Community Corner

Powerful Storms Hit Area, Damage Near Wentzville

Tornado-producing storms hit the St. Louis region on Friday, but most of St. Charles County was spared major damage.

A possible tornado ripped through New Melle and unincorporated St. Charles County near Friday night, but the larger cities mostly avoided major damage.

The storm started around 6:30 p.m. last night. 

A first system passed through the area before a larger and more damaging system came through at 7:40 p.m. New Melle, MO got hit with what is believed to be a tornado. Damaging hail also was reported throughout the area.

Find out what's happening in Wentzvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

According to St. Charles County Red Cross, about 20 homes north of New Melle in south St. Charles County were damaged by a possible tornado or straightline winds Friday night. The area affected was located at Foristell and Auburn Meadows Drive.

St. Charles County Red Cross sent a disaster action team door-to-door through the neighborhood that night. No injuries or fatalities were reported. 

Find out what's happening in Wentzvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"Hopefully families are doing well," Brad Farber, director of St. Charles County Red Cross said. "I think some of the families who were dislocated last night were staying with family." 

 On Saturday morning, the St. Charles County Division of Emergency Management was planning to head back to the neighborhood to further assess the damage. Crews from the American Red Cross were also planning to do a more thorough assessment. 

"We're still trying to get the details," said Ina Obenland, operations director for the St. Charles County Division of Emergency Management. "The weather service will be assessing damage on whether there was a tornado or winds."

Obenland said as of Saturday morning, the division didn't have other reports of significant damage elsewhere in St. Charles County. 

"We'll be checking with other emergency managers in the area, just to verify," she said.

Members of the National Weather Service also were en route to New Melle Saturday morning to assess the damage. 

Ameren Missouri reported more than 37,000 homes without power in the St. Louis area, very few in St. Charles County. According to Ameren's information as of 9:30 a.m. Saturday, less than 1 percent of the county was without power. 

Around the County

  • O'Fallon — O'Fallon Police are reporting no major damage.
  • St. Peters — St. Peters is reporting small damage due to winds, but no power outages or major damage.
  • St. Charles — Tree blown into a propane tank, small fire from lightning strike at QuikTrip.
  • Lake Saint Louis — Still awaiting information.
  • — No major damage reported.

Continuing Storms

The National Weather Service (NWS) is predicting continuing storms throughout the weekend. St. Charles County faces the a heavy rainfall threat and remains under a flash flood watch until Sunday morning. 

The forecast includes "several periods of heavy rain... combined with the saturated ground will lead to flash flooding. Widespread rainfall totals of 1-3 inches with isolated heavier amounts can be expected today and tonight."

According to NWS, a flash flood watch means that flash flooding is possible but not imminent in the area. Be aware of heavy rainfall and flash flooding.

St. Louis County

The rain and high winds kept traveling and did significant damange to  and to . 

The American Red Cross has set up shop in Maryland Heights to help people displaced by the storm. 

How to Help

Anyone interested in volunteering with the American Red Cross can call the St. Charles County service center at 636-397-1074. 


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Wentzville