Many of us were around for the storms that tore through the states of Kansas and Missouri yesterday evening. Honestly, I was asleep for all of it, so I did not realize how intense the storm really was. Last semester I attended Pittsburg State University, and I was on their texting list in case in emergencies or school closings needed to be announced. I do not still attend that college seeing as I am enrolled in classes here at MSSU, but I do still get the texting alerts that Pitt State sends out. This morning at around 5:30 a.m. I received one of those messages confirming that the university was going to be closed today due to storm damages. This message made me fear that a tornado reached the town of Pittsburg since I have many friends that still attend the college there. Even though there was not a tornado to my knowledge, this video on the webpage link shows the damages that the town did have. Here is a photograph of the motel when first driving into Pittsburg.
Not only did the Pittsburg, KS area get hit pretty hard in the storms last night, but so did many other towns including everyone's favorite tourist town, Branson, MO. In Branson many homes have been completely destroyed as well as many injuries. According to this article, there were 14 tornado reports across Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Illinois all in one night. Even though these storms were relatively small compared to the tornado that tore Joplin apart last May, they are not something to be ignored. There were many, many families effected by the harsh weather last night with many that lost their homes. Harveyville, a town in Kansas, has approximately 40% of the town suffering from some sort of damage.
These storms already occurring make me wonder if our mild winter is something we are going to have to pay for in the Spring months. I certainly hope not since these kinds of storms are dangerous and sometimes deadly. I just pray that whatever damages happen everyone can stay safe through whatever happens. I also hope that the towns that were effected last night will pull together and get everything fixed up like Joplin has. It is awesome to see how everyone has pulled together here and gotten buildings and homes back up so quickly. I realize there is still a lot of damage done to this town, but over time it will all look good as new.
I was so sad to hear about Branson. My family was just down there two weekends ago. It is a very sentimental place for me since my husband and I go there on almost every anniversary we had. The tornado tore through the landing and one of the main strips where the theatres are located. I'm hoping it didn't affect silver dollar city.
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts are with all of the places effeted by these storms. It took me 3 years of being a mom to not freak out as soon as strong storms were coming this way. Unfortunately, all the scaredness has come flying back. I'm happy to hear that the death toll isn't over 10, but still feel for those who passed. Hopefully there aren't very many more of those storms to come!
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