Kansas City Tornadoes

[Elspode]

Nasty day here in the KC area. A major outbreak of tornadoes, hundreds of homes damaged or destroyed, reports of five deaths, all of it in places I've known all my life. The first outbreak occurred about ten minutes drive west of my office, near the new Kansas Speeday, and tracked northeast across the Missouri River. Major destruction at venerable William Jewell College in Liberty, with trees six feet across and over a hundred years old ripped from the ground like twigs.

I've only received one report of anyone I know personally having been affected, but they lost their roof and their car. No one hurt, thank the Gods.

Send good vibes to us here in the Mo-Kan. Worst storm damage around these parts in my 46 years, possibly on a par with the infamous Ruskin Heights tornado of 1957, but fortunately, with much less loss of life. The warnings were amazing, and the coverage nonstop all day and night long. Weather technology has sure come a long ways since I was a boy.

[Griff]

Take care Patrick.

Ain't technology wonderful?

[xoxoxoBruce]

Saw the pictures on the evening news.
Incredible force! The only reason we survive at all, is Mother Nature USUALLY moves slowly.
Glad to hear you're OK. Be alert and careful.

[Elspode]

Now, a day later, I've heard from a few of my friends who live in the vicinity of the biggest tornado's path. One of them actually saw the tornado coming up the street behind his apartment complex while he was talking on his cell phone in the parking lot. Some damage was sustained by his complex, including what he describes as "someone's roof sticking out of my front door" and his neighbor's apartment having lost its exterior wall.

The loss of life figure has been reduced to a single person...amazing, considering the devastation. The rest of the two-state area did not fair as well, with 22 total deaths reported last time I heard.

I am truly thankful that my family and friends are all safe and sound. So many have lost so much in these parts, and we are indeed blessed.

[elSicomoro]

Apparently, MO has suffered the most deaths thus far. I saw the damage in Pierce City and Stockton on NBC tonight...horrible.

I've been fortunate not to be involved in a tornado, although there were a few close calls, and several hit the St. Louis area during my time there. It's probably the most destructive thing nature throws at us. Perhaps a day will come where scientists can better pinpoint when these storms will occur, although the science is amazing already.

[Elspode]

I've been out of touch all day long due to training for work in Topeka...I hadn't heard that Stockton was hit. I spend a lot of time at Stockton Lake during the summers. I have friends with a sailboat at Orleans Trail Marina there (Orleans Trail is basically *in* the city of Stockton), and Hawker Point campground about ten miles south of the city of Stockton is my favorite campground in the entire state of Missouri.

Guess I'd better give them a call and see how their boat faired.

[Elspode]

I just got off the phone with my friend who berths his sailboat at the marina in Stockton, MO. Apparently, the marina was spared, but he doesn't know 100% because he drove the 2.5 hours down there yesterday only to be turned away at the city limits by the highway patrol.

As I mentioned before, I have been camping at Stockton Lake for nearly 20 years, and I cannot tell you how broken hearted I am at the devastation I've just seen in the pictures and videos online (surprisingly, not much coverage here...it was overshadowed by our own disaster, understandably so). This town is filled with the most friendly, warm people you can imagine. They have all the tourist amenities without losing the small town flavor. For all the beauty there, Stockton Lake is one of the most underutilized lakes in the whole state; that's why I like it there so much. I have spent many a 4th of July watching the Stockton fireworks show, and many a happy hour browsing through the five and dime and other mom and pop establishments, most of which are now utterly destroyed.

Stockton was (is, damn it) a beautiful little town, its last major reconstruction dating back to the Civil War when it was largely destroyed. Its classic town square, surrounding the intersections of Missouri Highways 32 and 39 was a wonderfully restored and preserved example of Midwestern stonework. One of the buildings was once a movie theater which boasted of being the only cave air-conditioned theater in the world (Stockton sits atop a cave, the entrance of which pours forth icy cold water just a couple hundred feet downhill from the square into a wonderful city park). The guy I work with once crawled back into that cave almost a half mile in that very same frigid water.

The Stockton Square is a total ruin now, the buildings mere piles of rubble being finished off by heavy equipment for safety's sake. I weep for Stockton and its residents, both those who died and those who must somehow carry on and rebuild.

http://www.missouri.edu/~jrfbbc/joplin/14-Stockton.jpg

The link above will take you to a picture of what it looked like before Sunday afternoon. This isn't the best picture possible, just the best I could find.

http://www.ksdk.com/news/news_articl...?storyid=40216

This link will take you to a video report from a Springfield, MO TV station.

Sorry to be so maudlin, but I'm very, very sad right now.