Tornado damages homes, business along Heritage Highway

Some homes and a business along Heritage Highway outside Jefferson City were destroyed in the tornado that ripped through parts of mid-Missouri on Wednesday night.

Residents were cleaning up belongings, tree limbs and pieces of roofing from their front yards Thursday after a tornado ripped through the area packing winds of up to 160 mph. The National Weather Service rated the maximum damage on the ground as caused by an EF-3 twister, though other damage was lower on the rating scale.

Curtis Trippensee is the owner of the RC Race Barn in the 5600 block of Heritage Highway. His nearly 12,000-square-foot building was wiped out by the storm.

“Totally devastating,” Trippensee said. “We have young kids do it, we have adult kids that come out and participate. It’s a good family adventure, but everything is on hold for a little bit.”

Trippensee said it’s a tough business loss for him, but he’s grateful everyone in the area was safe.

“Tree tops are gone. Trailers, homes destroyed. Business destroyed. It’s very, very bad,” he said. “We’re luck in the aspect that nobody got hurt.”

Across the road from Trippensee’s business, several trailers were destroyed and homes were missing their roofs. The storm picked up a car and dropped it on the other side of the road.

Tree limbs landed both in front yards and on the road. Several power lines that were taken out by the storm also obstructed the road.

Many Heritage Highway residents were still in shock. They said the longer they looked at the damage, the more it felt unreal.

Trippensee is hopeful that the community sticks together to get things back to normal.

“I think my RC community will come together and help rebuild,” he said.