Severe Weather Kills 2

Oct 19, 04:21 PM

Current Headlines: By Brett Hambright

Storm system heading this way but not expected to be as fierce

A powerful storm front that pummeled parts of the country's middle region and Southeast is headed this way, experts say.

The front is expected to arrive in Lancaster County this afternoon, bringing with it strong winds and potentially severe thunderstorms, AccuWeather meteorologist Frank Strait said Thursday night.

All parts of the county should receive at least a half-inch of rain, Strait said, with some regions expected to get more than an inch. Hail also is a possibility, he said.

Wind velocity and rainfall totals will vary across the county, depending on where the storms develop, Strait said. Wind gusts over 60 mph are not out of the question, he said.

"They won't be anywhere near as great as the (storms) in the Midwest, but Lancaster County could have damaging-type thunderstorms," Strait said.

The storms hit hardest this week in Missouri and Oklahoma. A rural Missouri couple died Thursday when a tornado ravaged their mobile home. Wednesday night, more than 30 patrons were injured at Oktoberfest in Tulsa when two tents collapsed on a crowd.

Tornadoes also were reported in Florida and Arkansas.

With such high-powered storms, tornadoes are always a possibility, Strait said.

"You can't rule that out, but that's not going to be the main threat" in Lancaster County, he said.

The storms should subside by Saturday morning as the front moves seaward, officials said.

Along with strong winds and potential downpours, the front also will drop local temperatures to a more seasonal range by Saturday. The dip in temperatures will provide a change for county residents spoiled with summer-like weather earlier in the week. Highs on Saturday are expected to stay in the 60s.

However, Strait said, that sunny and warm weather will return by Sunday - with an expected high of 72 degrees - and Monday, when temperatures will near 80 degrees.

Other regions of the country have been devastated by the storm front, which developed Tuesday in the Plains, Strait said.

Thursday in northeastern Missouri, Kent Ensor and Kristy Secrease were found dead 400 feet from where Secrease's mobile home had been before a tornado touched down.

The State Highway Patrol said the couple sought refuge in the mobile home in Monroe County as the tornado approached.

The mobile home's frame was found three-quarters of a mile away, with debris as far as two miles away.

The National Weather Service classified the storm as an F-2 tornado that traveled one mile and had wind speeds up to 135 mph.

Ensor, 44, was a hog farmer from a well-known family, and Secrease, 25, managed Ensor's 11,000-hog operation. They had been dating for about a year, neighbors said.

Several twisters hit southwestern Missouri, where a home was destroyed but no injuries were reported.

In Tulsa, more than 7,000 people were at the Oktoberfest festival when the tents collapsed at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. Five of those hurt remained hospitalized Thursday, and three were in serious condition with head injuries, concussions and lacerations, said Tina Wells, spokeswoman for the Emergency Medical Services Authority.

A tornado late Thursday morning in Pensacola, Fla., damaged the city's major shopping mall as violent thunderstorms swept across the western Panhandle.

Eddie English Jr., a department-store stock manager, said he heard the wind outside the store suddenly speed up and get louder. Then mall security guards entered the store and ordered 200 to 300 employees and shoppers into the basement.

Lindsey Lassiter, manager of the mall's Express for Men store, said water poured in from her shop's damaged ceiling. In downtown Pensacola, electricity was out and streets were filled with several inches of water from rain that began around dawn.

By Thursday night, storms had dumped more than 8 inches of rain on Pensacola, officials said.

Escambia County (Ark.) sheriff's spokesman Glenn Austin said the Greater Little Rock Baptist Church's roof was damaged, as was its day-care center. But the children there had been moved to safety before the tornado struck, he said.

Jack Cullen, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, confirmed that a tornado touched down shortly before noon.

North of Tulsa, five people were injured and 25 mobile homes and travel trailers were damaged when the storm hit a mobile home park between Oologah and the Washington County line, the Oologah-Talala Emergency Medical Services District reported. None of the injuries were believed to be life-threatening, officials said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Originally published by Intelligencer Journal Staff.

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