The 23-mile-long twister claimed the lives of five people and caused over $1 billion in damages in the St. Louis region on Friday.
ST. LOUIS — As residents throughout Missouri continue picking up the pieces from Friday’s storms, local meteorologists have gained a better idea of the sheer scale of the historic tornado that struck St. Louis.
Damage survey crews from the National Weather Service have estimated that the EF3 tornado had max wind speeds of 152 mph and was continuously on the ground for over 23 miles. The twister was also almost a mile wide in some areas.
The tornado was a perfect storm for causing the most damage possible, according to 5 On Your Side Chief Meteorologist Scott Connell.
“This is the first tornado death since the February 10, 1959, storm in the City of St. Louis…as well as the strongest tornado since that storm in the city,” Connell said.
Survey crews also took pictures of each of the damage points they investigated when trying to figure out the specifics of the deadly tornado. Chief Meteorologist Brad Panovich from our sibling station, WCNC, in Charlotte, North Carolina, assembled each of the pictures to construct a full-scale interactive map of the tornado’s entire damage track.
See each picture of the damage in the interactive map here:
St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer said the tornado and other severe storm damage caused over $1 billion in damage. Her office has since worked with the St. Louis Community Foundation to create the City of St. Louis Tornado Response Fund, which now has a website where people can donate.Â
“I’m hoping the federal government kicks into gear today,” Spencer said at a press conference Monday afternoon. “We absolutely, desperately need federal assistance, and we are leaning on them to do what they can.”
