Belton tornado damaged homes, downed power lines and trees
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- Belton officials confirmed a reported tornado touchdown caused structural damage to homes.
- Initial reports list downed trees and power lines that caused traffic delays in town.
- More than 4,000 Belton residents were without power as of 6:30 p.m. on Friday.
Residents of a neighborhood off Mullen Road in Belton heard the screaming winds and then came out of their homes to find a swath of what’s believed to be tornado damage Friday evening.
Trees were toppled, and homes on Canal Street, Bienbille Street and Conti Court took significant damage as parts of roofs and siding were sent flying. Debris was scattered across green spaces. Power was knocked out for a swath of homes and businesses in the area as power lines went down.
“I’ve lived in Kansas City my entire life, and I’ve heard many sirens,” said Christy Coratti, whose home took damage that caused a gas leak. “It’s never been this experience. It’s always been a possibility, but then today it was the real thing.”
At a press conference Friday evening, Belton Mayor Norman Larkey said officials believed a tornado touched down in “several” locations in the city around 5 p.m. He said city officials had not received reports of any serious injuries.
“We’ll bounce back from this,” he said. “We’ll clean up, we’ll repair, and we’ll move on.”
Officials said anyone needing assistance can contact the Red Cross at 1-800-RED-CROSS.
“Some roofs (are) partially or almost completely torn off,” City Manager Joe Warren said. “A lot of damage. I would guess that you’re talking dozens of buildings that were affected.”
Belton Fire Department Chief John Sapp said that while no tornado-related injuries have been reported, first responders have received calls from people who were on oxygen supplies and needed assistance because they had lost power.
“Right now, it’s just going to be us going house-to-house through those areas, documenting any damage and seeing if there’s anything else we need to do tonight to stabilize the situation,” he said.
“This really won’t be a one evening event. It’ll take a while to get the town cleaned up,” he said.
Showntezz Talifero told The Star he had been standing in his garage watching the storm roll through when the wind began to pick up. He decided to close his garage door and watched as his opener struggled to close the door against the wind.
“That’s pretty crazy,” he said of the storm. “I’ve never been in a tornado before. Just to see this, happening at my home, it’s kind of crazy.”
Eli Ochsenhirt heard heavy winds for a short period and came outside to find his neighbor’s trailer had been flipped across the street.
“It was maybe a total of a minute and a half I heard the wind,” he said.
This story was originally published April 17, 2026 at 7:23 PM.
