It's been sixth months since a deadly tornado struck and destroyed much of Defiance, Missouri.
It was December 10, 2021, a severe weather day most folks in St. Charles County, Missouri, won’t soon forget. According to the National Weather Service in St. Louis, at 7:35 pm, a tornado touched down in southwestern St. Charles County, near the intersection of Highway T and Highway 94.
It stayed on the ground for 26 minutes and strengthened as it approached Defiance, Missouri, a small town of about 150 people. Near Highway F and Highway 94, the tornado, later rated an EF-3 with winds estimated of 165 mph, destroyed two homes.
The first, a 110-year-old home that was not anchored to the concrete foundation. The second home was newly built and was leveled to the subfloor. On that day, one person was killed and two others were hurt. The tornado carved a path 25 miles long, traveling from St. Charles to St. Louis County.
From twisted tree branches to a concrete slab that now sits in the place of the 110-year-old home, the evidence of the tornado is still ever-present.
Manager Valerie Blakemore of Good News Brewing Company in Defiance remembers that night like it was yesterday. The building was busy with several events at the Brewery, including a 40-person rehearsal dinner in the back room and a bingo event.
During the festivities, the tornado sirens activated and every patrons' cell phones went off in unison.
“We ushered people to the back room where our event was taking place. More people were coming in not knowing where they could go. They had been out and about so we let them in, gave everyone a beer, lost power and did everything by flashlight."
But despite the grim circumstances, Blakemore said she tried to keep the mood light. "We provided shelter for everyone and offered a beer. What’s better than a tornado than a tornado with a beer?”
Afterwards, the community came together to help people who were impacted and Blakemore was proud to be a part of such a caring community.
May 19, 2022, was another severe weather day in the region. Just before 5:00 p.m., sirens were activated in St. Charles County, making the team at Good News Brewery jump into action. Something that, by now, they were used to.
The event that night at the brewery was a Fleet Feet Pub Run with many of the runners arriving prior to the severe weather.
“We told them that the sirens are going off and that we had received a tornado warning, possibly in the area," Blakemore said. "I ushered many people back in here."
From that point, she said they were all waiting it out through the second round of sirens. "Most of them stayed out there and some even started the run.”
One important to thing to note is that St. Charles County is 593 square miles. If a warning is issued for any portion of the county, the sirens are activated for the entire region.
According to St. Charles County Emergency Management, it "has been determined that selecting and grouping the correct sirens for the specific area under warning would be slower and less efficient than activating the entire system that alerts our entire county.” Defiance is in the southwestern portion of the county.
According to Missouri State Climatologist Pat Guinan, nearly 50 percent of all tornadoes occur during the months of April and May. However, just like what happened on December 10, tornadoes can occur in any month of the year.
People need to not be complacent during severe weather events and take warnings seriously. As for Blakemore, she and the staff at Good News Brewing in Defiance will do their best to keep you safe if conditions arise.