NORTHEAST MISSOURI -- At least two twisters, maybe more, ravaged northeast Missouri Wednesday evening, leaving three people in their path dead: two lived near Kirksville, one just northeast of Milan.
The tornado damage in and around Kirksville and beyond looks bad enough from the ground.
But from the air, you get a whole different perspective of the devastation.
On Thursday our friends at Air Evac in Kirksville gave KTVO's John Garlock a ride across northeast Missouri.
The most concentrated damage appears to be on the north end of Kirksville in the Lakeside Estates subdivision, Jim Robertson Chevrolet and east of that along Lincoln Street where roofs were vacuumed off a few homes. At least 65 structures in Kirksville were damaged by the tornado.
But the destruction doesn't stop there. Just west of Kirksville off Adair County Route B is where a tornado killed two people: Gus Ochoa, 47, and his girlfriend, Alisha Brune, 29. Their manufactured home was completely leveled and scattered across the field behind it. Neighbors told KTVO the couple had just moved in two or three weeks ago.
Jamie Kethe lived next door to the two victims.
"It was just dead quiet, and then all of a sudden, I looked toward that line of trees and a big cloud moving really, really fast was heading this way, and me and the kids took off to the bathroom," said Kethe. Kethe and her children were not hurt.
Kirksville officials say 150 structures in Adair County received damage.
Farther west, a woman who lived just outside Milan was killed when a twister demolished her mobile home on Sullivan County Route Y. Joyce Green, 56, died at the scene. Green's husband, who was working in his shop next to the mobile home, was not hurt.
Damage in Novinger doesn't look too bad from the air, but it is a mess on the ground, and residents say it was scary as the tornado swirled by on the south side of town.
"We're very, very fortunate we're all alive, and that's what counts," said Lucille Pearce.
We also found extensive damage a few miles east of Kirksville on Steer Creek Way. Clinton Jerome and his wife came home to a huge mess Wednesday evening. They had no idea what had happened while they were gone.
"I come over the hill, and there it was right on front of you-house gone, buildings gone,” said Jerome.
The top half or more of their new brick home was gone and four out buildings were destroyed.
The Jeromes told KTVO their house is just a little over a year old. They plan to tear it down to the foundation and start all over.
Back in Kirksville, a home right across the street to the north from Jim Robertson Chevrolet was demolished, and the twister sucked the roof and walls off a metal building at NEMO Beer Wholesaler, Incorporated.
No local funeral services are planned for the two Kirksville-area residents.
Services for Joyce Green of Milan will be held Saturday at 1:30 at the Schoene-Ruschmeier Funeral Home in Milan, with visitation to be held one hour prior to the service.
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