VIENNA — Maries County Chief Deputy and Emergency Management Director Scott John joined the April 20 Maries County Commission meeting to discuss the April 15 storm and the damage it caused.

Based on analysis by the American Red Cross, John estimated that about 100 homes received damage. The weather destroyed five homes, and six others received major damage. Only five minor injuries occurred.

“There are a lot of homes that we don’t know about,” John said. “Our county is so independent. Country folk are that way. They’ll handle their own problems because their neighbors come over to help or their family comes over to help and they never even report anything.”

Two tornadoes caused some of the damage. Researchers measure tornadoes on the Enhanced Fujita Scale (EF) and assign a number based on the speed of three-second gusts of wind and the amount of damage the tornadoes cause. EF0 tornadoes, the lowest on the scale, reach speeds between 65 and 85 mph. EF5 tornadoes, the highest on the scale, reach speeds of more than 200 mph.

One of the tornadoes reached about 125 mph, so it was an EF2 tornado. A tornado at the Rolla National Airport reached 97 mph, so it was an EF1 tornado.

John said he knew some frustrated people because there was no disaster declaration. The Missouri State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) told him that the threshold for a disaster declaration is high. The SEMA requirement for a disaster declaration is either 500 damaged homes or $11 million in damage. In the case of an event like major flooding, the threshold for Maries County is much lower because the event also affects other municipalities in the region.

“No other counties had any disasters to report, so the region doesn’t have that big total dollar amount,” he said.

Although there was no disaster declaration, John said the American Red Cross was in Maries County each day from April 15 to April 18 to help provide relief to people affected by the storm and tornadoes. One program gives people a small amount of money to cover the costs of food and toiletries they might have lost during the storm.

John commended the community response the night of the tornadoes. He said a couple of off-duty dispatchers helped in the 911 dispatch center, and every available deputy in the county worked that night. Other first-responder groups that helped that night included Rolla Fire and Rescue, Vichy Volunteer Fire Department, Belle Fire Protection District, Osage Ambulance District, Maries-Osage Ambulance District, Owensville Area Ambulance District and St. James Ambulance District.

“We had lots of assets ready to go, and it couldn’t have gone any smoother with everybody working together and getting it done,” John said.

Eastern District Commissioner Doug Drewel said he appreciated the Western District road crew who helped with storm cleanup in the Eastern District of the county.

“Those guys need a little recognition for doing it,” he said.

Presiding Commissioner Victor Stratman asked if the 911 dispatch center worked fine during the storms.

“911 worked great, and you would be surprised to hear how many 911 calls for EMS service we got that night,” John said. “We had zero. No one called.”

He said the most serious injury that occurred as a result of the weather was when a person cut their hand while moving debris from their house. The only calls to dispatch came from people reporting blocked roads or checking on their neighbors.

Stratman asked John why the tornado sirens did not sound in Belle during the storm.

“I don’t know,” John said. “At 4:43, the mayor was sent a text message from me that said ‘sound your sirens if you haven’t already’ and I got a thumbs up (and) ‘thanks’ back from him.”

John mentioned the April 17 Belle city meeting. During a discussion about the tornado sirens not sounding, White said that sounding the sirens is “not something the city does at all.”

“The mayor, the commissioners, the fire chiefs and the police chiefs or sheriff can all activate the tornado sirens,” John said. “I don’t know why he didn’t know why I was sending that to him.”

Drewel asked if the sirens are turned on remotely or manually.

“We manually turn ours on from the 911 center down there,” John said. “Belle has always been very protective of their tornado siren and their emergency management stuff.”

John said he planned to attend an upcoming Belle meeting with SEMA’s Region I Regional Coordinator Brett Hendrix to discuss emergency management with city officials.

In the past, John applied for an Emergency Management Performance Grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The county did not receive the grant, but he said that now that the county has experienced an emergency, receiving a grant would be more justified.

One grant John applied to receive would fund the county’s use of the Rave Alert system, which sends mass notifications to the people enrolled in the service. If residents signed up for notifications from the county, the county could send alerts during emergency situations. Subscribers may also sign up with their addresses, so the county would have a map of subscribers to tailor messaging lists to people in an affected area. For example, if the county closed a road for maintenance, it could notify only people who live near that road.

A state grant that John told the commissioners about would reimburse half of what the county spent on debris cleanup efforts. There is a $200,000 limit on what the county may receive from the grant. The county has 30 days to apply and 90 days after the incident to report the amount spent on cleanup.

“It’s a brand new grant that hasn’t been available in the past,” he said. “(Sen.) Justin Brown and (Rep.) Bennie Cook were big at pushing this through.”

The commissioners told John to apply for the grant.

License Office

Stratman said he received an email informing him that Maries County won the contract to continue operating the Vienna License Office.

“Good deal,” Western District Commissioner Ed Fagre said.

Stratman said that before the contract renews in June, the county would need to add a few features he had mentioned at a previous meeting. Those include a sign displaying the office’s hours and the manager’s name and a 32-inch monitor that scrolls through the documents needed to get a driver’s license, a commercial driver’s license, a vehicle renewal or a real ID.

“We probably need to get on that as quick as we can so it’s done,” Fagre said.

At the April 20 meeting, Stratman said the monitor was in place and they just needed to get the sign.

Maries Road 540

County Clerk Rhonda Rodgers had received an email from Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) Transportation and Planning Coordinator Kim Tipton about adding Maries Road 540 to Maries County’s road inventory. Someone from the Missouri State Highway Patrol had noticed that the county road had a sign designating it as such, but the geographic information system did not show Maries Road 540 as a county road.

The commissioners were unsure how the road fell off the inventory list because the county had always maintained it. Drewel estimated that the county spent about $1,000 per year on Maries Road 540. Rodgers found a road inventory from 1995 that included Maries Road 540 and listed it at about 0.5 miles. MoDOT had mapped the road at 0.7 miles.

Drewel called Tipton during the meeting and said that he wanted the road added back to the county inventory as a 0.5 miles road. After the call, he said she told him to send the information over and that she would add it to the inventory.

New Server

I.T. manager Shane Sweno brought a proposal to the commissioners to move to a cloud-based server for the county clerk’s office and the treasurer’s office. Moving to a cloud-based server would allow the clerk, deputy clerk and treasurer to work remotely without issues.

Sweno said that if the county did not move to the cloud-based server, it would need to upgrade its server soon anyway, which could cost up to $4,000 without adding the benefit of allowing remote work.

The commissioners decided to move to the cloud-based server, which costs about $11,000 more than what the county paid for the previous server. Sweno said the migration to the new server would take a few months.

The Maries County Bank

The Maries County Bank Senior Vice President and Senior Loan Officer Mark Hayes visited the April 20 meeting to extend the loan on a grader the county had purchased. While he was there, the commissioners asked about some of the upcoming changes to the bank’s new computer system.

Hayes said the new system would have greater capabilities and make banking more efficient. It will automate some of the manual reporting work that bank employees do.

Customers will receive new debit cards as part of the transition to the new system. Online banking will also move to a different app. Otherwise, things will remain the same. Paper checks will still be available for customers.

On Saturday, May 6, the bank will close all its branches to ensure all data transfers correctly. On May 8, all branches will reopen to operate under the new system.

Other Business

Stratman said the Meramec Regional Planning Commission is helping to connect residents of the region with aid from the federal Affordable Connectivity Program. The program helps households with low income afford the broadband internet connections they need for work and school. Benefits include a discount of up to $30 per month for internet service and a one-time discount of up to $100 to buy a laptop, tablet or desktop computer. More information about eligibility is available at fcc.gov/acp.

Stratman said Ameren had sent a letter to inform the commissioners that it would be conducting vegetative activity in the county.