CAPE GIRARDEAU, MISSOURI – Two tornadoes tore through the Cape Girardeau area and across the mighty Mississippi River to the Illinois banks, leaving several communities affected in the wake of the storm’s path.
Randy Colyer, 60, sheltered in his basement just up the road from his farm in East Cape Girardeau, Illinois, while loud noises roared overhead. He later emerged from safety following the end of the storm to find his entire shed gone, and notable damage to his farming equipment.
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According to the National Weather Service in Paducah, at around 7 p.m. on April 2, 2025, an EF1 tornado began near the Dalhousie Golf Club and moved northeast. The storm then crossed the Mississippi into East Cape Girardeau on the Illinois side of the river where it crossed paths with the Colyer family’s farm. The tornado reached peak winds of 100 mph causing tree damage and minor structural damage to the area.
The next morning on April 3, dozens of neighbors, friends and family brought equipment and their helping hands to clear out the damage. Giant claws of excavators clamp around sheets of metal exterior siding and wood panels, carrying them to piles taller than the machines themselves.
It’s the time of the season when the fourth-generation farmer would be preparing to plant acres of soybeans and a bit of corn in his fields. After the tornado, a lot of his machinery will need repairs.
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“It’s not a good time for it to happen because as soon as it dries up, it’s planting season,” Colyer said. “A lot of good friends and neighbors helping, so hopefully – well they’re coming to pick up some of the equipment right now and they’re gonna take it and start working on it to repair it and get it back to us as soon as they can.”
Three to four years ago, when a storm tore through Randy Lambdin’s farm, Colyer was there with helping hands to clean up the damage, and now Lambdin is doing the same. Driving one of the many excavators at work, Lambdin came from 20 miles north to help Colyer – even calling him the night of the storm to check in on him.
Across the river, near Delta and Advance, Missouri, Sheila Jansen sheltered at her daughter’s house in the basement while a tornado destroyed her home.
According to the National Weather Service in Paducah, at around 6:30 p.m. on April 2, 2025, an EF2 tornado began northeast of Advance, Missouri and moved around 14.8 miles along Highway 25 towards Delta. Damaging nearly 200 structures, wind speeds reached 125 mph. One death was reported when Whitewater fire chief Garry Moore died due to weather related causes, according to Missouri State Highway Patrol Sergeant Clark Parrott.
Jansen’s stove was left outside where the garage would have been and the brick siding to the house lay scattered across the yard. The mid-day sky poured into the living room through a giant hole where the roof used to be.
A group of young men, including Nick Miller and Logan Watkins, pulled up to Jansen’s home without even knowing the owner. They sawed down big trees and stacked limbs into piles despite losing chains from their chainsaws and getting them stuck in the large tree trunks that lay around the property. The group went through several cans of gas while helping around the property.
“We just came out to help a neighboring town and we saw it on the news and heard it from some buddies and just decided to come out and help and offer our time,” Miller said. “Everybody needs a little help in times like this.”
Jansen’s sister, Pam Horrell, arrived at the home and walked through the damage, looking at all the holes in the ceiling and insulation that covered the floor. She stood in the blue painted main bedroom for a moment, which went unscathed, looking around.
“I’m just grateful she was in a safe place,” Horrell said.
Editors Note: This story has been updated after the release of the NWS tornado surveys to include more information
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