Erika McGuire
PILOT GROVE, Mo. (KMIZ)
The response to an EF-2 tornado that damaged or destroyed dozens of buildings in Pilot Grove was hampered by some first responders not being able to communicate with each other using radios at the scene.
A four-page “after-action report” drawn up by the Cooper County Emergency Management Agency gives insight into the response before and after an EF-2 tornado touched down in Pilot Grove on April 2.
Technology and communication issues caused problems, but the overall response, officials say, was swift and largely effective. ABC 17 News obtained the report through a Missouri Sunshine Law request.
The document outlines how county officials prepared for the threat, how first responders mobilized as the storm developed, and what challenges they faced once the tornado hit.
“We knew what we were doing, it’s just that we were rusty,” Cooper County Emergency Management Director Larry Oerly said.
Pilot Grove tornado reportDownload
Severe weather and tornado warning
The day began under dangerous conditions, as the National Weather Service had issued a rare high-risk alert for severe thunderstorms across multiple states. A severe line of storms developed in southwest Missouri and moved through Cooper County, eventually producing a tornado in Pilot Grove.
Oerly said outdoor warning sirens were activated, but they failed to sound.
The siren, described as a “Cold War–era” model on the Pilot Grove water tower, relies solely on electricity and is the only one of its kind in the county. By the time it was activated, the tornado had already damaged power infrastructure. For the siren to be activated, a call needs to be made to 911 dispatchers, who then activate the siren.
“From the time the initial weather service alert comes out to the time that the sirens get activated, going through the different channels that it has to go through, there may be anywhere from one minute to two or three minutes, depending on the incident,” Oerly said.
According to previous reporting, the siren was triggered a second time, but Oerly was unsure if that attempt was successful. Cooper County EMA protocol during a tornado warning is to sound the siren as soon as the warning is issued, then attempt a second activation eight to 10 minutes later if the warning remains in effect.
Oerly said a $26,000 battery-powered siren was ordered before the tornado but had not arrived due to delays. The siren arrived in mid-May and was installed next to Pilot Grove City Hall.
On-scene communications
The report identified several areas for improvement, including on-scene communications. The report found that communication at the scene was “less than ideal” because law enforcement was operating on the Missouri Statewide Interoperability Network, while fire and EMS crews were using VHF radios.
The report says that as storms and warnings continued, it was recommended to activate radio tones to advise multiple agencies of new weather warnings.
Because the two systems aren’t directly compatible, responders sometimes couldn’t talk to each other in real time. Oerly says first responders were on different frequencies because the county couldn’t afford the equipment to fix the problem.
However, he emphasized that the communication issues did not affect the quality or speed of the response.
“It had no impact on the response itself, other than the units weren’t able to communicate with each other,” Oerly said. “Once the command center was set up, we were able to get sheriffs, fire and EMS in one location as a joint command for better coordination.”
Before the tornado, Oerly said, improvements to the county’s communication system were already underway and are expected to be completed by the end of this year or early next year. The $2.7 million project, funded through American Rescue Plan Act funds, will upgrade radio infrastructure across the county.
“It will give more repeated frequencies, and repeated frequency means there will be seven towers listening for this when somebody keys the mic. Right now we only have one,” Oerly said. “By having seven towers, when a responder keys the mic on a repeated frequency, everyone will be able to hear it. Law enforcement also monitors the VHF frequency, so this means we can assign one of those repeated frequencies to an incident, everyone can talk, everyone can hear, which we weren’t able to do at that time.”
A complete overhaul of Cooper County’s communications system began in 2021, even before a combine sparked a wildfire in Wooldridge in 2022, burning over 3,000 acres and destroying at least 23 buildings.
Oerly said Cooper County EMA lacked funding, putting the project on hold. Now the county’s 911 system is being upgraded, with a consultant helping figure out where communication systems are needed and how to improve infrastructure.
“We purchased two towers, getting ready to build a third one. We utilized a lot of what we already had, but we’re adding to it,” Oerly said. “The whole center’s redone. We went with the next generation 911 system in it … This already happened before the tornado.”
Mobile command center
The report also noted that it took too long to set up a mobile command center. Oerly said Cooper County EMA spent nearly an hour deciding that a command post was needed. Once the decision was made, it took about 20 to 30 minutes to set it up on Highway 135, along which much of the damage was located.
“The biggest delay was that it hadn’t been used in a while. So when you go to pull it out, the tires need a little bit of air. They weren’t flat, they were low,” Oerly said. “So it took a little bit to get it out. It is a trailer, so it had to be hooked to a truck and brought out, had to get a generator set up for it.”
One member of Cooper County EMA and the county’s presiding commissioner set up the command post.
The Cooper County mobile command center. (Courtesy Cooper County Emergency Management Agency)
Oerly said Cooper County EMA has conducted two school shooter drills with law enforcement that required setting up and breaking down the command post twice in one day at two different locations. The practice helps make the setup faster, he said.
Cooper County EMA has been approved for a grant to add another radio inside, the command center. The upgrade will allow first responders to talk with one another on a repeater or a microphone.
Response and damage assessment
Shortly after the EF-2 tornado hit Pilot Grove, Cooper County EMA began checking homes and buildings to assess the damage see if anyone was hurt. Buildings, door knobs and mailboxes were marked with caution tape to show buildings had been checked, with first responders going back and rechecking.
The report recommended training all agencies on the same system to eliminate redundant building checks.
“One thing we talked about was getting some supplies and our mobile command center or even some of the response vehicles that they can, it’s like a sticky piece of paper that shows that this has been checked and who checked it, and putting it on the buildings themselves,” Oerly said. “The caution tape did its job. We could have done better with the forms that stuck to the building, where people could have said ‘Oh, such and such was here.'”
The report also said the Missouri Department of Transportation needed a better way to monitor and control traffic. The report noted MoDOT could not verify if people requesting access had business in the affected areas.
“Many of the volunteers didn’t have a name tag or anything with them. So when they would pull up, to go in to get past a roadblock, the person working the roadblock didn’t know them and wasn’t going to allow them in, and that slowed some of that down,” Oerly said.
To improve this, Oerly said name tags were made for everyone in the fire department, with copies made to go inside their fire gear and their vehicles.
Electrical safety was also listed as an area for improvement. The report says first responders should assume all downed power lines are live until they’re told the lines are grounded. As part of the improvement plan, the report said the county will review training on electrical safety for all first responder agencies.
What went well
The report identified some strengths:
Initial search and rescue operation in the affected area
Utility companies’ response and shutting power down to damaged lines
Power was restored within 16 hours of the initial incident. Fifty utility poles were replaced, along with 1.19 miles of electric and fiber lines.
Agencies worked well together.
Command post personnel kept accurate records for accountability purposes.
Community support.
The tornado traveled for 6.3 miles with a width of 200 yards and estimated winds of 115 mph. It was on the ground for six minutes.
According to the report, the twister hit 16 homes, 12 commercial buildings and two public buildings.
“I know there was around $300,000 done on public infrastructure,” Oerly said. “It was due to all the electrical lines that were down, all the power poles that were down.”
The twister also damaged vehicles, farm equipment and trees. No injuries were reported.
A total of 29 different agencies responded to the aftermath.
Getting back to normal
Since the tornado struck Pilot Grove, residents have been working to clean up debris and rebuild.
Mike Schupp and his 83-year-old mother have lived in the community for decades. His mother was home during the storm and decided to take cover in the basement once she saw a chair fly through the air.
Her home remained standing after the storm, but Schupp later learned it was no longer safe to live in.
“It was unbelievable what we saw,” Schupp said. “Structurally, it didn’t look that bad, but then the insurance company showed up and said, ‘Yeah, this house is demolished. It has to be torn down.'”
The ranch-style house suffered significant damage, especially to the roof.
“There were no trees left, no buildings left, the roof was pretty much off the house, and there was nothing left. Where do you start?” Schupp said.
The house was eventually torn down, and Schupp built his mother a new one on the same land with safety upgrades.
“We’ve put a safe room right into the garage, concrete walls and ceiling so that she’s protected in case she has that happen in the future,” he said.
One of the issues Schupp faced with the rebuilding process was being underinsured. The cost to rebuild was over $100,000, he said.
“You never have enough insurance, and that’s just the way it is. Things have gone up so much in terms of cost,” Schupp said. “I had one grain bin at the time. It blew away, and I had to pay for another one.”
About a week after the tornado struck, the community came together to help with the cleanup.
Schupp said it wouldn’t have been possible without help.
“We just piled it all in a big pile. We had hundreds of people show up to help clean up and couldn’t be more thankful for the community that we live in,” Schupp said.
Brenda Harrian has been living in Pilot Grove for 16 years. She is an assistant with Cooper County EMA and works with the Columbia Fire Department. She was out of the country when she learned about the tornado through a friend.
“She’s like, ‘Yhe house is really bad, and everything around is gone,'” Harrian said.
She returned home two days after the tornado hit.
“Some of the trees, the first things I planted when we moved in, were gone. I had big walnut tree that uprooted and was gone, and the greenhouse was devastated,” she said. “Another shed was blown off the foundation and ripped away … and the back of the shop had a huge hole in it.”
A large shed on Harrian’s property was unusable for more than four months because of the damage. She faced the same issue Schupp did: being underinsured.
“I only had it insured for what we paid for it when we moved in several years ago, so it’s nowhere near what it costs.
She said she spent $30,000 to rebuild the shed. “My fault for not being insured enough,” Harrian said.
Harrian’s greenhouse, a sentimental item, was also badly damaged. She said it measured 30 by 78 feet and was a landmark in Pilot Grove; neighbors would tell visitors they were in the right spot if they were across from it.
“My little place just to relax, I would plant so much every year. I miss it,” She said.
Harrian has repaired her shed, but the greenhouse is no longer standing. She wants to get another one in the future.
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