RAYTOWN, Mo. — The National Weather Service said based on preliminary data an EF-0 tornado hit parts of Raytown Wednesday evening with winds up to 84 miles an hour.
The path was 0.1 miles but it left behind moderate damage.
Piece by piece, trimming crews took apart a massive white oak that toppled into the home of Gina Kirkham’s parents.
“The whole house shook really, really, bad and the next thing they knew the neighbors over here were pulling them out for safety,” Kirkham told 41 Action News.
The 150-year-old tree destroyed the living room and narrowly missed the bedroom where Kirkham’s parents were as tornado sirens blared.
In the immediate aftermath, they rescued one of the family pets. On Thursday, they called in the professionals for the other.
“[We] had the fire department come and get the cat that was all the way upstairs because we couldn’t get to the cat,” Kirkham said.
They also called Steve Strauss to help clean up this mess.
The owner of Classic Tree Care told 41 Action News he’s walked up to at least four different homes Thursday with trees on top them including one at 70th and Raytown Road.
“We were in the basement I heard some thumping around,” Eric Duffy, who lives next door said.
Duffy called 911 and went to see if there was anyone inside.
“Tried looking through the door, knocking on the door, couldn’t raise anybody. Thank god he wasn’t home,” Duffy said.
The homeowner told 41 Action News the tree knocked down power lines and destroyed the kitchen ceiling.
“You just hate to see this happening to anybody,” Duffy said. “We’re all just working stiffs, we ain’t got a lot of money.”
Which is why Strauss shared an important tip.
“Be aware that there are people out there that are going to say that they’re capable of doing things that they can’t. If a guy shows up without equipment, just turn them away,” Strauss said.
