Strong Tornado Hits Branson Missouri

kfsm via twitter ^ | 29 Feb 2012

[FourPeas]

Reports via twitter and storm spotters on WeatherTap that a strong tornado has hit Branson, Missouri. Significant damage reported in populated areas. Damage reported to Capri Inn.

[samiam1972]

My sister-in-law and her husband lost one of their old time photo stores and another has water damage. *sigh* It’s going to be awful for them for awhile. Just breaks my heart. I’m so thankful they weren’t hurt.

[trisham]

Thanks for the pics. They were hit fairly hard. I've seen worse, but not by much.

I can't imagine how terrified the people in Branson must have been. I've never experienced a tornado, and hope that I never do.

[FourPeas]

Home in Hiawatha Heights

[NCC-1701]

Here's one more pic. It's at the military museum in Branson. Those of you familiar with the area will know where it is. The P-51 was mounted on that stand in front of it.

[trisham]

It’s going to take the people of Branson a long time to clean up and repair the damage. What a shame.

[NCC-1701]

It is a shame. Branson is a nice place. I looked at Google Earth to see what the ground track was based on photos of known landmarks. Based on that, it looks like it missed most of the area west and northwest of the Walmart on Highway 76. That’s where a couple of Ripley’s museums are along with the Titanic show and further northwest is RFD TV. The window damage at the Hilton was probably due to windblown debris. The Hilton sits geographicly much lower than the main tourist area. Still, it’s sad to see how bad things are there. The good thing is there were no deaths reported in Branson that I’ve heard of. They dodged a huge bullet in that regard. Prayers up for all those affected by this outbreak of storms.

[trisham]

We have relatives who visited there a number of years ago and loved it. It's my understanding that it's a family oriented place, which is a very good thing these days.

I haven't heard of any deaths either, and I hope that there were no serious injuries. We can always repair and rebuild.

[FourPeas]

Prayers offered for your family. February is such an odd time for a tornado. Just before their busy season starts is really a bad time, too.

[GracieOMalley]

Thanks for the photos.

Praying for everyone who hs been affected by these terrible storms.

[Huntress]

My office is in downtown Branson. The building was closed this morning as power and phone lines were down, and there was quite a bit of debris strewn about. I got down here about 3 pm, and my power, phones, and internet are working now. There was a some damage to the roof and some of the windows of my office building, but we got off relatively unscathed. I can see the Hilton from my window, though, and it looks pretty bad.