With a high death toll and millions of dollars in damages, this spring Missouri was home to killer tornadoes.

Through Kansas came an unwelcome wind. A combination of moisture, heat and pressure made conditions right to spawn tornadoes--lots of them--and other severe weather in the Midwest in May 2003.

According to the National Weather Service, May 4, 2003, had more than 80 tornadoes, some of which claimed the lives of 37 people in Missouri, Kansas and Tennessee.

Three storms did the lion's share of damage in Missouri that day. These killers plowed through both Kansas and Missouri.

One skipped through the Kansas City area spawning 4 tornadoes there alone; two of them were rated at F4 on the Fugita Scale of Tornado Intensity, with winds over 200 miles per hour. More than 1,000 structures were destroyed and one person died.

Another big storm, also an F4, hit Pierce City, Mo. It raged through the downtown killing 8 people, many of whom were sheltering at the National Guard Armory fallout shelter. The huge tornado raged until it reached the outskirts of Springfield, where it lifted and dumped debris.

The third storm plowed the most acreage. It started on the ground around Girard, Kan., and killed the most people. It had the dubious distinction for the longest destruction path that day--from Kansas to the pastures past Camdenton, Mo.

The tornado was an F4 when it entered Missouri via Barton County. The funnel appeared to dissipate after passing north of Liberal, Mo., where it killed one man, polishing one of the two hills near town of any evidence of the large trees that used to stand there. It then skipped, sparing several miles from devastation, only to reform and change directions starting back to its dismal work.

"The National Weather Service had given us warning of the approaching weather, so we positioned ourselves as weather spotters where we could see it pass on the horizon. Only it changed direction," said Tom Ryan, Barton County emergency management director. His plan to escort the tornado out of the county altered when the storm changed course.

"We got a closer look than we planned," he said. The storm's baseball-sized hail totaled his truck as the tornado passed between his and another spotter's position to the north.

After passing north of Liberal--through rural farm fields, fences and farmsteads--the tornado laid waste to downtown Stockton, Mo. It then skipped along in a path that took it past Camdenton, Mo. Viewed from the air, aftermath indicated that the twisters seemed to meander with purpose, gravitating toward farmstead after farmstead halfway across Missouri. These funnels ranged in size from F1 to F4.

This May's severe weather damage resulted in 74 counties in Missouri being declared disaster areas by the federal government. The damages have been estimated to top one-half a billion dollars.

Closer neighbors
The Easons and Garbers have been Barton County neighbors for many years. As most farmers, they've shared everything from equipment to fencerows, but never an F4 tornado. Their farms were in the path when the tornado headed almost due east.

Loren and Sue Eason of Sheldon, Mo., are starting to joke about it now, but a tenacious tornado took a quarter-mile swipe at their property, wadding much of their farm equipment into the fencerow of their down-wind neighbors.

"Yeah, Norm told me if I didn't move my combine--it was his," Loren Eason said with a smirk. "I told him he could keep it, and the rake and the disk..."

Loren Eason's tone turns serious when he talks about his equipment. Totals reached more than $300,000 in losses just for farm equipment, a loss not covered by his homeowner insurance policy.

The May 4 tornado also took most of the Eason family home and much of its contents. The couple was in Joplin shopping for furniture when they heard the severe weather alerts.

"They reported a tornado warning and severe hail in the area, so we

didn't rush home right away. We could see the storm cloud on the horizon, but it didn't seem too impressive, [or] very dark," said Sue Eason.

What the storm left in its wake was gravely impressive. The home's roof, several walls and the entire garage were missing. The walls were etched and imbedded with debris. Pieces of lumber and tin pierced the home's remains. The yard was tree stumps and bare soil. Their belongings ended up in the neighbor's fencerow and their own hayfields nearby.

The storm's path was wide. Many of the trees in the 40-acre field surrounding the homestead told the story of high winds. The remaining trees were pointed in the direction of rotation; the northern trees pointed west and the southern trees east. The ones in between were just missing.

"The corner hedgepost to the feeder-calf lot is missing. We still haven't found it. That one was big and set in concrete," said Eason. The winds spared his 100 feeder calves. The Easons were luckier than some neighbors, who had injured and killed cattle. "Our calves didn't even run off after the storm and most of the fence was gone," said Loren.

This has been an eventful year for the Easons, with Loren's quadruple bypass and this unwelcome visit by a twister. Now they're are hoping for some quiet time for the rest of the year--that is after they fill out homeowners insurance paperwork.

"I am disappointed with the whole insurance process," said Loren Eason. "The claims process has really been stressful. Let's just say it is not like the help you get from the Red Cross; they were wonderful."

How do you assign a value to a family heirloom quilt, let alone remember what was in your home? "I'd suggest everyone videotape their home and keep the tape somewhere else. And read the fine print of your insurance policy," said Sue Eason.

Norman and Dorothy Garber saw the approaching storm. From their view, it was dark and shapeless at first, and it was hard to judge which direction it was moving.

The Garbers, whose farmstead is due east of the Eason's, were directly in the path of the tornado. They experienced how powerful such storms can be.

With plenty of warning that the storm was in the area, they prepared as well as they could in a home without a basement; they took shelter in the bathroom.

"It was quite an experience. The whole time I was worried about keeping my mom calm rather than worry about it myself," said Dorothy. "My husband was still outside mowing the lawn--until the last second. I guess that is a male thing."

"I finished up the mowing while keeping an eye on the moving cloud," recalled Norman Garber. "When I noticed it seemed to really start approaching quickly, I headed inside."

The storm cloud was over the Easons' place; then it was over the Garber's in a flash. Norman said the roar gave it away.

"Just as I entered the bathroom, the back door, which was solid, was ripped from the hinges and flew past me hitting my hand as I pulled the [bathroom] door shut. If I had been one step back, I wouldn't be here today. The power was amazing. The sound was amazing," he added.

Despite the damage to personal property, the Garber's spirits are good. "We both only have 6 months until retirement, and in a way, we have to start over," said Norman.

Every building was demolished on their place. It looked like the center of the path was south of the home by only feet.

"Yes, the new house will have a basement and a safe room," added Dorothy. And they are building it right where the tornado left a path.