Another week, another wild chapter in Ozark County’s spring weather chaos

It’s been a wild spring in Ozark County, with storm after storm rolling through, battering these old hills and leaving a brutal trail of destruction behind. Time and time again, it feels like the bullseye of the storm has been drawn right over southeastern Ozark County, zeroed in on the town of Bakersfield. 

The two most recent storms, occurring last Wednesday and then Friday into Saturday, followed the same track, pummeling the small town that has already endured so much. It was less than a month ago, on March 14, when a massive, EF-3 tornado tore through Bakersfield, leaving three residents dead and dozens without homes. Two weeks before that, on Feb. 28, a dangerous wildfire burned more than 400 acres before being extinguished just before reaching the main center of town (Search for articles “Deadly Bakersfield tornado was five football fields wide with wide of 140 mph,” and “Massive brush fire engulfs structures, vehicles and hundreds of acres of land” at www.ozarkcountytimes.com to read more about those incidents. Editor’s note: Although the headline of the original article said the tornado was five football fields wide, the NWS later increased its determination, saying it was 1,200 yards wide or 10 football fields wide, counting end zones). 

April 2 storm sent students to storm shelter, tornado touched down in South Fork

The latest weekly chapter of this spring’s chaos came through last Wednesday, April 9, with a round of severe weather that had forecasters attempting to track multiple radar-indicated rotations in tornado-warned areas all around Ozark County. 

Dora School District decided to cancel classes due to the potential of dangerous storms, although the district reassured residents that the FEMA storm shelter on the school’s campus would be open and available to anyone who needed to use it in the event of a tornado warning for that area.

One of the severe storms that afternoon tracked north from Arkansas straight toward Bakersfield. KY3 meteorologists Ron Hearst and Brandon Beck kept viewers updated on the storms, using the network’s map to point out one storm’s path that was headed toward some of the Bakersfield residents’ homes that had been hit, and in some cases wiped away, by the March 14 tornado. 

While Ozark County collectively held its breath, hoping Bakersfield wasn’t destined for the impact of yet another dangerous tornado, the Bakersfield School District worked to keep parents and the community updated on its plan for students amid the severe weather. 

Superintendent Amy Padgett said that she and other school staff were watching the radar and forecasts intently and determined that instead of dismissing early, the safer plan would be to keep students on campus in the FEMA storm shelter. 

At 1:15 p.m. that afternoon, a post to the Bakersfield School District’s Facebook page gave parents and community members this decision: “If we are under a tornado warning, we will not let kids leave until that has passed. The reason we did not let everyone out early is because we have a SAFE room here on campus and many students do not have a safe room or basement at home.”

The post is referencing the on-campus community FEMA shelter which was built in 2017. The large hardened structure was funded through a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide a storm shelter for the community, as the building is specifically designed to provide near-absolute protection from extreme wind events like tornados. It, along with FEMA shelters at Dora and Gainesville Schools, have doors that automatically open anytime a tornado warning is issued in that specific town. 

Bakersfield was in a tornado warned storm just before 3 p.m., and staff at the school escorted the students into the FEMA shelter. Although the tornado warning was canceled at one point and there was a break in the storm, the district chose to keep students in the safe room and communicated with families to explain why.

“There is a lull in the storm activity for about 30 minutes, but that is not enough time to get everyone home... Everyone will continue taking shelter in the FEMA building until the next round has passed...” the school posted to Facebook at 3:35 p.m.

By 5:10 p.m., the dangerous storms were moving out of the area, and school officials released students for pickup or bus drop off. 

Padgett says that the FEMA building has been opened several times since it was built eight years ago, always automatically unlocking when a tornado warning has been issued for Bakersfield. Some have suggested the FEMA storm shelters in the area should be opened earlier than when a tornado warning is issued - and that was the case last week. Because school was in session and staff were on campus, the shelter was opened to the community prior to the tornado warning being issued.

“Until this past event, we have not opened the building until a warning is issued because we just don’t have the manpower to open and man it for every watch situation,”
 Padgett said. “In addition, many folks have keys including the fire department, Ozark County’s new Emergency Management Director and most school employees. Employees who live close by have been very good to come open the building,” Padgett said. 

She said that opening it early due to the elevated risk level for another tornado was a good experience in all.

“We had the youngest students come first. Then upper elementary came. We put on a movie and made popcorn. As soon as they were settled, we brought the middle and high school kids over. Each grade level has a paper on the wall where they go, and teachers account for every student, and then they are allowed to visit. They played board games and visited, ate snacks and drank water. We still have supplies in the FEMA building from the tornado.  

“I watched the radar from my office [also located in the FEMA shelter], and when there was a lull, we sent teachers with their classes to the gym bathrooms to accommodate several students at one time. Of course the FEMA building has restrooms, but they only accommodate one female and two males at a time.”

In addition to the entire school population, there were also approximately 50 community members who came to the shelter as well. “There was room for everyone and some to spare,” Padgett said.

“A challenge that was presented in this situation was when neighbors brought their animals. Of course, I understand folks love their animals, and we want them safe also. However, one adult had an allergic reaction,” she said. 

“Moving forward, if folks bring an animal, we will have a designated spot in the mechanical room for the animals. We encourage folks to bring them in a carrier, but with a leash, at a minimum. I know this is a sensitive topic because people love their pets, and I get that; however, the safety of occupants is the first priority.”

Luckily, the storm didn’t bring a lot of additional damage to Bakersfield, but nearby areas weren’t as lucky. On the KY3 weather broadcast that afternoon, meteorologists reported that a trained storm spotter was seeing a rotating storm in South Fork with a tail that kept whipping up and down. 

Later, the NWS in Springfield confirmed that an EF-1 tornado with wind speeds of 95 to 100 miles per hour touched down at 3:16 p.m. April 2, northeast of South Fork. The damage survey results show that the NWS determined the 350 yard-wide tornado touched down near Highway JJ and Howell County Road 8800 and trekked a 1.13-mile path northeast. Numerous trees were uprooted along the path, and a metal roof of a small farm building was blown off in the tornado, the report says. 

April 4-5 downpour leads to flooded roads, two deaths in West Plains

Although the severe storms were out of the area by Wednesday night, that didn’t mean the Ozarks was out of the woods. 

Rain continued to fall, with southeastern Ozark and Howell County seeing the heaviest downpours. More than 10 inches of rain fell in those areas from Wednesday through Saturday.

The National Weather Service said on Friday, April 4, several record daily rainfall maximum records were broken including one in West Plains, where 4.38 inches fell within the 24-hour period, an amount more than double the prior daily rainfall record of 1.94 inches in 1991. Individual records for Bakersfield, specifically, were not available, so it’s unclear if it was also a record-breaking event; however, it is safe to say that Bakersfield received 10-plus inches of rain last week.

The rain came in quick and hard, and it wasn’t long before area waterways overtook roads, making them unsafe to pass. 

The Ozark County Sheriff’s Department posted this list of flooded crossings by 5:30 p.m. last Friday:

• Highway 101 at Bakersfield

• Highway 142 at Bakersfield

• Highway O, multiple areas with water over road

• Highway T near Mammoth

• Highway H at Patrick Bridge

• County Road 540 at Bridges Creek

• County Road 103 in Gainesville

• County Road 551 (Smokey Road)

• County Road 578

• County Road 599

Bakersfield Fire Chief Greg Watts said that at one point Bennett’s Bayou, the upper creek arm that eventually flows into Norfork Lake in Arkansas, swelled to nearly a quarter mile wide at the Highway 142 bridge near Pride Park and the baseball/softball fields. 

Watts said they only had one incident in which first responders needed to help motorists due to high water. That was on Highway 101 in front of Evans Kwik Stop #2 (formerly Hayes Grocery) after a vehicle stalled out in the deep water. The motorists were assisted to safety. 

Another situation arose when multiple vehicles were trapped between two areas of flooded V Highway. Kyle and Darian Clayton, who live in the area of Elijah where the vehicles were stuck, opened their doors and welcomed the stranded motorists with open arms.

Darian told the Times that she’s been raised on a creek her whole life. “So my guard was definitely up that day,” she said. By mid-day, their daughters’ Nana, (Lois Clayton) had taken the three older girls to a birthday party in town, leaving a quiet home to Darian, her husband Kyle and their youngest daughter Haizley.

“Shortly after we lost power, we decided the best way to enjoy the quiet moment would be with a bowl of cereal on the porch. Little did I know, ‘Officer Watts’ as I like to call him [Fire Chief Greg Watts], was about to call on us for help. Two local families had found themselves stranded right between the two rivers that happen to be on either side of our farm,’’ Darian said. 

The Claytons were quick to volunteer their home, telling Watts that, of course, the families were welcome there. “While it has been and will always be our mission to have open doors and coffee on, we didn’t have much to offer that day other than fresh milk and a bathroom that didn’t flush!” she said, laughing. “All jokes aside, we had refuge from the storm, and I’m sure this is a day the eight of us will never forget.”

There were no deaths or injuries reported in Ozark County; however, there were two deaths that occurred in West Plains when a 57-year-old O’Fallon man attempted to cross Howell Creek near Missouri Avenue there, and when a 45-year-old West Plains man attempted to cross Mustion Creek near Ramseur Road. They were both swept from the bridges and drowned.

Ozark County commissioners say the flood has likely created what will be the fourth open disaster incident with FEMA in the county. The county is working with FEMA to, hopefully, be reimbursed for materials and manpower that were used to repair damage from the natural disasters. Presiding Commissioner Terry Newton said that Kent Edge, the SEMA director and representative for the Ozark County area, called him and said with “just what he knows already, Ozark County is over the threshold for another [FEMA project].”

The first disaster project is from the August 2023 storms in Theodosia when straight-line winds damaged and destroyed several businesses, homes and vehicles in the Theodosia area. Ozark County went more than a year before the next large disaster struck in the form of heavy rain, severe storms and flooding in November 2024. The third disaster occurred not even six months later when the EF-3 tornado hit the Bakersfield area. Then, the April 4-5 flood.

“The majority of the southeast side [of the county] was damaged,” said Eastern District Commissioner Jim Britt.

In response to the damage to the county roads, Britt said that the road and bridge crew was busy all weekend working to clear and repair roads – even before he called his foreman to ask the workers to come in. “They worked all day [Sunday]…They answered the call and I’m proud of them.”

Watts said that MoDOT workers were also out working on area roads and bridges, removing debris and patching highways to make them safe for travel throughout the weekend and Monday morning.

At presstime Tuesday, MoDOT’s list of roadways still closed included Highway 95 (from Route N to MO 14) and Highway 142 over Bennett’s Bayou in Bakersfield. The county has also said that Smokey Road, County Road 551 in Tecumseh, was also closed, as it had approximately 8 inches of water over the bridge. Bakersfield School announced that it would not be in session Tuesday due to the limited access to area roadways (it operates on a Tuesday through Friday schedule, so classes were not in session Monday either).

One area of damage from the flood that particularly hurt was that to the ballfields at Pride Park in Bakersfield. The fields sustained heavy damage in the March 14 tornado, and community members have been working tirelessly since that time to clean up the hundreds of uprooted trees, damaged fence and other facility issues. The flood wiped all that effort away. “Anything that was salvageable from the tornado is now destroyed. This is the second time the park has suffered catastrophic losses in the past 14 years. In addition, we have two additional flooding claims that were not total losses due to flooding at the park,” Padgett said. “After the 2017 [flood], we pushed a lot of dirt and had a berm built in the trees. The old trees and deep root systems helped with the flooding, but the tornado took the trees. So, now there is no protection from flooding.”

But, Bakersfield hasn’t earned the motto “Bakersfield Strong” for nothing. Padgett says the only way forward is to keep their heads up and look toward the future.

“It is a lot to rebuild, but we will come out stronger and better for it. Bakersfield is a resilient community, and the past month has certainly tested that resilience. We are tired. We are weary. But, we will rest and then rebuild better than before.”