Tornado damages store, homes in Clarkton, Mo.

CLARKTON, Mo. (KFVS) - An EF0 tornado struck the Clarkton community just before 7 p.m. on Sunday, tearing the roof off a local shop, shattering glass and scattering debris throughout the area.

Flash Market manager Kari Brawner said one employee was working at the time of the storm but was evacuated safely before it hit.

“The storms were blowing in; I had an employee working. She called and said, ‘Hey, I’m going to shut down the store,’” Brawner said. “I told her we had to wait on the sirens, and within three minutes of the sirens, I got her out of the store, and then within like two or three minutes the storm hit.”

Brawner said Flash Market plays a central role in the local economy.

“This is all that Clarkton has,” Brawner said. “We don’t have a grocery store; we have a small dollar store. I mean, the town keeps us afloat.”

The tornado also damaged homes across the community, with roofs partially ripped off, debris in the streets and at least one large tree uprooted.

Community member Jessica Robbins said she was driving home when the storm hit.

“As we turned on Cruise Street, we had seen the transformer explode,” Robbins said. “A few minutes late,r we had walked outside to see what had blown up, and noticed the side of the house and the carport were gone, the boat got hit, the windshield of the side-by-side was gone.”

Robbins said the damage to lower-income residents was particularly difficult to witness.

“You take the lower-income family members, families in this town, and you see the damage that they sustained, and it’s heartbreaking,” Robbins said.

Brawner said the store plans to rebuild and reopen.

“Bear with us while we go through this process, because we are all in a rebuilding stage—some of us in our 20s, some of us in our 50s—but we will make it,” Brawner said.

Damage assessments are ongoing in Dunklin County, according to the National Weather Service. The tornado was confirmed on Tuesday, March 17.