Tornadoes touched down in Northland, National Weather Service says

Quick-hitting tornadoes and straight-line winds with hurricane force swept through the Kansas City area overnight, damaging trees, power lines and buildings.

No fatalities were reported but there were some injuries from flying debris and glass, officials said.

Winds sheared off trees, buckled utility poles, moved some houses off foundations and shattered others, primarily in Gladstone and northeast in the area where Kansas City, North, and Liberty meet. Several roads are closed and numerous homes and businesses are without power.

A team from the National Weather Service surveyed the damage yesterday and determined that in the Northland, tornadoes estimated at EF 2 or EF 3 on the Enhanced Fujita scale had touched down in several neighborhoods, said Suzanne Fortin, science officer. Tornados of that strength can have winds from 111 to 165 miles per hour.

The winds lifted two houses off foundations, tore holes in walls and ripped apart roofs and trim in the Brookridge Estates subdivision of Kansas City, North, near Missouri 291 and North Stark Avenue.

"I didn't wake up until I heard my tree snap," said Donna Donovan, 8523 N.E. 109th St. "The clock said 2:06."

Donovan lives in the Brookridge Estates subdivision of Kansas City, North, where 15 homes were severely damaged and many others had significant damage, authorities said. At least two homes were blown off foundations in that area near Missouri 291 and North Stark Avenue.

"There are homes on that side of the road that look to me like they're destroyed," said Pat Moseley, a maintenance supervisor for the Missouri Department of Transportation.

Cindy Hauser and her two children, ages 1 and 4, escaped flying glass during the storm and then huddled in a room for an hour. Her four-year old had fled her room just before the winds blew out her windows and flipped over her bed.

"We ended up going into a room under the stairs," Hauser said, "I just stayed there until the police found me. We didn't have any shoes. There was glass everywhere."

When daylight came, Hauser picked through family possessions at 8128 N.E. 109th Lane. She wore a police sweatshirt that officers had given her. Hauser's husband was out of town and other family members had rushed to her aid. Insurance adjusters had already given her some more bad news about their home.

"They told me it's going to be condemned," shesaid.

Her father-in-law, Dan Hauser, lives a mile away. He said the winds had the tornado-like freight train sound.

"We thought our house was going to blow off its foundation," said Stephanie Kimmel, another neighborhood resident. "Our windows were rattling and everything was blowing everywhere."

The winds also snapped off seven wooden utility poles along Missouri 291, which is closed north of Stark Avenue. Utility crews are clearing downed power lines and planning to replace poles later today, officials said.

Gladstone's City Council conducted an emergency meeting today to deal with damage to 200 residences and 15 businesses. Mayor Mark Revenaugh said the city is requesting state and federal emergency aid.

"It will help residents repair damaged homes and help restore their lives," Revenaugh said.

Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt this morning activated the state's emergency operations plan, making state agencies available to assist in local emergency response efforts.

"My first concern is always for the safety and well being of Missouri families when severe weather threatens our state," Blunt said in a statement. "With that concern in mind we have moved quickly this morning to ensure that the state is doing everything within our power to mobilize state resources and ensure that they are easily accessible to our communities who are just now beginning to get a sense of the damage from the latest outbreak of severe weather."

The governor is in St. Louis this morning, where President Bush is making an appearance. His office is working on rearranging his schedule for the day to address the severe storms that hit Kansas City early this morning, said spokeswoman Jessica Robinson.

Blunt's office encouraged Missourians who need resource referrals or non-emergency help to call 211, the statewide assistance hotline.

Five years ago, almost to the day, a tornado had ripped through the city and caused similar damage.

"I was on my deck, five years ago when the storm hit," Revenaugh said. "I was on my deck this morning, and it sounded exactly the same."

This storm hit different pockets of the city than the tornado, he said. Much of the damage is in older Gladstone neighborhoods. Officials are still trying to access the extensive damage to trees, power lines and roofs.

Some businesses along North Oak Trafficway were severely damaged, said Sgt. Richard King, Gladstone police spokesman. A pawn shop at North Oak and N.E. 72nd Street was destroyed.

"The roads are hard to get through and some are impassible. There is just a lot of widespread damage," King said. "Even though it passed through the middle of the night, we were very, very fortunate that we don't have a lot of people injured."

He estimated that it would take about 24 to 48 hours to clear the tree debris and 24 to 36 hours for power to be restored to all customers. Outages were reportedly widespread.

Kansas City Fire Department spokesman Joe Vitale said they received a couple calls simultaneously reporting damage in the area of N.E. 72nd and North Euclid Avenue, up through N.E. 77th and N.E. 78th streets.

Damaging winds also struck off of Missouri 291 near North Donnelly Avenue. He said that as the winds went through, some homes were leveled from the foundations up.

"We were very fortunate that injuries were minimal and few," Vitale said.

He said firefighters assisted some people out of their damaged homes but there were no major extrications. Firefighters also helped rescue some pets trapped in the homes.

"People were calm and maintained their wits and composure," Vitale said. "In a disorderly situation, people acted very orderly and responded calmly."

In Riverside, the storm ripped awnings off the Argosy Casino buildings, said Capt. Frank Hunter of the Platte County Sheriff's Department. Elsewhere in Parkville and rural Platte County, there were reports of trees down but no major damage.

While the Northland was the hardest hit, there were buildings severely damaged in Independence and some reports of power outages in eastern Jackson County. An Arby's restaurant near 23rd Street and Missouri 291 was destroyed.

In downtown Kansas City, wind blew two exhaust intake hoods and lighting rods from the roof of The Kansas City Star's press building, said Randy Waters, vice president of production.

The materials landed in the intersection of 15th and Oak streets, Waters said. In tumbling along the roof, the hoods and lighting rods created about 50 holes and caused significant leaks, he said.

Rain water leaked onto part of the press and caused a partial shutdown this morning, Waters said. But the press will be in full operation this afternoon, he said.

In Kansas City, Kan., firefighters were dispatched to 23 storm-related calls from 7 p.m. Thursday to 6 a.m. today, including 17 arcing power lines or tree limbs on lines and one structure fire.

The first round of storms moved through during the early to mid-evening hours and produced quite a bit of hail, up to golf ball size. Some of the largest hail hit Riverside, while there were reports of golf-ball-sized hail in Gardner and in Platte County. Camden Point reported two-inch diameter hail.

There were also reports of funnel clouds and tornados that touched down.

A funnel cloud was reported about 6 miles west of Freeman in Miami County, in Kansas and a tornado touched down about two miles east of Plattsburg in Clinton County, Mo.

The Star's Glenn E. Rice, David Knopf, Jason Noble and Kevin Murphy contributed to this report. — To reach Robert A. Cronkleton, call 816-234-5994 or send e-mail to bcronkleton@kcstar.com. — To reach Bill

To see more of The Kansas City Star, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.kansascity.com.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.