NATALIE SHELTON/Sun TribuneAbove, Zack Beck, 10, stands outside his basement bedroom Friday, May 2, and gathers his belongings as a family friend hands them through his broken window. Zack was sleeping along with his stepbrother, Tyler Beck, 9, shown in the background, when a tornado destroyed his Brookridge subdivision home early that morning.
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Northland families’ homes destroyed by tornado
No serious injuries reported by authorities following violent May 2 storm that swept through metro area
By Natalie Shelton
Zack Beck, 10, and Tyler Beck, 9, stepped over broken glass and debris in their yard as they made their way last Friday, May 2, to their basement bedroom windows, shattered by a tornado that destroyed their home in the wee hours of the morning.
They stood by their windows as a family friend inside carefully handed them their belongings through the shards.
They reached for a red kickball. A football. Papers and notebooks. Baseball cards.
Tyler was worried because he couldn’t find his homework.
For the two Lewis and Clark Elementary School students, those few possessions found might help them heal after experiencing what every family in the Northland hopes will never happen to them.
The Beck stepbrothers were sleeping in their basement bedrooms in the home their family rents in the Brookridge subdivision in Kansas City North off Missouri Highway 291 when they awoke as their windows exploded into their rooms at about 2 a.m.
They began screaming for their parents sleeping above them, Jennifer and Paul Beck, who also had just been awakened by the shattering windows and attempted to make their way to the boys.
“I heard the roof collapse,” Zack said. “We ran to the hall and yelled to them, and then we just saw them drop down to the floor. Then we ran into the bathroom.”
Because furniture and debris was blocking their way, Jennifer and Paul Beck had to jump down into the basement stairwell to safety. The family then huddled in the bathroom until the roar outside subsided, Paul Beck said.
“We could barely see but could hear,” Paul Beck said. “It sounded like a train right next to you, but it was more than that. It was like an out-of-control train.”
The National Weather Service later confirmed that the damage in their neighborhood was caused by a tornado estimated at an EF 3 on the Enhanced Fujita scale, a tornado that had first touched down as an EF 2 in the Gladstone area around Northeast 77th Street and North Euclid Avenue. An EF 3 tornado has winds between 111 and 165 mph.
The Becks were among those affected in the Liberty school district between Northeast 108th and 112th streets near Northeast L.P. Cookingham Drive in Kansas City North. In that area, the Beck home was one of two destroyed. Sixteen others had major damage, 15 had minor damage and about 82 others were slightly affected, according to the American Red Cross.
In the Becks’ small cul-de-sac, the tornado’s fury seemed selective: Behind the Becks, a new home being constructed was leveled, with only a concrete foundation still in place.
While the Youngstrom and Taylor families’ homes on either side of the Becks had significant damage, they were still standing.
But two houses over, the Allen home was pushed off its foundation and moved about 30 feet back. The Allens’ next-door neighbor, Cleora Taylor, said father Shawn Allen was the only one home; he told her the wind blew him across the room after he awoke to the sound of the storm. The wind then blew him again down the hallway, she said.
Taylor was also awakened by the shattering glass of her upstairs bedroom window. She tried to reach her daughters, Christa, 10, and Lynesia, 14.
“I try to stay calm in situations, but there was a lot of screaming,” Taylor said. “I couldn’t get to the girls; the wind was making it almost impossible to open our bedroom doors. Glass was flying through the house, and we heard everything going on outside.”
Ginny and Alan Boyer of Liberty came to help their daughter and son-in-law, Debbi and Steve Youngstrom, and their family, who live on the other side of the Becks.
The Youngstroms have two sons who were each slightly injured. Eric Youngstrom, 19, was sleeping in his upstairs bedroom when the roof collapsed on top of him; he had to have several stitches in his arm. Their son Alex, 20, had just returned from a late movie with his girlfriend, and they were just about to get out of their car when the tornado hit while they were still in the vehicle. Alex had to have bits of glass removed from his face.
The cul-de-sac neighbors, though among the hardest hit in the two Northland tornados, all said they feel fortunate that they and others were not seriously hurt. They also said they are grateful for the support of friends and family who immediately came to help.
One concerned extended family member was Isaac Keller, 8, cousin of Zack Beck, who helped Zack and Tyler gather their belongings. He said he became worried when he heard his mother receive a phone call and could only make out at first that the home of someone he knew had been destroyed in the storm.
“I was hoping it wasn’t someone I knew, and then I heard ‘Zack and Ty,’” Isaac said. “I felt like I was going to cry or something. I begged my mom to let me come over today because I care about them so much. I was scared they might have gotten hurt.”
Staff writer Natalie Shelton can be reached at 781-4941 or nshelton@npgco.com.
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They stood by their windows as a family friend inside carefully handed them their belongings through the shards.
They reached for a red kickball. A football. Papers and notebooks. Baseball cards.
Tyler was worried because he couldn’t find his homework.
For the two Lewis and Clark Elementary School students, those few possessions found might help them heal after experiencing what every family in the Northland hopes will never happen to them.
The Beck stepbrothers were sleeping in their basement bedrooms in the home their family rents in the Brookridge subdivision in Kansas City North off Missouri Highway 291 when they awoke as their windows exploded into their rooms at about 2 a.m.
They began screaming for their parents sleeping above them, Jennifer and Paul Beck, who also had just been awakened by the shattering windows and attempted to make their way to the boys.
“I heard the roof collapse,” Zack said. “We ran to the hall and yelled to them, and then we just saw them drop down to the floor. Then we ran into the bathroom.”
Because furniture and debris was blocking their way, Jennifer and Paul Beck had to jump down into the basement stairwell to safety. The family then huddled in the bathroom until the roar outside subsided, Paul Beck said.
“We could barely see but could hear,” Paul Beck said. “It sounded like a train right next to you, but it was more than that. It was like an out-of-control train.”
The National Weather Service later confirmed that the damage in their neighborhood was caused by a tornado estimated at an EF 3 on the Enhanced Fujita scale, a tornado that had first touched down as an EF 2 in the Gladstone area around Northeast 77th Street and North Euclid Avenue. An EF 3 tornado has winds between 111 and 165 mph.
The Becks were among those affected in the Liberty school district between Northeast 108th and 112th streets near Northeast L.P. Cookingham Drive in Kansas City North. In that area, the Beck home was one of two destroyed. Sixteen others had major damage, 15 had minor damage and about 82 others were slightly affected, according to the American Red Cross.
In the Becks’ small cul-de-sac, the tornado’s fury seemed selective: Behind the Becks, a new home being constructed was leveled, with only a concrete foundation still in place.
While the Youngstrom and Taylor families’ homes on either side of the Becks had significant damage, they were still standing.
But two houses over, the Allen home was pushed off its foundation and moved about 30 feet back. The Allens’ next-door neighbor, Cleora Taylor, said father Shawn Allen was the only one home; he told her the wind blew him across the room after he awoke to the sound of the storm. The wind then blew him again down the hallway, she said.
Taylor was also awakened by the shattering glass of her upstairs bedroom window. She tried to reach her daughters, Christa, 10, and Lynesia, 14.
“I try to stay calm in situations, but there was a lot of screaming,” Taylor said. “I couldn’t get to the girls; the wind was making it almost impossible to open our bedroom doors. Glass was flying through the house, and we heard everything going on outside.”
Ginny and Alan Boyer of Liberty came to help their daughter and son-in-law, Debbi and Steve Youngstrom, and their family, who live on the other side of the Becks.
The Youngstroms have two sons who were each slightly injured. Eric Youngstrom, 19, was sleeping in his upstairs bedroom when the roof collapsed on top of him; he had to have several stitches in his arm. Their son Alex, 20, had just returned from a late movie with his girlfriend, and they were just about to get out of their car when the tornado hit while they were still in the vehicle. Alex had to have bits of glass removed from his face.
The cul-de-sac neighbors, though among the hardest hit in the two Northland tornados, all said they feel fortunate that they and others were not seriously hurt. They also said they are grateful for the support of friends and family who immediately came to help.
One concerned extended family member was Isaac Keller, 8, cousin of Zack Beck, who helped Zack and Tyler gather their belongings. He said he became worried when he heard his mother receive a phone call and could only make out at first that the home of someone he knew had been destroyed in the storm.
“I was hoping it wasn’t someone I knew, and then I heard ‘Zack and Ty,’” Isaac said. “I felt like I was going to cry or something. I begged my mom to let me come over today because I care about them so much. I was scared they might have gotten hurt.”
Staff writer Natalie Shelton can be reached at 781-4941 or nshelton@npgco.com.