Cleanup starts in Johnson County after overnight tornadoes damage Kansas City metro
READ MORE
What to know after Kansas City-area tornadoes
The small storms that swept through the metro area early Wednesday morning caused some damage and power outages. Get updates here and advice on what to do now.
Expand All
Ty Vaughn woke up early Wednesday morning to her boyfriend urging her to get downstairs.
The thunder and pounding rain woke her boyfriend up before the tornado warning on his phone did, she said.
“It was quite dramatic,” said Vaughn, 28. “As we were running downstairs, all of our electricity went off.”
The tornado sirens started once they were already in the basement. By that time, she said, it seemed the worst of the storm was already on top of them.
On Wednesday morning, as she stood in her yard off Wornall Road, near Colonial Presbyterian Church — which saw considerable damage to its roof — Vaughn said she was concerned with how little notice they were given.
“The warning here was really bad,” she said, later adding: “That is not enough time; I mean, that’s like a Joplin scenario where they had no warning.”
She and her boyfriend took a day off work to assess what needed repair, including some damage to their gutter and shingles. The worst of it was a huge tree limb that landed in her yard, but missed her car. The power was still out on their side of the street around 7:30 a.m.
Across the way, Joel Holland, 36, had electricity. But he also had a huge tree down across his yard, extending all the way across 96th Street.
Several hours earlier, Holland was on his iPad having trouble sleeping last night when his phone blared.
His wife was startled awake beside him. They’re both from the area and used to severe storms, so they didn’t take the alarm very seriously at first.
About two or three minutes later, the sheets of rain started pounding the house.
“OK, maybe this is something we need to be aware of,” Holland thought.
Then they heard a huge thud, followed by what he described as “chaotic white noise.” He’s still not sure if the noise was the tree falling or lighting striking it.
They immediately ran to check on their 20-month-old daughter down the hall. Holland later learned a large branch had landed on the roof above her bedroom. Thankfully, she was safe.
Holland stood in front of the tree around 8 a.m. Wednesday, talking his boss through the damage. He called in from work to take care of the tree, which was blocking the street from any vehicle traffic.
Holland said in his lifetime in the Midwest, this is the most serious damage he’s seen from a storm.
“I’ve never had something to this scale. In that regard, I’m a little out of my depth, but at the same time, as long as my wife and daughter are fine, we can deal with it as it comes.”
The National Weather Service issued the tornado warning at 1:21 a.m. Wednesday for northeastern Johnson County and southwestern Jackson County. The weather service said at 1:20 a.m., a tornado-producing storm was located over Prairie Village, moving east at 45 mph.
“A tornado is on the ground,” it said. “Take cover now!”
At 1:25 a.m., NWS Kansas City tweeted that a “radar confirmed” tornado near Leawood was moving east. Around the same time, a tornado warning was issued for Kearney and Excelsior Springs. And scanner traffic said that the Kansas City Fire Department station at I-435 and Holmes was reporting 75 mph winds.
At 1:36 a.m., scanner traffic reported a tornado touchdown at I-35 and Highway 92 in Kearney.
At 2:01 a.m., NWS Kansas City said the severe threat was “winding down” for much of the metro.
JR Weber, general manager of the Jack Stacks location off Metcalf Avenue, said while he received a scary call in the middle of the night, they are back to cooking up meat and will be open for business for lunch.
The call about the storm came at about 3 a.m., from the production team, which comes in early to start lighting fires each morning. They had crews out quickly to check on any damage.
Weber said their surveillance cameras caught the high speed wind coming through the area.
“Pretty wild,” he added.
While many trees and branches came down with the storm, the building wasn’t damaged.
He said their Lenexa location seems to be okay as well.
“We got real lucky today,” he said. “We’re excited to open up and still be a part of the community today.”
Shortly after 10 a.m., 42,725 Evergy customers remained without power in the metro.
The National Weather Service in Kansas City said Wednesday morning that a damage survey team was being dispatched to the area hit hardest by the storm, from 95th Street in Lenexa to Buckner, in eastern Jackson County, Missouri.
About five or six small tornadoes formed as the storm’s line moved east, meteorologist in charge Julie Adolphson said, but that number is still being confirmed by the team. The tornadoes were brief in nature and did not have a long track.
This story was originally published June 8, 2022 at 10:07 AM.
