Tornadoes hit Kansas City, hundreds of homes damaged (PHOTOS)
At least two tornadoes touched down in Missouri, accompanied by severe storms and areas of large hail that moved east from the Kansas City metro region. No fatalities were reported, and thousands were left without power.
Hundreds of homes and commercial buildings were damaged by tornadoes that pushed through the Kansas City area Monday night, leaving extensive damage and dozens of injuries in eastern Kansas and western Missouri, but no fatalities, according to reports.
Unconfirmed tornado reports were also made to the National Weather Service in Iowa and Illinois.
A friend posted this from Oak Grove Missouri tonight. They're ok but the neighborhood is a mess. @chriswymt@AndrewWYMT@thekynichepic.twitter.com/IoqJoP8A5G
— Scott Feltner (@lexr1racer) March 7, 2017
Missouri towns hit the hardest by severe weather were Oak Grove and Smithville, east and north of Kansas City, respectively. The Kansas suburbs of Leawood and Olathe also received significant damage, AP reported, including at the Johnson County Executive Airport.
#Media staging at JoCo Exec Airport is at KCAC (15325 Pflumm Road). pic.twitter.com/VU7l5pH3cy
— Olathe Fire Dept. (@OlatheFire) March 7, 2017
Kansas City Power & Light reported as many as 130,000 customers were without power at one point late Monday, according to the Kansas City Star. Nearly 9,000 were still without power as of 9:45am CT.
In Oak Grove, nearly 500 homes were damaged amid a tornado's seven-mile path through the town, officials said early Tuesday. About 15 injuries were reported in the town of about 8,000 people.
After #severeweather, damage assessments beginning in the area of Oak Grove MO.
— Gregg Favre (@GreggFavre) March 7, 2017
State & local responders on the scene & working. pic.twitter.com/Fbh8pSgdp2
Our tornado damage survey crews are in the field. One crew sent this photo back from Oak Grove. pic.twitter.com/RtulPVFbc9
— NWS Kansas City (@NWSKansasCity) March 7, 2017
"There were no fatalities," said Carl Scarborough, chief of the Sni Valley Protection District, according to the Star. "It looks like the injuries were minimal. Based on some of the damage I’ve seen, it’s rather amazing."
Photos like this from Oak Grove should serve as motivation to take the Tornado Drill (which will occur at 10 AM today) seriously! pic.twitter.com/kjY9CToyFE
— NWS Kansas City (@NWSKansasCity) March 7, 2017
In Smithville, as many as 25 homes were damaged, but no injuries were reported as of late Monday, police chief Jason Lockridge told AP.
Pictures of storm damage in Smithville. pic.twitter.com/uaYnVj4xXs
— MSHP Troop A (@MSHPTrooperA) March 7, 2017
The tornado in Smithville touched down at about 7:20pm CT, while the tornado in Oak Grove was reported soon after.
Roof gone, lots of damage. Likely #tornado just south of Trimble, #MOpic.twitter.com/ukyElXks1d
— Kholby Martin (@StormChaser220) March 7, 2017
A house in #Leawood is unliveable for one family. This home has the most damage in the area accrd to Fire Chief #stormtrack5pic.twitter.com/8kIorBdWII
— Caroline Sweeney (@CarolineKCTV5) March 7, 2017
Severe storms moved east through Missouri, accompanied by tornado warnings. Widespread tree, power line and structure damage was reported in Arkansas, Iowa, Oklahoma and Wisconsin, according to Accuweather.
See images from possible #tornado damage near Seymour, Iowa: https://t.co/E1iaDR0yKy via @Boydenphotopic.twitter.com/V6NtMIgRcS
— DM Register Visuals (@RegisterVisuals) March 7, 2017