POTOSI — Chad Long built his house 20 years ago on family land along Long Roy Farm Road, within sight of his parents’ home. He and his wife raised six kids here. They paid it off last year.
A tornado Wednesday swept most of it away as his wife, Jenna, their three teens and two dogs huddled in the storage room and shelter below. The basement staircase now ascends into rubble and open sky.
On Thursday, family and friends were in “salvage mode,†trying to save whatever they could.
“The two factors that saved everybody was God and the storage shelter,†said Long, who wasn’t home when the twister hit. “This is what helped save us. It was worth every penny.â€
Near Potosi, the home of Chad Long and his family was destroyed by storms on Wednesday, April 2, 2025. Long said that nobody was hurt, thanks to the home's storm cellar.
The Longs’ home was among several structures here pummeled by the tornado on Wednesday. It broke trees, smashed vehicles, sent a large shipping container aloft and impaled a chunk of plywood into the side of a house. The Missouri Highway Patrol confirmed the tornado hit near Highway 185 in Washington County, about six miles northwest of Potosi.
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The storms tore through Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee and Indiana on Wednesday and early Thursday, spawning powerful tornadoes and killing at least six, including a fire chief in Cape Girardeau County.
Locally, tornadoes touched down in the Potosi area, plus Delta, Missouri, and Bond County, Illinois. The National Weather Service sent crews out on Thursday to track the paths and survey the damage.
Kate Shawkey, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said tornadoes were confirmed in southeast Missouri and western Kentucky and survey work likely would determine there were more. Both were given preliminary EF-2 ratings, she said.
In Cape Girardeau County, Garry Moore, 68, chief of the Whitewater Fire Protection District, was killed in the small town of Delta, said Sgt. Clark Parrott of the Missouri Highway Patrol.
Craig Williams, the coroner for Cape Girardeau County, said Moore was among first responders helping after the storm went through town. Moore was apparently helping to see if a motorist was trapped in a car near downed power lines, and was possibly electrocuted. An autopsy Friday should determine what killed him.
Debris is scattered in a field near Potosi, Missouri, after a tornado Wednesday evening.
In Bond County a tornado was on the ground south of Greenville about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to the Greenville Fire Protection District.
Some homes and other buildings were destroyed near Cottonwood Road there. At least one person was injured, the fire district said. A woman, Melissa Marti, was taken to a St. Louis hospital for treatment of injuries after winds leveled her home outside of Greenville.
“Her home is gone,†said Linus Marti, 70, the woman’s brother-in-law. “The shed and house are all scattered across the field.â€
Linus Marti said his sister-in-law was at the top of her basement stairs “because the weather was getting weird. Next thing she knew she was laying outside near a propane tank†20 yards from her home.
She was released from the hospital Thursday morning. “She had a big goose egg above her eye, stitches on her hand and some back injuries,†he said.
Another home nearby was also demolished. Other homes were damaged near Millersburg Road.
Back in Potosi, Myra Britton, a member of the Potosi Southern Baptist Church, was tending the food pantry Thursday, saying she thought it “may need a little extra†after the storms. Some restaurants in town were giving out meals, to help out in the aftermath, she said.
A Red Cross shelter set up Wednesday, but no one needed to stay the night, officials said.
The Longs are staying with Chad Long’s parents, whose nearby home was spared.
“We could be planning funerals today. Today, we’re just planning to rebuild,†said Bill Long, Chad’s father. “It will all be ok. ... We’re all upright. We’re all above dirt.â€
Still, forecasters on Thursday warned of catastrophic weather ahead. Satellite imagery showed thunderstorms lining up like freight trains — taking the same tracks over communities in Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky.
Mark Schlinkmann of the Post-Dispatch and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The Missouri Highway Patrol posted this photo of farm equipment overturned after a tornado touched down near Potosi on Wednesday, April 2, 2025.
