EF-1 tornado leaves camp south of De Soto cleaning up instead of welcoming campers
DE SOTO, Mo. (First Alert 4) - A Christian camp in southwestern Jefferson County is welcoming its insurance agent on Sunday instead of the planned campers.
An EF-1 tornado touched down Saturday night south of De Soto in an area along Missouri Highway 21.
The De Soto Rural Fire and Rescue Department Chief said Saturday night, at least 12 buildings and homes had severe damage, of the about 50 estimated in the tornado’s path.
“Could hear it going by,” Camp Neotez Camp Caretaker Nate Reiser said.
Reiser and his wife waited out the storm in the basement of their home at Camp Neotez off of Big River Heights Road. When Reiser went out searching for damage, he thought the worst was a tree blocking one of the entrances to the camp. Then he and someone with De Soto Rural Fire and Rescue went into the camp.
Reiser said, “Shock. Things were definitely not good.”
He added, “We have about 12 buildings on this site, and I think seven were hit and damaged in some capacity, from minor little dings and dents to complete annihilation.”
Some of the worst was a tree landing right on top of one of the cabins. Another was pushed off its stilts and kept from being pushed down a hill by a tree trunk lodged in its side.
Reiser was assessing the damage Sunday, when he was originally supposed to be welcoming the first campers arriving for the season.
“The timing, when you’re talking about the safety of kids, you can’t ask for a better scenario. There weren’t any kids here yet. Came the night before they’re supposed to arrive, which is disappointing for them. We wanted camp to happen,” said Reiser.
Elsewhere in the storm’s path, Thomas Datillo watches as tree crews work to clear the branches tangled with power lines and poles that have been working in this area all night.
Datillo said, “My grandson and a couple of friends were out here, and pretty soon, I heard them banging on the door, and they said, ‘Grandpa, there’s a tornado.’”
He said his home took no damage he could see, but trees all across his property are mangled and thrown, including some he planted along Big River Heights Road, uprooted or snapped.
Datillo said, “Live in the country, there’s a lot of guys with their tractors and chainsaws, and they were helping, clearing the road out and taking care of business like they do out here.”
Reiser knows that help will be there for the camp as he’s already fielding calls from people offering to come clean up; he’s just waiting for insurance to take a look first.
Reiser said, “They love this place, and it would mean a lot to have another year of camp.”
The camp schedule is booked out through the end of July. While this first week camp has been cancelled but they are assessing the damage before making a decision on the rest of the schedule.
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