**PRESS RELEASE**
Good Morning Howell County,
Across Howell County this morning we are seeing the full scale of the devastation from last night’s tornadoes. We are asking onlookers and sightseers to stay clear of the areas affected by these storms. Many of our fellow neighbors have lost everything and have a long road to recovery. Multiple homes are completely destroyed and dozens more have been damaged to some extent. We still have numerous roads completely blocked and power lines down across much of the southern and eastern portions of Howell County. Please do not make these dangerous situations worse than they already are.
If you are offering assistance in the cleanup and recovery efforts, we ask you to coordinate with Fire Department Districts in which you reside or will be working with or with the Sheriff’s Office Incident Command Center. Please do not self-deploy. We need to coordinate our efforts in order to most effectively aid in the cleanup and recovery process.
We are in contact with Convoy of Hope, American Red cross and are working to get temporary shelters open now. We will update on this as more information becomes available.
Thank you to the Howell County Deputies, Howell County Road and Bridge, Missouri Department of Conservation, Missouri State Highway Patrol, Howell Oregon Electric, fire departments from West Plains, Willow Springs, Lanton, Caulfield, Moody and our citizens and neighbors who have assisted thus far.
Respectfully,
MATT ROBERTS
Sheriff, OSN 276
County of Howell
