Storm damages areas of Poplar Bluff

A brief but strong storm caused damage in central Poplar Bluff and eastern Butler County shortly before 8 p.m. Wednesday.

Wind gusts of up to 67 miles per hour drug and flipped over a plane at Poplar Bluff Municipal Airport, according to reports from the Poplar Bluff Severe Weather Response Team, which had four trained storm spotters out during the weather event.

Box trailers were also tipped over at Hefner’s Furniture, a large sign torn down at Mansion Mall and trees knocked down on houses in the 700 block of Lester.

These trailers were turned over at Hefner’s Furniture during a powerful storm Wednesday. Photo provided by Jim Hager

“It was just a pop up storm,” explained PBSWRT Field Operations Director Jim Hager. “It wasn’t a line of storms, which is very common this time of year.”

The National Weather Service reports that .79-inches of rain had fallen from Wednesday afternoon through shortly before 8 p.m. The most recent report of Poplar Bluff weather conditions showed the temperature fell about 15 degrees in the hour before the cell moved through, to 70 degrees.

Spotters first received reports of hail from the Bluff Estates area around 7:45 p.m., as the storm began to move into Butler County from the west, Hager said.

Areas of Mansion Mall were also damaged during the storm. Photo provided

“We’ve been under a watch all day,” he said. “About 2:30-3 p.m., we had a cell move through that didn’t really produce much. We didn’t really see a significant line build, but we did have these pop ups.”

No injuries had been reported as of 8:39 p.m.

The single engine plane at the airport that was damaged had been tethered to a Kubota utility vehicle, according to officials. It was flipped on its end, with the wing hitting a utility pole and keeping it upright. It was left on its end after the storm, a few feet from the terminal building at the airport.

Poplar Bluff Police and Fire Department were on scene shortly after 8 p.m., along with Ozark Border crew members. Power was shut off to the pole before the plane could be removed.

Storm spotters reported several trees down, but said that some may have been weak trees damaged by strong gusts.

Editor Brian Rosener contributed to this report.