MEHLVILLE, Mo. — Residents in the Mehlville area were cleaning up debris Sunday night after the storm ripped through their neighborhood just off Interstate 55.
A tornado in the area was confirmed by radar from the National Weather Service.
Lisa Arndt said she and her family were having a laid-back evening Sunday at home when powerful storms tore through the Mehlville area and she could see the tornado coming their way.
“All of a sudden my husband screamed, 'Run,' and we grabbed the dog and ran down to the basement," Arndt said. "But before that, I saw the water swirling around and hitting our window, and all the leaves and tree branches and just kind of swirling around our house."
A tree snapped in half and was tossed onto the road near Morningdale Place and Valleyside Lane.
“A lot of trees, a lot of trees in this neighborhood. It's a beautiful place. But yeah, it's a mess right now,” Alex Waite said.
And the mess only got worse as you drove down Morningdale Place.
Two neighbors halfway down the block had some of the worst damage. A garage was destroyed on one side and the entire left corner of the home next door was brought to the ground, tearing up their backyard and bringing the power lines down.
Katie Pyles lives across the street.
“Then we hear a whoosh against the house, and then all the doors open because of the air pressure inside. Then we ran to the basement,” Pyles said.
After it passed and the rain was still coming down, everyone came out to check on their neighbors.
“Everyone's okay, healthy. The fire department came checked and made sure everyone was okay,” Pyles said.
And the damage didn't stop there. Even further down the street, shingles were peeled off of roofs, car windows were broken, more trees came down and random things were picked up and thrown into people's yards.
“I've now inherited a kayak. So whoever is missing an orange kayak, he can come get that,” Waite said.
Arndt said it's a miracle no one was seriously hurt.
“We were singing ‘Send Me An Angel’ by the 80s band Real Life, I think it was. And I truly believe that. We had an angel wrap their wings around our home,” Arndt said.
As of 10 p.m. Sunday, the power was still out for some residents on Morningdale Place.
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