Death and Destruction in Mississippi 'Long-Track' Tornado

Severe storms are raging across the Deep South and lower Mississippi River Valley at this hour.

A long-track tornado that began in Louisiana struck western Mississippi before the noon hour.

At least 2 deaths are reported in and around Yazoo City MS with dozens of structures damaged or destroyed with people still trapped in the wreckage.

At least 20 injured have been transported from Yazoo City- according to the latest story from the JACKSON (MS) CLARION-LEDGER.



A large area of the Deep South remains under a "high risk" of more severe storms and tornadoes today.

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Tornado Watch No. 87 For Metro K.C. Has Expired

The coast is clear as far as any tornadoes are concerned for Metro Kansas City and the northern MetroRegion through the rest of this morning.


Tornado Watch No. 87 was allowed to expire at 4 a.m. and although there were a couple of severe thunderstorm warnings in the northwest and north Metro- no reports of damage were received.

There still is a risk of severe thunderstorms later today over the MetroRegion- with a "high risk" of severe weather today in the lower Mississippi Valley region.

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CSW BREAKING: Severe Thunderstorm Warning Until 0130 CDT- Northern Platte County MO

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CSW WEATHER: Tornado Watch Continues- Current Weather Radar Image

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CSW WEATHER: Tornado Watch Continues For Metro Kansas City- Northern MetroRegion

Sorry for the on-going communications issues with Time-Warner-Looney Tunes Internet service as we tried to post this more than an hour ago...

Tornado Watch No. 87 continues for the area including Metro Kansas City northward until 4 a.m..

Thunderstorms are developing west and southwest of Metro K.C. and as of this post- those storms are not YET severe but they're increasing in intensity and the atmosphere is favorable.

If this damn RoadDeader internet keeps me up- I'll keep you up...dated.

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CSW WEATHER: Tornado Watches Northwest and Southeast- Nothing Yet For MetroRegion

As of this post- the title says it all.

The tornado watches are in Arkansas and Nebraska (see map image 1) and as yet no severe storm watches are in effect for the Kansas City MetroRegion of Kansas and Missouri.

There ARE flash flood and flood watches for counties in and around the Metro- so use caution in areas of very heavy rains.

Conditions remain ripe for severe thunderstorms and perhaps a tornado or three across the KCMR for later this Friday afternoon so please- check a weather source for your area every once in awhile and be ready for changes beginning as early as 4 p.m..

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Central States News: Three-Alarm Fire in a Downtown St. Louis High-Rise

The fire broke out around 8 a.m. this morning on the 15th floor of the 30-story Laclede Gas building in downtown St. Louis.

(Photo courtesy of the ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH)

Three-alarms of St. Louis firefighters "fought the blaze from inside the building rather than using aerial trucks-" says the St. LOUIS (MO) POST-DISPATCH story.

Aerial trucks wouldn't reach more than 10 floors anyway- but the fire was under control around 8:30 a.m. with only one slight injury- a woman who had short-of-breath- was reported.

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CSW BREAKING: Blue Springs MO Police Officer Rescues Woman From House Fire

A Blue Springs (BS) police officer pulled a woman from her smoke-filled home early Thursday afternoon.


Central Jackson County (CJC) Fire units responded at 2:33 p.m. to a house fire in the 1800 block of Southeast Kenwood Drive.

Apparently- the BS officer was already at the address- he's heard to pull an unconscious female from the kitchen area inside the house to the back patio.

The fire call itself was very minor- "food-on-the-stove" according to a CJC Fire spokesperson who said the house was filled with smoke but little if any fire damage.

The "40-year-old female" resident was taken to a Metro hospital in non life-threatening condition.

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CSW WEATHER: Current Radar Image

Moderate to heavy rainshowers and a few imbedded thunderstorms continue over the Kansas City Metro and much of the southern MetroRegion- and this activity will continue for at least the next 3 hours.

All activity is moving east-northeast. Storms developing near Wichita will move into the Metro area later this afternoon.

There are NO severe weather watches in effect anywhere in the Central States as of this post.

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CSW BREAKING: Possible Shooting Homicide in East-Midtown KC-MO

KC-MO Police are currently on the scene of a shooting in the 3200 block of East Linwood with one confirmed victim and a possible 2nd victim who left the scene.


The call went out at 11:42 a.m. Thursday morning and it was reported a shooting victim was lying in the 3rd-floor hallway of an apartment building.

Police arrived several minutes later confirming one victim- possibly deceased- then a few minutes later officers at the shooting scene report "a possible 2nd victim" who had left the scene- possibly enroute to a hospital.

At 11:53 a.m.- a south-central KC-MO hospital reports a shooting victim had just arrived there.




Police haven't released any suspect information yet.

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Winning Powerball Ticket Sold in Marshall MO

Wednesday night's $258.5 million Powerball jackpot ticket- largest won in the State of Missouri and 10th largest Powerball pot overall- was sold in nearby Marshall MO.

The MARSHALL DEMOCRAT-NEWS reports the ticket was sold at "Break Time" at "1000 W. College" in Marshall.


Congrats to the winner- please remember your Captain here (grin).

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CSW BREAKING: Chemical Odor Sickens People at KC-MO Office Building

A chemical odor has reportedly given "several" people headaches at the PennTower office building at 3101 Broadway this hour.

KC-MO Fire and Haz-Mat crews are currently on the scene attempting to mitigate the situation- reportedly caused by "workers applying an epoxy in the parking garage" of the office tower "yesterday"- says a Fire department representative.

None of the affected people indicate going to a medical facility and the problem "seems to be restricted to the 1st-floor lobby-area" of the building the FD said.

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Central States-MetroRegion Kansas City WEATHER: Watch Out Friday

As in "watch out for a possibly active severe weather day tomorrow (Friday)" over much of the Central States- including Metro and MetroRegion Kansas City.

There are increasing risks of severe thunderstorms- "INCLUDING THE THREAT FOR TORNADOES... ONE OR TWO OF WHICH COULD BE SIGNIFICANT" says the latest forecast from the NWS' Storm Prediction Center (SPC) in Norman OK.."

I've included both the map indicating areas covered by this threat- as well as a copy of the SPC convective forecast itself.

There is also a "slight risk" of severe thunderstorms and their attendant severe weather types across the southern Kansas City MetroRegion today- across eastern and southeastern Kansas into extreme western and southwestern Missouri.

Current weather radar supports this- with a broad area of showers and thunderstorms west and southwest of Metro K.C.- moving toward our area.

At this time- none of the storms in the MetroRegion are severe.


However- I'm much more worried about Friday's scenario- I'll keep a close eye on weather trends and developments and let you know here at CSW....

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KC-MO Downtown Convention Hotel Follies - Part 3

Strained city revenues- laid-off employees and curtailed or cut city services are no match for the intoxicating lure of a 1000-room downtown convention hotel as the process lurches on.


CSW has addressed this proposal on this blog several times- HERE- HERE and HERE for example.

According to today's KANSAS CITY BUSINESS JOURNAL- the pollys and their wealthy friends have actually decided on a site now- and the site depiction is a gaudy insult to one of Kansas City's most beloved and iconic landmarks- the KCP&L building at the northwest corner of 14th Street and Baltimore.


Developer and potential taxpayer welfare recipient Ron Jury has proposed hoisting a high-rise monstrosity on one side of the classic building (see KCBJ image) and a low-rise on another side of the iconic 31-story KCP&L skyscraper.


Never mind that city revenues/the budget is of on-going concern- Jury wants the project rammed-through.


“If they get the financing figured out, we could start the project in 90 days-” Jury told the KCBJ.

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A Song To Help Pronounce The Iceland Volcano's Name

Don't ask me- it's hard enough pronouncing 10-dollar English words.


The name of the Icelandic volcano producing all the air travel problems in Europe is "Eyjafjallajokull."

On the following YouTube presentation- Icelandic musician Eliza Geirsdottir Newman plays a little ditty she wrote to help us in the rest of the world understand how to SAY "Eyjafjallajokull" in a languarge other than Gibberish (which- by the way- your Captain speaks fluently).

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Central States Weather: Heavy Rains- Severe Storms Possible By Week's End

A storm system just now entering the Pacific Northwest will affect the Central States in the next few days.


Current weather forecast models show the storm will become a 'cut-off' low over the Central States- producing heavy rains and possible severe thunderstorms.

Viewing the NWS' Hydro Prediction Center's (HPC) graphic- you can see broad areas of 1-inch or greater rainfalls are forecast over the next 5 days across large portions of the Central States.

In addition- the NWS' Storm Prediction Center (SPC) calls for a risk of severe storms from Friday into Saturday from near Metro Kansas City southward.

The scenario could well change until then- so please keep informed as I promise to do so for you. 

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CSW BREAKING: Body Found in Lake Longview

At 10:49 a.m. Tuesday morning- KC-MO emergency services were sent to the marina at Lake Longview on the report of "a body in the water" there.


The body was confirmed at 10:56 a.m.- "by the boat dock."

A Raytown fire unit at 10:57 a.m. added that the body "was about 10 feet off the shore" and was "decayed" indicating the body had "been in the water for awhile."


Police are awaiting the "medical examiner (coroner)" and CSI before removing the body from the water.

No other information is yet available.

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CSW BREAKING: Crash With Extrication on I-70 in Blue Springs MO

The crash is actually off the roadway on I-70 between Woods Chapel and M-7- as shown in these KC SCOUT traffic camera images.

The Central Jackson County (CJC) Fire and EMS reports "extrication" of at least the driver from this wreck that is blocking the far right lanes of eastbound I-70.

The person being extricated is said to have at least serious injuries.




Update here if and when received....

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CSW COMMENTARY: What Credibility Does Out-Of-Town TV News Reader Hires Bring to Kansas City?

Yesterday- some local media Web sites were making a big deal out of another "anchor" or "news-reader" change at one of Kansas City's TV stations.

My response was "So What???"

How does Metro K.C. benefit from having someone on our TV news who's not from here telling us what's going on here?

They have no sense of the Metro's history- other than that they've READ or SEEN about our area on their own medium.

The ONLY entertainment value a new "anchor" has is listening to them mis-pronounce area city and street names and seeing a new face that 1) we'll soon be bored with and/or 2) will probably leave the K.C. market in a few years for a larger market.

New faces on local newscasts don't do anything to improve a stations' continuity in a market and it SURE doesn't engender automatic trust of the viewer in the new news-reader.

That's one BIG reason why Channel 9 is overall Number 1 in the K.C. market in news viewership.

News-readers like Larry Moore have been on 9 for decades and people translate that into trust- figuring Larry's been here and he simply KNOWS what the Hell he's talking about when it comes to local matters.

It's the same thing with the reporters: I'm going to trust a seasoned reporter who has been here for MANY years over some newby.

It MAY be cheaper for the local TV news operations to hire out-of-towners in the short-run- but viewers want a FAMILIAR face to tell them what's up in their town- so cheaper may lose you viewers in the long run.

Oh- and letting go intimately-knowlegable LOCAL people who provide your RAW PRODUCT (news) is a not-so-smart idea either. 

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Forty-Four Years Ago Today- A Tornado Struck Central Overland Park KS

Today marks the 44th anniversary of what is called 'The Overland Park Tornado' that- on April 19 1966- struck a then-new subdivision and grazed an elementary school just letting out for the school day near 95th Street and Knox.

Here's the summary of that event- found in the weather history area on the lower right side of this blog:

1966 - April 19 - A tornado forms over what was then farmland east of I-35 & 119th Street in Johnson County KS. and moves northeastward.

Within 10 minutes - the F-3-rated tornado strikes a new housing subdivision and barely misses an elementary school at West 96th St. & Knox in Overland Park.

There are several minor injuries and the tornado-bearing storm moves over highly-populated areas of southern K.C. & Independence, MO..

The official warning was issued by the local broadcast media after the tornado had touched down - traveled it's roughly 4 to 5-mile-long path and lifted.

Also- here's a CSW blog post relating to the OP tornado from 3 years ago.

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House Burns in Far-Northland KC-MO- No Injuries

Six companies of KC-MO firefighters are cleaning up the scene of a fire in a lived-in house just east of North Main on Northeast 113th Street..

The alarm went out at 1:55 p.m. Sunday afternoon when someone called 9-1-1 to report smoke coming from a house near N.E. 113th Street and North Walnut.


 

Nearby Station 3 arrived a minute later- finding smoke coming from the attic-area of a house just east of North Main.

Flames ran most of the attic and roof area of the home until control was gained by the "smoke-eaters" at 2:17 p.m..

No injuries have been reported and there's yet no official cause or damage figure.

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CSW BREAKING: Fatality Head-On Crash in Southern Leavenworth County KS

The Leavenworth County (LV-CO) KS Sheriff's department- EMS- as well as Sherman and Reno Township volunteer firefighters are working what they are calling a fatality head-on crash on Kansas (K)-32 just east of the small southern LV-CO town of Linwood.

Extrication of at least one victim was required and a medical helicopter was sent for one of the "two" critically-injured people from the crash.

The crash was initially reported to authorities at 1:39 p.m..

"Lifestar" medical helicopter from Lawrence transported one of the critical injuries: "a 59-year-old female driver" of the car in which the fatality- "her (the patient's) husband-" occurred.

The woman was flown to a Metro KC trauma center with a broken leg and possible other injuries and her condition was not immediately life-threatening.


The fatality was reported Monday morning by the Kansas Highway Patrol as Richard D. Huffman- age 62 and his wife was identified as Karen M. Huffman- both of Bonner Springs.

The motorist reportedly causing the crash was "17-year-old April Marie Umbenhower- who was driving her Jeep westbound in the eastbound lanes of K-32" the KHP said.

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CSW BREAKING: Female Has "Minor Injuries" After KC-KS Shooting

This shooting happened just before 1 p.m. Sunday afternoon in the 2700 block of North 17th Street.

Police say a black male- "armed with an Uzi" shot at- but reportedly just "grazed" a female there.

The suspect left the scene with 3 other black males "in an older-model- purple (colored) Neon- northbound on 17th Street-" police on the scene said.

The female victim- bandaged up at the scene by EMS- refused transport to a hospital.

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