Duquesne residents clean up storm aftermath

DUQUESNE, Mo.- Residents on Walnut Ridge Drive in Duquesne, Missouri, found themselves engaged in a cleanup effort after a storm last night brought down trees in their neighborhood.

Toryn Jones, a resident, recounted how he witnessed a tree fall and immediately took cover with his family.

"This is the tree. I looked out my window as I saw it like lightning stuff and I heard the noise. I looked out real quick. I saw it and it kind of picked up and just fell down. And I saw like that. And it came down with the power line. But it's kind of scary. And that's when I ran and got my mom," said Jones.

The storm not only damaged front lawns and backyards but also rattled residents. Jones and his family sought refuge in their hallway as the storm passed.

"Well. 20 minutes. Yeah. It was, like, 20 minutes long. And then, you know, it's still lightning and stuff and raining pretty hard afterwards. But in that, in the first couple of ten minutes, you could just tell it felt like. Like birds are just coming out your windows, just like real loud," Jones recalled.

Tasha Neal, another resident, shared her experience of the storm's intensity, noting how it caused her house to shake.

"It was eventful. Sitting on the couch last night. My husband's working in the bathroom because we're remodeling the house. And it was dead silent, like. Right. And I was swarmed, and all of a sudden, I hear a loud whistling noise and then the whole house started shaking. It was very intense," said Neal.

Neal mentioned that a neighbor witnessed the tornado behind her house, highlighting the severity of the weather event.

"The neighbor across the street said that she looked out and saw the twisting right behind her house. Saw it came up between these two houses. And then loop and go right there," Neal recounted.

Victoria Sparkles, another resident, found herself driving home into a blocked-off street due to fallen trees but praised the community's collaborative effort in clearing the debris.

"I usually use this way, but when I came in this morning, there were several trees knocked down from down by the donut shop. But they cleared those trees off. This was actually covered. All this was covered. And then the neighborhood and everybody kind of worked together and cleared it off. So we can all have one way in, one way out kind of thing. So everybody came together and helped," Sparkles shared.

While residents have contacted their insurance providers, they acknowledge that the cleanup and recovery process may take time.

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