A confirmed tornado over Raymore, Missouri, left residents reeling Friday night as it downed trees, damaged roofs and scattered debris.
The tornado took off pieces of the front of Ralph Clarett’s house in nearby Belton, and opened enough space for water to leak in.
“It’s just ravaged,” said Clarett, who waited out the storm inside with his wife and their two dogs. “I don’t know where I'm going from here, but I know I gotta take care of it, because I’ve gotta get the leaks done.”
Evergy reported more than 11,000 customers without electricity in the immediate aftermath of the storm, while 173 Independence Power and Light customers and 2,400 served by the Board of Public Utilities in Wyandotte County also lost power. Those numbers ticked down as crews were able to travel into hard-hit areas.
Elizabeth Scott walked over to pick up her granddaughter Ava from her home in Belton, parking her car at a nearby Hy-Vee. Emergency responders wouldn’t let her drive in due to the risk of downed power lines.
“All her windows got blown out in the tornado,” Scott said. “Ava doesn’t want to be here, she’s only four and she’s scared, and she’s gonna go to Grandma’s.”
Dakota Smith, Scott’s daughter and Ava’s mother, said she was watching TV in bed with her husband when she got a notification on her phone telling her to take shelter. They hustled Ava into the bathtub with some blankets and stuffed animals.
“It sounded like you were in a wind tunnel, it was insane,” Smith said.
The storm shattered windows in her daughter’s bedroom, the living room and the office — likely also ruining the equipment Smith uses to work from home.
“But we’re just so lucky that we have a roof and walls,” Smith said.
Friday’s wall of heavy storms capped off an intense week of extreme weather. Several tornadoes touched down in east-central Kansas on Monday, leaving a trail of damage in Miami and Franklin counties. And a storm system on Wednesday brought numerous severe thunderstorms to the Kansas City area.
The Friday forecast called for strong winds and potato-sized hail starting around 1 p.m., prompting schools and offices to close early and send people home.
As the storms hit midafternoon, water flooded some roadways and left cars stranded. The Missouri Department of Transportation shut down I-70 at Broadway Avenue in Kansas City, and the agency’s cameras showed standing water on other highways.
Most of the Friday evening storms lined up along a cold front that dropped temperatures in the region. Cooler temperatures are expected on Saturday, with overnight lows falling to the mid-30s and areas of frost possible.
The National Weather Service says next week looks dry, with highs in the 70s.
