A tornado blasted through a community in Vernon County, Missouri, on Wednesday morning, destroying and damaging houses and businesses.
The damage to Nevada, Missouri, was “substantial,” according to Nevada City Manager Gary Edwards. Officials reported one injury and no deaths just before noon Wednesday.
“The damage is extensive,” Edwards explained. “This cleaning will take weeks, months, or possibly longer. It’s going to be a huge task.”
Nevada, which has a population of over 8,000, is approximately 100 miles south of Kansas City.
According to Edwards, tornado sirens went off at 7:30 a.m. Fortunately, he added, the tornado “skipped and hopped,” hitting parts of town and not remaining on the ground. The storm tore roofs off buildings, wrecked houses and businesses, and brought down a “massive” swath of trees, he added.
Evergy said that around 4,800 consumers in the region were without electricity.
“Evergy’s teams are in Nevada assessing the damage and beginning repairs,” said Shane Batchelder, a spokesperson for the company, via email. “We will finalize our restoration strategy when our team conducts a thorough damage assessment. People in the vicinity are advised to keep a safe distance of at least 30 feet from any downed power lines.
Damage in Nevada, Missouri
Erin Stewart claimed she was heading into town when the storm arrived and worried the severe gusts might tip her car.
“It was the sideways rain, debris, the power flashes from the transformers and the lines going across the road,” she told me. “It was quick.”
Stewart works in a chiropractic clinic near East Austin Boulevard, a major thoroughfare through town, and says the company was fortunate not to sustain severe damage. Other firms fared considerably worse, she claimed.
“W e were right in the middle of it, and our office got lucky,” she told me. “We have a damaged front door, shingles that have been torn off, and trees that have fallen behind it but not on the structure. “We got lucky there.”
National Weather Service report
According to a National Weather Service storm report, the tornado track was recorded from the south across the east side of Nevada and may have extended southwest through Moundville, where further damage was observed.
The meteorological service reported that many semi-trucks were toppled on Interstate 49.
Officials are determining the breadth of the storm track and will make an evaluation based on factors such as its course and width, according to Kelsey Angle, a meteorologist with the meteorological service’s Springfield office.
“Right now we’re in the process of doing a damage survey and we’ll have more information this evening,” he informed us.
Further heavy weather this week might hinder cleaning operations.
“Strong to severe thunderstorms are going to be possible throughout the rest of the week across southwest and south-central and southeast Missouri,” according to Angle. “We expect some rounds of strong to severe thunderstorms, and as we go into Friday, Saturday and early Sunday, flooding will be occurring.”
