The Missouri State Highway Patrol has released the name of a person killed Friday as a series of strong storms blew through southern Missouri during the afternoon hours.
Levi L. Mayberry, 22, of Van Buren was driving a 2017 Blazer south on the Current River when the accident occurred at about 3:30 p.m., according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol. It happened about 10 miles north of Van Buren.
The vessel was traveling downstream when a tree fell, striking the vessel, the MSHP reports.
Mayberry was pronounced dead at 5:20 p.m. by Carter County County Coroner Eric McSpadden. A next of kin has been notified, troopers report.
Two passengers sustained moderate injuries in the accident and were taken by ambulance to Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center. The passengers were Morgan J. Adams, 26, of Eminence and Mackenzie R. Scott, 25, of Van Buren.
Also responding to the accident were the MSHP, National Park Service and Van Buren Fire Department.
The same storm system later brought down a tree on a house on International Street in Poplar Bluff and also brought a tree down on the Union Pacific Railroad tracks on the east side of Poplar Bluff, said Craig Meador of the Poplar Bluff Severe Weather Response Team.
Wind gusts topping 52 miles per hour were reported at the Poplar Bluff Municipal Airport, he said.
The Cape Girardeau airport also reported gusts of 70 miles per hour, with power outages, he said. Storms there blew the windows out of a business and out of a parking lot full of vehicles, he said.
Carter County Sheriff Rick Stephens reported power outages in the Carter County area, on the east side of Van Buren. The sheriff’s department was operating off of a generator as of 7 p.m.