Missouri
In the Missouri Ozarks, residents struggle to rebuild after tornadoes
Tim Scott, right, gets a hug from friend Jorden Harris outside Scott’s home he was inside when it was destroyed during a severe storm the evening before Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Wayne County, Mo.
Jeff Roberson/AP
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Jeff Roberson/AP
WAYNE COUNTY, Mo. — People are spread thin through the Ozark hills of this county. Some 11,000 of them live in the small towns and enclaves linked by two-lane highways and narrow gravel roads snaking through the forest.
Then the tornados came. A massive storm system swept through states from Kansas to Alabama triggering fires, dust storms and dozens of reported tornadoes. Three twisters raked Wayne County churning homes into rubble.
Wayne County Sheriff Kyle Shearrer just took over the job three months ago.
“You get so many warnings, nothing ever happens. And this time it happened,” Shearrer said, surveying splintered houses near the town of Leeper, Mo. “As you can see, it’s … it’s just loss. It’s total loss.”
Three people died here, near the banks of the Black River.
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Frank Morris/KCUR
About 20 miles north, in a valley near Gads Hill, another twister chewed up and spit out homes and parked camping trailers.
Casey Melton has two houses to pick through — his own place and the one where he grew up. It stood for 50 years before the tornado ripped it apart.
Melton and his grandfather managed to get out before the storm hit. He says National Weather Service alerts gave them half an hour to take cover in a FEMA shelter eight miles away. Others here weren’t so fortunate. Three people died less than a block from here.
“These two over here were in their home. They believed they were asleep,” Melton said. “They found them out in their pajamas in the yard, lifelong residents here, good neighbors.”
Destruction from a severe storm is seen Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Wayne County, Mo.
Jeff Roberson/AP
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Jeff Roberson/AP
Looking at the rubble here, it’s hard to imagine anyone surviving. But Jeff and Christina Adler took a direct hit from the tornado in their 28-foot camper. Jeff Adler said they narrowly escaped death.
“All these rocks here were shooting through the windows like somebody was shooting a BB gun at us,” said Adler. “And then it just started to tip over and just started rolling, rolling and rolling. I thought to myself, ‘You know what, this is the way I’m going to die. … I just hope it ain’t going to hurt.’ And you know, right after that, I was laying on the ground.”
They don’t know how they escaped the disintegrating trailer. They just both found themselves on the ground in the hard cold rain, searching for each other.
“I just remember looking up yelling for him, and he was yelling for me. And he jumped on top of me as the storm was going, and we just held each other and prayed,” said Christina Adler.
They got out in the nick of time. The twister quickly ripped the trailer apart and flung sheet metal and all the stuff they had inside across an area larger than a city block.
Property destroyed in the storm.
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“A lot of our camper is in that creek there,” said Jeff Adler, pointing across a field, “And then the actual frame tires are laying in the field on the other side of it.”
The Adlers say they don’t care at all about losing their camping trailer, a retreat from their normal lives in Arnold, Mo.
But they are devastated at the loss of their dog, which also escaped the trailer but hasn’t come back.
“You know the camper, that’s all material stuff. There’s nothing in there that was even worth worrying about. Right now, it’s doing everything we can to find our dog,” said Jeff Adler.
Their 10- or 12-pound, 3-year-old, white Shih Tzu, Piper.
“I think she’ll come to me. I know she’ll come to me. She hears my voice, she will come to me,” said Christina Adler.
And then she broke into tears, calling into the woods near their old campsite, but Piper didn’t come.
A vehicle sits in front of a damaged home and debris from a severe storm Saturday, March 15, 2025, in Wayne County, Mo.
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KSHB 41 reporter Charlie Keegan covers politics on both sides of the state line. If you have a story idea to share, you can send Charlie an email at charlie.keegan@kshb.com.
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The Kansas City, Missouri, City Council will adopt its new budget on Thursday. Council members will have one more chance to hear from the public and suggest changes to the $2.5 billion proposal on Tuesday.
The public can comment during the Finance, Governance and Public Safety Committee meeting at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday in the council chambers on the 26th floor of City Hall, 414 East 12th Street.
Public can weigh in Tuesday on Kansas City, Missouri’s proposed $2.5B budget
One topic that is sure to come up Tuesday is whether to provide more money to the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority. The agency operates bus services for cities in the greater metropolitan area.
KCATA said last week it is considering cuts to routes and staff if Kansas City doesn’t provide more money.
The current proposal sets aside about $70 million for KCATA, which is similar to the past few years.
Public safety takes up the largest part of the budget. The fire department will receive about $46 million more than last year. The police budget will increase by $25 million.
“The first thing that pops into my mind is definitely police,” said Grant Bednar.
Charlie Keegan/KSHB
He said he called 911 a few months ago when someone broke into his roommate’s car. Bednar remembers being on hold for longer than expected with the 911 call-taker.
“If we could just lower that call wait time with dispatchers, that would make Jackson County feel a lot more safe,” he said.
Roads and streets were topics that dominated taxpayer’s opinions. Many want the city to do more to fill potholes and repave roads.
“Seeing a lot of the potholes, that’s kind of devastating to see,” said Sabra Merchant.
Charlie Keegan/KSHB
The proposed budget increases funding for Vision Zero by $3 million compared to last year. Vision Zero is an initiative to redesign roads with bike lanes and other changes in an effort to achieve zero deaths because of traffic crashes.
“Which sounds like a great idea,” said Paula Watts. “I love to be able to walk around and feel safe, walk with my daughter.”
Charlie Keegan/KSHB
Dan Coffee disagreed. He argues bike lanes are a waste of money; pointing out he rarely sees a bicyclist using one.
“Probably what we oughta do is bring Elon Musk into Kansas City with his DOGE group and let them take a look at what’s going on at City Hall,” Coffee said.
Charlie Keegan/KSHB
He wants the city to focus on the basics. This year’s $2.5 billion proposal is an increase over the current $2.27 billion budget.
The city’s budget cycle runs from May 1 to April 30. This will be the final full-budget year before Kansas City hosts several matches in the FIFA 2026 World Cup. The proposed budget dedicates several million dollars to World Cup projects.
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Hey, Drake.
One year after a winless conference season, Missouri basketball is back in the Big Dance.
The Tigers’ turnaround became official Sunday when Mizzou learned it will be a 6-seed and face Drake in the Round of 64 of the 2025 NCAA Tournament. The game will take place Thursday, March 20, in Wichita.
On the other side of the pod, 3-seed Texas Tech and UNCW will face off for a spot in the second round. The announcement was made during the Selection Sunday show on CBS. Missouri held a live watch party at Mizzou Arena during the show.
Whoever wins two games in Wichita will travel to San Francisco for the Sweet 16 as part of the West Regional.
The tipoff time for Mizzou’s first-round game will be announced later Sunday by the NCAA.
The Tigers are only the third high-major team ever to rebound from a winless conference season and make the NCAA Tournament field the next year. Iowa State managed the feat in 2020-21. Maryland did it in 1987-88.
And after a 0-19 SEC season in 2023-24, Mizzou has done it in 2024-25.
Mizzou (22-11) had several signature wins on its résumé in the 2024-25 season. The Tigers beat then-No. 1 Kansas in the Border War in December, a top-five Florida team on the road in January, and secured a third top-five win of the season over Alabama in mid-February at Mizzou Arena.
Shop Missouri March Madness tickets
But after building a résumé that was competing for a top-four seed in the tournament, Missouri’s season entered somewhat of a lull.
The Tigers lost three straight games to close the regular season before beating Mississippi State on Thursday and falling against Florida on Friday in the SEC Tournament. Mizzou has now lost five of its past seven games entering March Madness.
Mizzou played without All-SEC forward Mark Mitchell against the Gators, as the forward sat out with a right knee injury. After the game, Mizzou coach Dennis Gates said it was his choice to sit Mitchell, who wanted to play.
It seems likely that the Tigers’ leading scorer will return to play in the Big Dance, meaning MU should enter the tournament at full strength.
Gates has often mentioned that this team has Final Four ambitions this season.
Now, the Tigers are officially getting their shot to prove that’s not just talk.
The road starts with Drake.
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Several violent tornadoes have been ripping through the US, leading to at least 32 fatalities after a storm system rapidly progressed across the country since Friday, reported the Associated Press.
Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, and Oklahoma are some of the worst hit states. Missouri recorded the highest number of deaths out of all the states, with at least 12 people dead.
Also Read: Rolla, Missouri tornado: Photos of storm damage surface – Track twister’s path
The death toll rose after eight people died on Friday, in Kansas, after more than 50 vehicles were involved in a collision on a highway.
“It was unrecognizable as a home. Just a debris field. The floor was upside down. We were walking on walls,” said coroner Jim Akers of Butler County, as quoted by AP, describing the experience of authorities attempting to rescue people amid the severe storm.
Also Read: Missouri: Tornado rips through Villa Ridge, Gray Summit, Wildwood near St Louis | Videos
The governors of Arkansas and Georgia have both declared a state of emergency as weather is expected to grow more extreme from late Saturday onward. Arkansas governor Sarah Huckabee has also released $2,50,000 as a disaster recovery fund to help injured people.
Oklahoma governor Kevin Stitt stated that 689 square kilometres of land had been burned in his state, along with 300 homes that were damaged or destroyed due to fires increasing due to the winds. Several communities have been ordered to evacuate.
Extreme weather conditions to continue
The extreme weather conditions caused by the storm system moving across the country, are set to affect more than 100 million people, across the US. The deadly winds have caused tornadoes and dust storms and even fanned the flames of several wildfires.
Also Read: St. Louis, Missouri: Tornado sirens sound as twister moves towards Union
The American Storm Prediction Centre claimed that the fast-moving storms posed a threat, especially if they exceeded hurricane force with a speed of 100 mph. They also said that tornadoes and hail “as large as baseballs” were expected on Saturday.
Eastern Louisiana, Mississippi through Alabama, western Georgia, and the Florida panhandle, are at a high risk for tornadoes. Meanwhile, Texas, Kansas, Missouri, and New Mexico are likely to face wildfires.
Strong winds have also caused power outages for more than 2,00,000 homes and businesses in Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan, as per the site poweroutage.us.
The National Weather Service has issued blizzard warnings for parts of far western Minnesota and far eastern South Dakota. Snow is expected to accumulate up to 6 inches in these regions, with gusty winds of up to 60 mph speed.
While such storms are not unusual in the country during this time of the year, an official from the Storm Prediction Centre in Oklahoma said that these storms were unique due to their large size and intensity, which created a substantial impact on large areas.
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