According to a news release issued by the Perryville Police Department Saturday morning, a suspected tornado touched down near the Perry County School District campus at approximately 11:41 p.m. and followed a line through City Park across U.S. 61 and continued out into the county until it crossed the Mississippi River.
Several homes near the path were damaged and the school district suffered damage to multiple buildings, including a wall collapse on the west side of the High School.
“The campus is closed to everyone at this time as we assess the damage and ensure the safety of the public,” said superintendent Dr. Fara Jones. She went on to say this includes foot traffic due to the amount of debris littering the roadway and damage to the buildings. The school district is expected to release additional information later today.
According to Citizen’s Electric, as of 4 a.m. Saturday morning, 1,289 residents were without power. Crews are out and working on restoring electric service.
There are multiple road closures throughout the county because of debris and downed power lines. Hwy. E is completely closed, and South Main Street/Hwy. B is closed from Edgemont to Spring Lake Drive.
“Although there is a wide debris field stretching from Hwy B to the bottoms, we are fortunate to have no report injuries at this time,” said Perry County Sheriff Jason Klaus.
Perryville Public Works Director Jeff Layton reported 17 road closures in town due to power lines down and debris in the roadway, saying crews will continue to work to remove debris and reopen roads as quickly as possible.
In her release, Perryville Police Department Public Information Officer Sgt. Jeri Cain, asked citizens to be cautious as they are traveling areas affected by the tornado. She also cautions individuals to avoid attempting to sight-see in the affected areas as they are compounding the problem as
emergency workers are working on clean-up.
