Hazelwood Tornado Began in Bridgeton, National Weather Service Says

The tornado that ripped through the City of Hazelwood, causing massive damage to homes and local businesses, began in Bridgeton.

That's according to a National Weather Service survey of Wednesday's storm. An EF-1 tornado touched down in Bridgeton—right near the intersection of Carrollton Industrial Court and Pennridge Drive—before skipping and jumping to Hazelwood and then finally ending in Florissant.

The weather service estimated the force of the tornado when it touched down and devastated Hazelwood to be traveling at 115 to 125 mph, rating it an EF-2. That tornado was its strongest in Hazelwood on Woodcrest Lane and at Howdershell Road and Lynn Haven Drive. North Hanley also experienced extensive outages that extended into Saturday morning near Latty Avenue.

The survey showed the tornado touched down six times in Bridgeton, with two of those being classified as EF-1s—the rest were labeled EF0s.

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• Ameren: Power is Restored to Hazelwood
• State Treasurer Clint Zweifel: "This is a Community in Which Neighbors Help Neighbors"