FRANKLIN COUNTY, Mo. — The winds from Friday’s tornado may have calmed down, but the clean up has only just begun in the Franklin County community of Villa Ridge.
Less than 48 hours after the storm struck, several families who live on Baker Street shared their stories of survival as they assessed the damage left behind.
On Sunday, David Leefe pondered his next steps as he looked at what used to be the master bedroom of the home he shared with his wife, Jennifer, their children and dogs for four years.
“Something is going to be figured out. What, I don’t know,” he said. “Our bedroom, you can’t get more than a foot in there.”
Leefe’s face was cut from glass that shattered during the storm.
“Hail started to hit the window so I pulled the box fan out, closed the window, stood up and then the window just hit me in the side of the face,” Leefe said.
Cars parked in the neighborhood had severe hail damage and smashed windows from tree limbs that fell during the storm.
Perhaps most shocking, a trampoline from a neighbor’s yard is stuck near the top of a 30-foot tree.
In contrast, several other homes on Baker Street were completely untouched, demonstrating the storm’s unpredictability.
The National Weather Service confirmed it was an EF2 tornado with wind speeds of between 111-135 mph that ripped through parts of Villa Ridge, including David’s neighborhood.
The home’s room caved in on the family, including the couple’s 12-year-old daughter. Jennifer jumped on top of her in an attempt to offer protection.
“There was too much going on to be scared,” Leefe said. “You just knew stuff was hitting you. Stuff was hitting you all over the place, then coming down on top of you. I knew where the stairs were. I needed to get to the stairs.”
People from across the area saw coverage of Friday’s storm and came to Villa Ridge to offer help return the community to a sense of normalcy.
“Our neighbors probably think we’re a little crazy because we were all sitting out here and just praising God we were all alive,” Leefe said.
A group of Leefe’s co-workers chipped in to pay for him and his family to stay in a nearby hotel. The family wants to move into a short-term rental home as soon as possible until they can figure out what’s next.
To assist the family, email David at [email protected] or donate through a GoFundMe campaign.
