City leaders in Dexter are grateful for assistance after EF2 tornado

DEXTER Mo. (KBSI) – The community of Dexter is still picking up the pieces during its aftermath, a little over a week after an EF2 tornado swept through Southeast Missouri.

City Administrator David Wyman says it was truly a miracle that Dexter had no reported injuries, despite all of the damage. However, he says city leaders were immediately worried about everyone’s wellbeing during the storm’s aftermath, which led city leaders to contact emergency management.

“Almost the entire town lost power, and that meant that people didn’t have refrigeration, they didn’t have freezers, they didn’t have air conditioning.” Said Wyman.

He says his team is working with several volunteer groups, to help pick up the pieces from the tornado’s aftermath.

“They have come in, and of course homeowners are doing some of the work themselves and getting some hired companies to come in.” He said.

According to Wyman, whether you rent or own, the city is willing to pick up debris that is gathered up from your property and pushed to the street. This takes a bit of stress away from those left wondering how to clean up their property.

As for emergency assistance, contractors from outside of the area pitched in to help with damaged powerlines and ensuring neighborhoods got their power resource back generating.

Wyman adds, “They were all over town and they were doing a lot of work, and it was amazing to see them do their thing.”

On Monday, officials from both state and federal emergency management offices took a tour of the town to see if the community will be eligible for a disaster declaration.

“When they get all that compiled, they’ll put all that together and we hope to hear from the governor on whether that recommendation is to have a disaster declaration.” He mentioned.

Wyman says the declaration could potentially help with the town’s park, which was also severely damaged by the storm. he says 42 trees were taken down as a result. he says the park is a very big economic generator since it holds a community swimming pool, as well as baseball games and farmer’s markets. getting the park cleaned and repaired would help the community immensely.

He says, “That disaster declaration really means a lot for municipalities because we have to go through a lot of expense trying to clean up and trying to get everything back in order.”

Wyman says he is grateful for the support coming in different ways. he says it’s indeed a disaster, but he sees a silver lining by witnessing how good people are