Storm victims in Dexter thankful as National Weather Service teams survey damage

DEXTER, Mo. (KBSI) – Storm victims in Dexter say they feel thankful as National Weather Service teams tour the area.

Wednesday evening, people in Dexter said they are happy to have their power back on for the first time after weekend storms.

They spent the day still cleaning debris from their homes and yards as lead forecasters with the National Weather Service surveyed damage to determine the strength of the storm.

Lead forecasters say an EF2 tornado hit Dexter.

“It was scary,” said Patsey Hays. “But I guess I’m getting used to it.”

She says she’s thankful for crews working hard to restore power.

“The good Lord blessed us all in this area because that storm tore up a lot stuff,” she said.

“We are used to seeing a lot of severe weather across the country as a whole,” said Keith Cooley with the National Weather Service. “It has already been a very active year.”

Cooley is a lead forecaster and also a Dexter native.

“It’s heartbreaking,” said Cooley.

Dexter is the latest stop for Cooley and his colleague Derrick Snyder.

Before Dexter, they toured Sikeston.

“A big clue for us is usually what we call a convergence pattern,” said Snyder. “Sometimes we see a tree in a yard and then we see a tree falling in a different direction in another yard,” he explained.

“That data goes into a data base and we use that to verify our warnings,” said Cooley.