A SMT News Report

PARMA, Mo. - Tuesday's storms brought some unwelcome consequences in one small New Madrid community.

In the height of Tuesday evening’s storms – at 9:55 p.m. – an unconfirmed twister swept through Parma, leaving behind damage to the City Hall and Community Building.

Parma Chief of Police Trish Cullen reported that a funnel cloud was spotted a few minutes before 10 p.m. on the south end of the community.

“Tree are down and power lines down,” Cullen said Wednesday morning. “Part of the roof at the Community Center and City Hall was damaged.”

The Community Building was not only home for city offices and the place for community gatherings, but was the depository for much of the community’s history. The collection includes photographs from the old Parma school – priceless photos of the community’s past.


But Cullen said that the photos had a crew of “guardians” the night of the storm.

“The police officer on duty got volunteers to come in last night and remove and save all the old high school pictures in the community hall,” saving that piece of community heritage, she said.

Parma residents and officials are assessing the damage to City Hall and other buildings from Tuesday's storms. The high winds blew off part of the roof on the at the Community Building’/City Hall. In addition, a vacant brick building at the corner of Main and Broadway was among the buildings damaged in the storm.

Photo 1 Above: The old pool hall in downtown Parma was just one of the buildings that suffered damage as a result of the storms in the region Tuesday night.

Photo 2 Above: The Old Shaw Place in Parma suffered damage as the strong winds toss the carport against the house. (Pictures supplied by Daryl Ramsey).