VALLEY PARK, Mo. – Cleanup efforts continued in Valley Park after Sunday’s hailstorm. Residents were out cleaning up broken tree limbs, broken windows, and shattered windshields.
Video from the storm showed a river of flood water gushing down the street and hailstones covering the ground like a blanket of snow. Neighbors said seconds later, the storm intensified.
“It literally looked like the ‘Wizard of Oz’ outside. Everything was spinning and then the sound of the hail,” John Michael Barbieri said.
Residents said they took cover in their basements while expecting the worst to happen.
“You just thought it was going to just come through the house,” Barbieri said. “You could hear glass breaking outside and that’s why I thought it was a tornado. It was intense.”
“You’re waiting for the windows to break. So, I feel very fortunate that our windows held up,” Bruce Watson said.
Just a few streets over from Watson, residents were not as lucky.
“We have a storage room that doesn’t have any windows and I just stayed there and prayed. Things were breaking and the window was so bad, I thought it was a tornado,” Millie Tutlam said.
She said families were out assessing the damage right after the storm.
“Our neighbors were out here. I asked him whether he was okay. He was also home by himself, and I just went back in and tried to get ahold of my emotions,” Tutlam said.
Neighbors were out on Monday clearing debris from roofs and yards, spending their day off together helping each other.
“It’s heartwarming to see everybody out working together (and) helping each other out, which is what today is all about. You know, being an American and celebrating,” Watson said. “We would just rather be celebrating, maybe with a barbecue and a beer in the hand versus cleaning up the yards.”
“I always feel like the community comes together and on Memorial Day, it is kind of nice to see that,” Barbieri said. “Because some people do feel separated, so maybe this is not the best way to have a barbecue together, but it is nice to make sure that everyone is okay.”
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