KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Trucks and trailers backed up to a growing pile of brush Saturday in Belton to add their contributions of fallen tree limbs knocked loose during the previous night’s storm.

Belton residents Donna Kappenman, 57 and Serena Kester, 64, wore gardening gloves as they pulled broken branches of a cedar tree from the bed of their truck and placed them in the pile.

“It was scary, everything was going sideways — the wind, the rain, the trees, everything,” Kappenman said, recounting Friday’s storms.

Belton was hit with an EF-1 tornado during Friday’s severe weather across the Kansas City metro.

A preliminary storm damage survey from the National Weather Service shows the tornado lasted from 5:19 to 5:24 p.m., with a maximum width of 100 yards and winds topping out at 110 mph.

The weather service reported no injuries and no deaths. However, the storm was not kind to homes, trees, power lines and other structures that were rocked by damaging winds.

“Fortunately, it didn’t hit our roof or anything,” Kappenman said. “But some of our neighbors, you could see it did.”

Recovery efforts continued Saturday as the community banded together to help one another clear fallen limbs and meet needs of people still without power. According to an Evergy outage map, around 300 customers were still without power as of 1:30 p.m.

A city spokesperson said around 20-30 people are estimated to be displaced due to storm damage, though exact numbers are still uncertain.

Some roads remained blocked off by city workers, only allowing residents access to their homes as utility crews worked. People were seen clearing large amounts of debris from yards.

The Belton Cemetery Association posted on social media to let residents know they were aware of damage to gravestones and trees in the cemetery.

The city of Belton posted advisories on their social media asking residents to stay out of areas affected by the storm.

“Additional traffic in these areas can slow progress and create safety risks,” the post said.

The city also said it is partnering with Heart-n-Hand Ministries to support families affected by the storms. The ministry is an “official partner” working with American Red Cross teams in Belton Saturday, according to the post.

The organization is helping coordinate donations to those in need, including meals, physical and monetary support. People who wish to donate can contact the organization at (816) 322-1133 or visit their website.

Kappenman and Kester took advantage of the city’s free limb drop-off site at 800 Markey Road, near Eagles’ Landing Golf Course. Just beyond the brush pile, people were seen driving golf carts and putting on the green.

Kappenman said their home in the Apple Valley subdivision was without power for two to three hours Friday evening. They were lucky, though, Kappenman said, since they were just adjacent to neighborhoods that were hit the worst.

Homes on Canal Street, Bienbille Street and Conti Court took significant damage as parts of roofs and siding were ripped off by the storm.

“We got off work early, and we weren’t home long before the sirens started going off,” Kappenman said. “We went to the basement until all the warnings cleared and we just saw that the tree had snapped.”

Monitoring the limb drop-off site Saturday was Travis McCullough, 34, a Belton city employee. Friday night, he and a couple of colleagues helped clear a large tree blocking a resident’s front door so first responders could inspect the home.

After working until about midnight Friday, crews were back at it the next morning, McCullough said, with plenty of jobs expected to keep them busy into the work week.

The worst damage appeared to have happened south of Highway 58, he said, where roof and severe uplift damage happened to homes.

Homes south of Missouri Route 58 appeared to have seen the worst of it, with many suffering severe roof damage.

“It’s nice to see that, you know, this is a community that actually comes together, instead of just every man for himself,” McCullough said.

McCullough said city services were not suspended on Saturday. Staff was able to report to work and operate normally.

A city spokesperson said Belton is warning residents to be aware of potential scams that can happen after storms, like fake contractor repairs, fraudulent charity solicitation and insurance fraud.

It’s unclear if any of this activity has occurred, but anyone with concerns should verify information before submitting payments. People are urged to report suspicious activity to the Belton Police Department at 816-331-1500.

(Nathan Pilling and Ben Wheeler contributed.)

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