KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Calls of down power lines was common for fire departments across the metro Wednesday on what shaped up to be a rare weather day.
Powerful winds blew in hours before the mid-December storm swept through the metro.
In Independence, a carport landed in a backyard from five houses away.
"A lot of trees into power lines. We're running power lines calls right and left right now," said Jason Rhodes, spokesperson for the Overland Park Fire Department.
Around 3 p.m, a tree slammed onto a house at 72nd Terrace and Lamar in Overland Park. No one was home at the time, but when they showed up, they discovered branches inside their bathroom.
"It's kind of hollowed out, indicating it was probably not a healthy tree — it was either dying or dead," Rhodes said. "And so those types of trees are very susceptible to these big wind storms."
Overland Park Fire canceled all of their training for the day, staffing up as much as they could for the storm that came in fast and furious.
The strong gusts toppled a tree at an apartment complex near West 67th and Nieman in Shawnee.
"It was just windy, and then all of a sudden, that great big crash noise — I thought was a tornado," a tenant said.
About five minutes away, a tree crashed on top of a home's garage.
In a Merriam, a tree took out some Christmas lights.
Across the state line in Liberty, a large tree took down live wires in the middle of North Fairview Road.
“The neighborhood is older and all of the trees. These aren’t the first ones to go down. So every huge storm we wait and see. My neighbors text each other to see how everybody is," said Amy Simmons, a homeowner.
She added that tree trimmers will be out Thursday morning around nine.
Firefighters want to remind the public that when encountering a down power line don’t get near it, don’t touch it and be mindful of things that could be energized because of it — like a fence.
