Tornado at Wardsville damages homes

Work to repair damage and protect the home of Nichole and Cleo Scheperle continues on Saturday, May 20, 2017 after two trees fell onto their house during storms Friday in Wardsville.
Work to repair damage and protect the home of Nichole and Cleo Scheperle continues on Saturday, May 20, 2017 after two trees fell onto their house during storms Friday in Wardsville.

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AP

FILE - In this Jan. 10, 2012 file photo, Mary Barra, General Motors Senior Vice President, Global Product Development, speaks at the debut of the 2013 Buick Encore at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. A person briefed on the matter on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2013 said General Motors' board has named Barra as the company's next CEO. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)

The National Weather Service confirmed Saturday that the storm that blew through Wardsville Friday evening was an EF-1 tornado - the least powerful storm among tornado ratings.

It was on the ground for two minutes, just before 6:30 p.m., uprooting some trees and damaging a few homes.

No one was reported injured.

The Weather Service said it was looking at other damage caused by Friday's storms to determine whether other tornadoes, or straight-line winds, had been involved.

Officials were investigating numerous reports of damage to buildings, and both Ameren Missouri and Three Rivers Electric were continuing their efforts to restore power where it had been lost.

In a number of cases, they reported, falling tree limbs or trees caused the outages.

Meanwhile, the Weather Service noted, the storms and heavy rains going into the weekend helped create new flooding situations - including a flood warning for the Moreau River through Monday evening.

The Weather Service issued the warning because the area received nearly 2 inches of rain beginning Friday morning, and another tenth of an inch was predicted for Saturday.

Flood stage is 17 feet, and the river was at 14.3 feet Saturday morning.

Forecasters expected it to rise above flood stage Saturday afternoon and crest near 21.4 feet by Sunday morning before dropping below flood stage by Sunday night.

Although the flood warning was issued through Monday evening, forecasters said the Moreau River was expected to be at 8.1 feet by Monday morning.

Missouri River

Saturday afternoon, the Missouri River already was three feet above the 25-foot flood stage at Gasconade, where the Gasconade River meets the Missouri.

Forecasters predicted a 28.8 foot crest by 1 p.m. Thursday.

Downstream at Hermann, the Missouri was at 20.06 feet Saturday afternoon and was expected to reach the 21-foot flood stage Sunday morning - then crest at 23.6 feet by 1 p.m. Thursday.

Upstream at Chamois, the Missouri was at 14.9 feet Saturday morning and expected to reach the 17-foot flood stage Saturday night - then crest at 20 feet early Thursday morning.

Minor flooding also was expected at Boonville this week.

But no flooding was expected at Jefferson City, where the flood stage is 23 feet.

The Missouri was at 15.39 feet at 1 p.m. Saturday and expected to crest at 22.1 feet by 1 a.m. Thursday.

Osage River

The Osage River was expected to crest at 1 a.m. Sunday at 18.5 feet - 4.5 feet below flood stage.

However, minor flooding was predicted at Mari-Osa-Delta, just north of the U.S. 50/63 bridge over the Osage, east of Jefferson City.

Forecasters predicted the Osage would go above the 19-foot flood stage by 6 a.m. Sunday, then reaching 19.9 feet by 1 p.m. Wednesday.

Gasconade River

The Gasconade River created major flooding problems earlier this month.

But this time, the river was at 8.1 feet Saturday afternoon near Rich Fountain, and expected to crest tonight at 8.54 feet - well below the 20-foot flood stage.

Earlier coverage:

Mid-Missouri storms cut power, cause damage

Additional resources:

Current weather watches, warnings, advisories for Missouri

Mid-Missouri radar, forecast

Missouri rivers and lakes stages, forecasts

Missouri statewide road conditions, closings