due to storm damage.

Along with the soccer goal and track, several parts of the WHS bleachers were pulled up and fencing around the school bent,  and part of the roof off the FFA greenhouse was torn off by high wind speeds.

The most immediate concern, Charron said, is the greenhouse, as he voiced concern that another storm with heavy wind could take advantage of the missing parts of the roof and do considerably more damage.

He expressed appreciation for Monroe County Emergency Management Agency Director Aaron Scheibe for offering a potential damage alert. 

While Charron didn’t anticipate damage to WHS, Scheibe’s notice prompted him to reach out to school maintenance personnel, assess the high school and get the ball rolling on addressing the damage soon after the storm passed that evening.

“Overall, we’re thankful that it wasn’t worse,” Charron said. “I’m very thankful to Kevin Scheibe for reaching out to me because, knowing that my home was almost in direct line of that and that nothing happened at my house, I had zero ambition to get out on a stormy Sunday night and go look at anything until Kevin Scheibe reached out to me to let me know that there was a line of damage that may have included the high school.”

In terms of cost, Charron estimated damages could range from $75,000 to $200,000 depending on insurance payment, whether the actual greenhouse structure was compromised and potential damage done to concrete cracked by fencing during the storm.

This is the second tornado this year in Monroe County, the other one taking place March 14.

“That’s not a good pattern to be in,” Scheibe said. 

Thankfully, no injuries were reported.

“That’s the most important,” Scheibe said. “People heard the (tornado) sirens and took action. The awareness is key.” 

Another confirmed EF-1 tornado touched down at 8:14 p.m. in rural Columbia right at the St. Clair County line, though no significant damages or injuries were reported. 

According to the National Weather Service, this funnel traveled .4 miles northeast from a point near Gilmore Lake Road and lasted less than one minute.

While the first tornado  is reported to have lifted at Route 156 and Goeddeltown Road east of Waterloo, major damage was reported to a house on Covered Bridge Drive and trees were uprooted in the 5700 block of Martini Drive, both locations seemingly in line with the track of that confirmed tornado. 

Following that same track, a weak EF-0 tornado also touched down at 8:14 p.m. Sunday for three-fourths of a mile on Schwab Road between Millstadt and Floraville just west of Smithton in rural St. Clair County.

St. Louis TV news stations reported a Millstadt farm shed in the line of that storm was destroyed, although a barn within yards of the shed was unaffected.

The EF-0 would also be in a line projected from the end point of Goeddeltown Road through the reported damage on Martini Road.

Further south, an EF-1 tornado touched down at 8:25 p.m. in Randolph County near Baldwin Road, the event lasting two minutes and traveling northeast for 1.3 miles with a maximum width of 75 yards.

Randolph County EMA Coordinator Lyn Thies told the North County News there was damage to one residence, a grain bin and two small utility trailers in addition to several reports of tree damage.

Following the storm, emergency personnel in Monroe, St. Clair and Randolph counties all sprang into action to deal with the aftermath.

 At about 8:15 p.m., the Hecker Fire Department responded to a report of power lines down over the roadway on Route 156 near Cemetery Road. 

Shortly after this call, the Waterloo Fire Department responded to Route 156 at Susewind Lane between Waterloo and Hecker for broken power poles over the roadway. 

Due to the damage in this area, the Monroe County EMA closed Route 156 at Goeddeltown Road east of Waterloo. Per MCEC, Route 156 was shut down between Waterloo and Hecker until about 6:30 a.m. Monday.

The WFD also responded Sunday night to downed wires on Route 3 near Vandebrook Drive. Monroe County Electric Cooperative said a tree took down a transmission pole and the lines south of the Vandebrook intersection.

“We have a lot of outages coming in from the storm that just hit, the MCEC posted on Facebook posted shortly after the storm. “We have reports of downed lines. Assume they are still hot and stay away.”

Yet another call for the WFD was for metal from a small shed blown into power lines resulting in sparking in the 5600 block of LRC Road. 

The Monroe County EMA initially focused efforts on the Waterloo/Hecker area to assist first responders and assess Sunday’s storm damage.

An EMA official also reported broken poles and wires down over the roadway on Fischer Road north of Maeystown, resulting in the Maeystown Fire Department being paged for assistance.

A Valmeyer Fire Department official also notified EMA that per Union Pacific, the railroad crossings in Monroe County were not being activated due to lack of power. 

At 6:10 a.m. Monday, MCEC reported that crews had replaced all broken poles and completed line repairs on Route 3 and Route 156, with power restored for these two outages.

MCEC was still working late Monday on power outages due to broken poles and other disruptions on Ahne Road, Rock Road, Gilmore Lake Road and Schwab Road.

“Our crews are continuing to make progress, and we appreciate everyone’s patience as restoration efforts continue,” MCEC updated on its Facebook page. 

As of 10 a.m. Monday, MCEC reported the broken poles off Fischer Road had been replaced and the line is back on.