BUCKNER – Missouri Disaster Relief crews were helping to clean up fallen trees after a nine-mile long tornado left a path of destruction, June 7.
According to Joe Dayringer, incident coordinator for four teams that responded, the damage hit parts of Independence, Buckner, Napoleon and Wellington.
Two of the teams were chainsaw units from the West Central Region of nine counties near Kansas City, one was from the Doniphan area, and one were members of the collegiate Disaster Relief team, after spending three days doing flood recovery in Sedalia days before. One of the teams had a skidsteer, which Dayringer said helped in moving larger trees.
“We focus on spiritual development, Disaster Relief, and leadership training. We train in all aspects of Disaster Relief,” said Aaron Warner, the Collegiate DR team leader.
Dayringer said most of the damage in the path was uprooted trees, but at least one two-story house had part of its roof removed in the storm.
He said that when they closed the disaster response, June 16, 27 properties had been cleared.
“Neighbors were helping neighbors. There was a lot of community cooperation. We were housed in the youth annex area of First Baptist Buckner, who opened it and said we could have it as long as we needed it. It was awesome in the amount of support they gave our teams.
“The Pisgah Church in Excelsior Springs brought a shower unit, and Ron and Joann Hahs helped with the mass feeding. It was a wonderful operation as far as the team responses,” Dayringer said.
Dayringer said the Kansas City COAD (Community Organizations Active in Disaster) and the Independence Emergency Management were also a big help in the response.