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Quick-hitting tornadoes and straight-line winds with hurricane force swept through the Kansas City area overnight, damaging trees, power lines and buildings.
No fatalities were reported but there were some injuries from flying debris and glass, officials said.
Winds sheared off trees, buckled utility poles, moved some houses off foundations and shattered others, primarily in Gladstone and northeast in the area where Kansas City, North, and Liberty meet. Several roads are closed and numerous homes and businesses are without power.
A team from the National Weather Service surveyed the damage today and determined that in the Northland, tornadoes estimated at EF 2 or EF 3 on the Enhanced Fujita scale had touched down in several neighborhoods, said Suzanne Fortin, science officer. Tornados of that strength can have winds from 111 to 165 miles per hour.
The winds lifted two houses off foundations, tore holes in walls and ripped apart roofs and trim in the Brookridge Estates subdivision of Kansas City, North, near Missouri 291 and North Stark Avenue.
“I didn’t wake up until I heard my tree snap,” said Donna Donovan, 8523 N.E. 109th St. “The clock said 2:06.”
Donovan lives in the Brookridge Estates subdivision of Kansas City, North, where 15 homes were severely damaged and many others had significant damage, authorities said. At least two homes were blown off foundations in that area near Missouri 291 and North Stark Avenue.
“There are homes on that side of the road that look to me like they’re destroyed,” said Pat Moseley, a maintenance supervisor for the Missouri Department of Transportation.
Cindy Hauser and her two children, ages 1 and 4, escaped flying glass during the storm and then huddled in a room for an hour. Her four-year old had fled her room just before the winds blew out her windows and flipped over her bed.
“We ended up going into a room under the stairs,” Hauser said, “I just stayed there until the police found me. We didn’t have any shoes. There was glass everywhere.”
When daylight came, Hauser picked through family possessions at 8128 N.E. 109th Lane. She wore a police sweatshirt that officers had given her. Hauser’s husband was out of town and other family members had rushed to her aid. Insurance adjusters had already given her some more bad news about their home.
“They told me it’s going to be condemned,” shesaid.
Her father-in-law, Dan Hauser, lives a mile away. He said the winds had the tornado-like freight train sound.
“We thought our house was going to blow off its foundation,” said Stephanie Kimmel, another neighborhood resident. “Our windows were rattling and everything was blowing everywhere.”
The winds also snapped off seven wooden utility poles along Missouri 291, which is closed north of Stark Avenue. Utility crews are clearing downed power lines and planning to replace poles later today, officials said.
Gladstone’s City Council conducted an emergency meeting today to deal with damage to 200 residences and 15 businesses. Mayor Mark Revenaugh said the city is requesting state and federal emergency aid.
“It will help residents repair damaged homes and help restore their lives,” Revenaugh said.
Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt this morning activated the state’s emergency operations plan, making state agencies available to assist in local emergency response efforts.
“My first concern is always for the safety and well being of Missouri families when severe weather threatens our state,” Blunt said in a statement. “With that concern in mind we have moved quickly this morning to ensure that the state is doing everything within our power to mobilize state resources and ensure that they are easily accessible to our communities who are just now beginning to get a sense of the damage from the latest outbreak of severe weather.”
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