Sundays Storms

[CaptainT16]

Just wondered if everyone made it through the storms okay? Living in Wichita, woke up to the sound of thunder, but lasted around 30 minutes if that. Was looking at the storm reports for the MO area and sounds pretty rough around that area. Praying that everyone made it through with little or no damage and no injuries to anyone in the area.

[Kansas Fly Fisher]

S.E. Kansas survived! Had a lot of rain and wind with some pretty good size hail. A few tornado's sighted but I don't believe any real damage from them. Some power lines down from the wind and some hail damage. We made it through with no damage here in Erie. Hope everyone else was as lucky.

John

[Danoinark]

Got lucky here...the storm that came out of Ok into Benton County then headed my way ended up moving into Missouri...not good for them...at one time I think there were at least 8 twisters on the ground..that had to be around 11pm.. At 2 am it hit here, high winds, rain and hail. No damage that I can tell.

Dano

[Phil Lilley]

KY3-

BRANSON, Mo. -- The National Weather Service confirmed two F-0 tornadoes touched down in Taney County on Saturday night. The storms caused limited damage and knocked out power for parts of Branson.

The Shepherd of the Hills Expressway was closed for most of the day Sunday because of downed power lines. The Branson Tower hotel suffered serious damage. Sixty rooms suffered water damage. Vinyl siding was torn off by strong winds and hail.

Witnesses say they were caught off guard by the quick development of the storm. Surveyors from the National Weather Service said the first tornado tracked from near Table Rock State Park to Gretna Road in Branson.

A second track stretched from Forsyth to Taneyville. That storm damaged trees and powerlines. Surveyors measured the track of the tornado 130 yards wide with a path 300 yards long.

The NWA also reported an F-0 tornado touched down in Douglas County, approximately 11 miles south of Mountain Grove. A trailer was picked up and flipped. The tornado was 75 yards wide with a path length of 200 yards.

An F-0 tornado was also recorded in Phelps County in the Elk Prairie and Winkler areas. The tornado was 35 yards wide with a path of 50 yards.

F-0 is the lowest designation for a tornado, which typically can be rated F-0 to F-5. In rare instances, a tornado could have a higher designation than F-5.

Springfield NewsLeader

http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...ING01/303130001

Dozens injured in Ozarks tornado outbreak; Homes reported destroyed across region

Large hail and tornadoes reported touching down in Springfield, throughout Ozarks.

News-Leader staff and wire reports

A string of violent storms sent Ozarkers and others across the state scrambling for shelter from high wind, large hail and tornadoes a second night in a row.

At least one person was believed dead and 22 were injured in the Springfield region overnight, the National Weather Service reported this morning.

Marionville, Billings and Nixa were among cities that appeared most damaged by the storm, said meteorologist Megan Terry. .

Severe storms headed northeast across the Christian County panhandle overnight, Christian County Emergency Management Director Phil Amtower said.

Portions of Clever, Billings and Nixa were affected by the storms, he said.

He estimated 30 homes were destroyed in the Clever area, 30 homes in north Nixa and six to 10 homes in Billings.

Three people were transported to a local hospital with minor injuries related to the storm, he said.

Red Cross personnel are in north Nixa this morning assisting individuals, Amtower said. Christian County officials will start a damage assessment this morning, he said.

The weather service received several reports of tornadoes overnight and will conduct surveys today to determine how many may have touched down, she said.

The damage assessment is also occurring today in Lawrence County.

Law enforcement reported serious damage in the rural Marionville area. A dispatcher said there was one unconfirmed fatality in the county, but was uncertain whether it was storm-related.

John Campbell, an emergency management officer with the state Emergency Management Agency in Jefferson City, said at least five people statewide were killed.

"There have been a number of injuries and deaths reported with the storm," he said.

He did not have a feel for how many counties statewide were affected.

"It's one the larger disasters we've seen in terms of how scattered it is around the state. From Saturday night through today we've had wave after wave of storms hit," Campbell said.

Among the dead: A woman was killed Sunday night when a tornado hit her mobile home near Sedalia. Late Saturday night, a married couple was killed when a twister hurled their pickup truck beneath a propane tank as they drove along a rural stretch of U.S. 61 in Perry County, about 80 miles south of St. Louis.

Storms thundered through the Springfield region beginning after dark. One of the first confirmed tornadoes of the evening was spotted in Neosho about 9:45. From then through early morning, emergency and law officials struggled to cope with dozens of reports from multiple places of damage including power failures, hail and wind damage and destroyed buildings.

Stokely Farm, which endured massive damage from the May 4, 2003, tornado, was again slammed Sunday night. An undetermined number of horses at the Christian County farm were killed, and the stable — which was only recently rebuilt — was destroyed again.

"It's just terrible," said Pat Klos, mother of Stokely Farm owner David Stokely. "It is just like it was (in '03) all over again.

"This is the worst (series of storms) I've seen since 2003," Joye McElwee, Greene County Emergency Management director, said Sunday.

Debbie Amtower, spokeswoman for Christian County Emergency Management, said officials last night did not have a clear picture of damage yet, but had reports of damage at Christian County AA and U.S. 160, north and west of Clever and areas along Christian County ZZ.

Terry said there were "so many (tornadoes)."

"It's hard to keep track. Everything is very preliminary right now," Terry said.

Injuries were reported at the intersection of 151 and 800 in Cedar County, she said.

A home was destroyed along Lawrence County ZZ north of Marionville.

A tornado touched down in Republic, and a home was destroyed near P highway, Terry said.

Another tornado hit Christian County about 10:56 p.m.

The Hickory County Sheriff's Department reported it had rescue workers in the Carson's Corners and Pittsburg areas, but it did not have an assessment of damage when last contacted last night.

Homes were destroyed in Pittsburgh in Hickory County around 10:25 p.m., Terry said.

Ping-pong size hail was pounding homes at Prairie View Heights on the northeast edge of Battlefield.

Power was out at Fair Grove and across the area.

Traffic lights were out in Springfield.

There were reported injuries in El Dorado Springs, Terry said.

"I have no idea what the injuries were," Terry said. "No idea on the ratings right now — we have to do a damage survey."

Officials in Cedar and Hickory counties were not available for comment.

At least two tornadoes were confirmed Saturday in the Ozarks.

Andy Foster, meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said Sunday that two short-track F-0 tornadoes were confirmed from Table Rock State Park to Merriam Woods, and from Forsyth to Taneyville.

Most of the damage reported was confined to downed trees and power lines.

"We did have a tree on a house in Branson that was the most significant damage," Foster said.

He did not know of any injuries caused by the Saturday tornadoes.

Doug Cramer, National Weather Service meteorologist, said most of the reported damage in the area was caused by hail.

There were reports of damage caused by golf ball-size hail driven by winds in excess of 70 miles an hour, Cramer said.

"There were several people who experienced large hail that was driven into the siding of their homes," Cramer said. "Whenever you get hail that large and it's driven by strong winds, it makes it even more destructive, and that's what was tearing up the homes."

In northwest Arkansas, a tornado touched down Sunday in Bentonville, doing heavy damage to several homes, authorities said. No injuries had been reported as midnight approached.

A tornado reportedly also touched down at Centerton, about four miles to the west.

The storm system struck shortly after 10 p.m.

Winds also inflicted damage on hangars at the Bentonville airport, according to broadcast reports.

[FishinBC]

Okay, we weathered our first tornado! We live in Rogers, AR and the path was just north of us. Lots of noise, lots of wind and lots of sirens. Having been shaken out of bed in So Calif earthquakes and not liking that feeling at all, it was nice to have a little warning of a tornado ahead of time.

We all crawled into the tub DH, me, our 18 year old and two border collies, that made it rather interesting. Our son was very nervous, Ryan is a high functioning autistic. Once I reminded him of the earthquakes with no warning, he relaxed a great deal. It's also very hard on MOM when I am scared to death and have to remain calm to keep him calm.

Here at work, a co worker with a young family lost their home last night. All of them are safe with no injuries, please pray for the Harrell's and thank the Lord that they are all safe!

[CaptainT16]

Okay, we weathered our first tornado! We live in Rogers, AR and the path was just north of us. Lots of noise, lots of wind and lots of sirens. Having been shaken out of bed in So Calif earthquakes and not liking that feeling at all, it was nice to have a little warning of a tornado ahead of time.

We all crawled into the tub DH, me, our 18 year old and two border collies, that made it rather interesting. Our son was very nervous, Ryan is a high functioning autistic. Once I reminded him of the earthquakes with no warning, he relaxed a great deal. It's also very hard on MOM when I am scared to death and have to remain calm to keep him calm.

Here at work, a co worker with a young family lost their home last night. All of them are safe with no injuries, please pray for the Harrell's and thank the Lord that they are all safe!

They will be in our prayers! Sad news for many folks in that area. I have been through a couple and have seen a couple, once you see one, words just can't explain one. You see them on TV all the time, but once you see one live in person it's just unbelievable.

[retroaction man]

I live in Rogers as well. We had about 65 to 70 mile an hour winds (approx).

Had to get our 3 year old up and i grabed my 17 month old son in the closet.

He didnt even woke up. I didnt see any tornado but the weather man said take shelter so i did so. the sounds outside were scary for about 10 min. After that the sun came out and it was a nice afternoon. Glad to hear everyone is safe... Its only the begining.

[ollie]

Here in Neosho the sirens sounded and I think I heard the neighbor say here son had called and said one touched down south of town, but I never heard anything else so I don't really know how reliable that info was. My house and family are ok and so is everyone else I know in town, so I'm not to sure if that may have just been strong winds she was talking about.

[ecce38]

I was heading back home to Springdale from BTW on Saturday afternoon and ran into a horrible hail storm (some say an embedded tornado). The hail was only dime size, but the intensity was unbelivable. I thought my windshield was going to break. I kid you not, the temperature dropped 20 degrees in 10 minutes. Check out the video I made after I had pulled over. Play it twice. The first time is full of pauses. On the second play you get the full effect.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzZTUUOlbvs

[Greg]

My family's house just south of Springfield was fine. But a friend I work with at St. John's that lives near Aurora - his house was completely destroyed. A total loss.

Greg