NWS: EF1 Tornado hit near Royal Center Friday night
Apr. 3—As Cass County continues to clean up from the wild weekend weather, the National Weather Service has confirmed an EF1 Tornado touched down southwest of Royal Center on Friday night.
In its final report, the NWS said the tornado had maximum winds of 100 miles per hour. An EF1 Tornado is the second of six levels of the Enhanced Fujita Scale. An EF5 is the strongest with winds up to 200 mph.
The Cass County Emergency Management Agency had been monitoring the storm for several days and had personnel in the field near the county line around the area of anticipated impact. Fire departments in the area of anticipated impact (Georgetown, Royal Center, Lucurne, Twelve Mile) were paged out to standby for siren activation and/or response if needed.
The EMA reported the following incidents during the storm:
* A semi called from State Road 16 indicating they had been blown off the roadway. Nearby EMA unit responded from the next county block and was on scene within minutes, getting the back wheels back on the roadway with minimal assistance.
* A tree limb fell on a van traveling US35 towards Royal Center resulting in multiple minor injuries. Royal Center Fire Department, EMA unit and Cass County EMS responded.
* A roof was blown off of a dairy farm building onto propane tanks which were damaged northeast of Twelve Mile. Twelve Mile Fire Department responded.
* A vehicle was trapped between downed trees and power lines near 600 E and 250 N. Twelve Mile FD and EMA responded.
The Cass County 911 dispatch experienced a surge of 911 calls after the storm, including power lines down, trees down, reports of people trapped in houses and damaged propane tanks.
Impacts from high wind were found in nearly every part of the county and emergency services personnel responded to damaged residences, attempted to locate occupants, blocked roads/arranged for clearing of obstructions and took other measures to ensure public safety.
Three units from Pulaski County Sheriff's Department came into the county to assist, and utility and highway/street department crews worked through the weekend clearing roads and restoring power.
"I would like to make a special note on the role of the 911 center," said Rocky Buffum, director of the EMA. "They took a huge number of 911 calls, coordinated Cass County resources as well as visiting resources assisting from neighboring counties, and also made a lot of phone calls assisting boots on the ground responders determining if occupants of homes were accounted for at other locations and if further search was necessary.
"Coordinating the large number of public works agencies, utility providers, emergency responders and taking what seems like a never ending stream of 911 calls (and administrative line calls) in the process is a huge feat. It takes a special team to succeed under these conditions."
Logansport Utilities said Saturday it repaired power for the majority of its customers.
