Deja Vu: Ripley County Relives Last Year's Tornado Nightmare

Lightning is said never to strike the same place twice. The same can‘t be said about tornadoes.

Almost a year since the Memorial Day weekend tornado, Ripley County once again lay in the path of a destructive storm system which may prove to have been what meteorologist term as a “tornado outbreak.”

A National Weather Service assessment is tentatively set for Monday, at which time there will be a determination as to what took actually place.

The system, which hit just before midnight Friday, struck several locations seemingly at once, with the worst destruction reported on Highways U and T, and areas north and south of Naylor, causing hundreds of homes to be without power.

There were also severe damages in neighboring Butler and Wayne Counties, as well as other areas of Missouri.

Residents woke Saturday to a different world that looked eerily similar to what they saw last May. Uprooted trees, some of which fell in the same locations as last year, brought more devastation, more lost property, more close calls.

On Ripley-Butler County line road, about five miles north of Naylor, Jared Stamps experienced the loss of his home, and nearly his life.

Stamps told his family he was laying on his couch when the storm hit. He went to the floor, and his couch was flipped and landed on top of him as the rest of his mobile home was carried away.

Several other neighbors also had huge losses, but ultimately are thankful today to be alive.

Just up the road from the Stamps property, high winds tore the roof off the home of Juanita Dugger, and a section of roof off the structure of her nearest neighbor to the north.

A stone’s throw south, an estimated 20 uprooted trees fell on a woman’s property, merely puncturing her roof, but crushing her car and her well house.

Total loss of homes due to high winds were also reported on Highways U and T, where fallen trees on roads cut off access for several hours.

As is often the case in a caring community such as this one, there was much activity as “Good Samaritans” who were spared from the calamity were out and about checking on the well being of their neighbors, lending a hand and offering assistance.