A Tornado hit our neighborhood today

[MerryPoppins]

How horrible! I lived in Overland Park as a child and many of our relatives and friends still live in the area. We've been contacting everyone and so far they all seem to have dodged the bullet. My prayers are with the people who have lost so much.

I hate storms and still get scared when the sirens blow! The huge May 3rd tornado in Moore, OK a few years ago, just missed us by about a mile. They are such powerful storms!

Michelle, did you by any chance live in Overland Park? My brother's elementary school was damaged when we lived there. He would have been older than you if it was the same school. He might have been 7 or 8 at the time. The same tornado went over our house and I'll never forget it! I saw it from the basement window and my mother was crying. For years I got sick whenever they would say tornado watch after that.

 

[BWVDenise]

The photos are jaw-dropping so I can't even imagine how horrible it is in person. Just horrific.

 

[TIdoublegaER]

I live in Kansas City right between Gladstone and Liberty, north of the Missouri River. The areas in the pics Sonya posted are about 5 min from my house. Overland Park is about 25-30 min. from my house. My mom remembers the Ruskin Heights tornado in '57 (she was 6 at the time). I think there was an elementary school hit during that one in OP. The really freaky thing is the last batch of major tornados to hit the metro was on May 4, 1977. Just a little twilight zone-ish.

Someone was definitely watching over my family yesterday. My sister, who lives in Springfield 3 hours south of us, had a tornado touch down a few blocks away. My cousin's street was on the news. Her house was fine, but right across the street is gone. Missed my SIL by a block. My aunt lives in Carriage Hills in Gladstone - she lost 2 large trees, but the house 2 doors down is gone. It's truly amazing that with all of the family DH and I have in the area, no one received any major damage, just a few trees down.

So far the fatalities are really low - I know there is at least one confirmed, might be a few more - and most of the injuries were minor. Thank goodness for early warning. We took cover about 10-15 min before it struck because we could see we were right in its path. I just wonder about the people who stood outside videotaping it. When the sirens go off or you see one, take cover.

Today, of course, is just a beautiful sunny day.

 

[CourtasanSatine]

Haskell country got hit over the weekend with a F1 so I know what being under the gun is like(all too well thanks to last summer)

TIdoublegaER: no kidding about the sirens

 

[Minnesota!]

Did Lee's Summit get hit? That is where my grandma is, and I am hoping she is alright...

Thanks!!!

 

[TIdoublegaER]

No, Lee's Summit was not hit. They might have gotten some heavy rains and hail though. The tornados pretty much made a northeast line from Kansas City, Kansas through Missouri, north of the Missouri River.

 

[Michelle]

MerryPoppins, YES, I did live in Overland Park at the time! It was April 1966 and the school that got hit was Katherine Carpenter in the Shawnee Mission district. I wasn't there (I was at my babysitter's as I was in morning kindergarten and it hit in the afternoon) but my brother was. Amazingly not a single child was hurt but the school was demolished. I saw it from three blocks away with the other kids at my babysitter's house.

After that I was TERRIFIED of tornadoes and I still have a hard time watching the tornado scene in The Wizard of Oz.

My mom lives in South K.C. and works in Lee's Summit and I'm thankful that there was no major damage there.

TIdoublegaER, glad you're okay!

 

[TLHB70]

I am glad that you are safe. I will definitely be remembering all of the people that were hit in my prayers. Since I have moved here to Oklahoma I am learning a lot more about tornadoes. It has certainly been very close to home for my family these last couple of days. There have been some tornadoes on the ground doing lots of damage all around us. It is all new to me. Since I come from south Louisiana I usually deal with hurricanes. Yes; those are bad, but we at least have a good bit of warning time, evacuating time. I have seen that these tornadoes happen fast and without much warning.

 

[mowsie dreamer]

OMG, those pictures are terrifying. My thoughts and prayers are with all of you. Please stay safe!

 

[Kitty 34]

My thoughts and prayers go out to all who were in the path of those terrible tornados. And to think there's suppose to be another outbreak this evening, farther East.

 

[palmtreegirl]

I don't know if someone can help but we have dear family friends that live in Liberty, MO, how bad was it there?

My mom can't get a hold of them yet and we're really worried. I saw about the twisters on the news but I didn't hear their town mentioned so I came here and then I saw your post and I soon as I saw Liberty my heart dropped. I can't remember the exact name of their street just that they live out on the edge of the golf course of the Liberty Hills Country Club.

My mom is going to try their cell phone when she gets home because she doesn't have it on her now.

Hopefully they're all OK.

Prayers for all hit by the storms.

 

[CourtasanSatine]

what's the difference between a F1 and the rest??

 

[TIdoublegaER]

Palmtreegirl,

Yes, Liberty was heavily damaged, mainly through the middle of town. The middle school off of Kansas Ave lost the roof. The main square downtown suffered serious damage as well as Wm Jewel College. Since there are a lot of above ground power lines, phone lines, etc. you might run into some problems getting through. Keep trying! I do know some of Liberty is still without power.

The Fujita scale is a lot like the Saffir-Simpson scale for Hurricanes. It goes by wind levels. F0-F2, are relatively weak and cause minimal damage. An F3 is up to 206 mph and can take the roof off and destroy weak structures, an F4 goes up to 260ish and will level well-built structures to the foundation. An F5 will destroy everything it is path as well as rip the bark off of trees. The one that hit near us was more than likely an F4-F5, although they probably won't say officially for awhile still.

 

[CourtasanSatine]

TIdoublegaER: thank you,that explains a lot

 

[Poohbear123]

You will all be in my Prayers...Faith

 

[Sonya]

I went to Ruskin High School, but the tornado was before my time. My parents remember it though. It was horrible. I think the difference between then and now is the coverage you get on TV. They can actually pinpoint where they think the twister is and tell the areas that are going to be hit to take cover. Whereas before there was a blanket warning which most ignored b/c they didn't know exactly where the tornado was and they wanted to "see for themselves" (Typical Missourian )

 

[TIdoublegaER]

From what I have been told the local meteorologists were actually pinpointing it down to specific streets that would be hit. I think that is absolutely incredible. I think one reason that the casualty count was so low was because of the early and accurate warnings and people actually heeded them.

Sonya, I know what you mean. We aren't the show-me-state for nothing!

 

[palmtreegirl]

TIdoublegaER- We got a hold of them and they're all OK! They don't have power yet so that's why it was hard to get a hold of them. They said they were very lucky, homes less then 2 miles away were destroyed.

 

[Beth E. (NJ)]

Glad to hear that your family is alright! How scary that must have been.