Strident tornado sirens indicating a Tornado Warning blared through St. Louis County for hours on Friday, April 23. Before the end of the night, the most powerful tornado known to the city in 44 years slashed through homes, stores and Lambert-St. Louis International Airport.
At its peak, the “Good Friday Tornado” caused winds of up to 200 mph, according to the National Weather Service. However, no one was killed.
Although MHS was not directly in the tornado’s destructive path, several members of the staff were affected. Wendy Brase, math teacher, was one of them. Her family business Wagner Portrait Group, located in Maryland Heights, is the official photographer for MHS sports.
“The tornado hit approximately one-half the building,” Brase said. “Windows blew out, the ceiling fell, office items landed outside the studio.”
The servers and printing lab remained protected. Firemen found Natasha, a Siberian husky, sitting unharmed on a couch in the atrium. The damaged part of Wagner Portrait Group is currently under construction.
“We were able to relocate the departments to other areas of the building to work normally,” Brase said. “We are fully functioning like normal again; all images are safe and secure.”
Senior Principal Carl Hudson also was hit by the tornado. He lives in Bellefontaine Neighbors, a community in North St. Louis County about 30 miles from MHS.
“Our power went out for three days,” Hudson said. “As a result, our sump pump didn’t work and our basement flooded.”
In Hudson’s neighborhood alone, four houses were destroyed while other homes had window damage and uprooted trees.
“One house had its second floor completely ripped off,” Hudson said. “Another was split down the middle, almost like with an axe. Those houses had red signs on the front door, which means no one is allowed back inside since the structure is unsound. Even the family can’t go back to collect their things.”
Melissa Gable, chemistry teacher, experienced the effect the tornado had on Lambert Airport. The weekend the tornado hit, Gable went to Hollywood, Fl. to visit her dad. She left her black Chevy Equinox in the long-term parking section of the airport.
“When I heard about the tornado, I emailed the airport asking about my car,” Gable said. “They emailed me back saying most cars were completely destroyed.”
It turned out Gable’s Chevy only had a few scratches and a peppered windshield. The row of cars across from her, however, was flipped upside-down.
“I got lucky,” Gable said.