Tornado damages Civil War landmark

Darren Clark saw something Saturday night he will never forget.

“I was home at the time I saw the funnel,” said Clark. “It was coming down Mill Street. It happed at 6:22 p.m. on Saturday, because I looked at my watch.”

The quiet town of Newtonia, population of a little more than 200, was devastated with a tornado late Saturday night, one day before Mother’s Day.

“This is the sixth (tornado) in seven years — we have been lucky so far,” Clark said. “We have not had any major damage (to the house), but you have to walk around the house. Most of our outbuildings are on the side of his house (facing east).”
Shortly after the storm hit, residents were assessing damage to the town. Basically, every street in Newtonia had damage of either downed power lines, trees, roofs, and other debris. Adding to the frustration, access to the town was blocked.

“No one hurt, that we know of. We walked around town,” added Clark, who lives at 855 Mill Street. “This is the worst tornado that we have had. We have had about 12 trees (uprooted) in the last eight years. We are thankful that everyone is OK.”

Clark’s next door neighbor, Donnie Mitchell, stood outside of his front door looking at the clouds, trying to see if another storm was going to hit Newtonia.

“Do you see my car? It was sitting straight, and  (the tornado) moved it sideways,” said Mitchell. “It blew the garage door in. Look at my shop — it blew out the whole back wall.”

Anita Oxendine, her mother, Colleen, and other family members were not at home at the time, but were in Neosho.

“We were at my nephew’s wedding in Neosho,” remarked Anita. “I heard the sirens go off in Neosho. My son’s friend called and told us that the roof was off of our house (in Newtonia), so we came home.”

When they arrived, a huge tree was down on a part of their house at 145 Mize Street. The tree went down on the north side of their house, actually the garage.

“Luckily, there was no one at home,” Colleen said. “It is going to be hard to replace our only home, but at least the material things can be replaced. Human lives can’t.”

The Oxendine’s house has been in their family for around 45 years.
Moving up to the east end of town, Tammy Bachelor also heard the tornado.

“My ears were popping,” Bachelor said. “I grabbed my dog and headed for the nearest quiet place that I could find — I hid in the closet with my dog.”

Viewing at the damage nearly an hour after the tornado hit, she looked at her house.

“As far as the whole structure of the house, I got lucky,” Bachelor said. “Structure wise, it is still standing. This the second (tornado) that my house has withstood, I don’t want another one.”

She has lived in the house for 12 years.

“This is worst than the last one that came through (July 4 2004),” said Bachelor.

Other damage included cars with trees on them, broken windshields, broken windows, and even a part of Newtonia’s Civil War history was damaged – the two-story Ritchey Mansion, located in the center of town on Mill Street. The mansion, which was used as both headquarters and a working hospital during the 1862 and 1864 battles suffered damage to the roof, including a sizeable hole in the west part. Ironically, late Thursday, President George Bush signed into law Public Law 110-229. That law authorizes a study by the National Park Service to determine the feasibility of either creating a new Civil War battlefield at Newtonia or bringing those battlefield lands under the management of the Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield near Springfield.

Emergency crews and firefighters – from as far away as Pierce City – came to help out the residents of Newtonia. Power in the town was completely off, and crews were working to clear the roads and other debris. As for  the residents, the crews notified them to leave their homes, seeking shelter at the emergency shelters or with family members who had power.

The future?

Newtonia and Stark City have no warning sirens such as Neosho has. And Clark said he would definitely like to see something done about it.

“I think that they need to do something about a warning system out here,” said Clark.