Metro driver describes tree that fell on car within inches of striking him
INDEPENDENCE, Mo. –The National Weather Service confirmed two tornadoes on Tuesday, June 3, including an EF-1 in Independence with winds up to 100 miles per hour.
The path of that tornado started near Truman Road and MO-291 in Independence and continued on for more than 3 miles. There were no injuries, but one man was lucky to have escaped unharmed.
Two tornadoes touched down Tuesday at Truman Sports Complex and in Independence: NWS
Paul Chastain estimates he was around six to eight inches away from a very different story.
For Chastain lately, it's certainly been pouring. His wife is in the hospital, he's living in a hotel after pipes burst in a neighbor's apartment, sending water gushing into his apartment.
Then Tuesday afternoon, life came crashing down on top of him. He'd driven to his son's home on Ellison Way in Independence to pick up a package.
'So I got my package and I was backing down and one of those weather alerts came over my phone, so I stopped to listen to it,' Chastain said.
It warned a tornado was possibly heading his way. Little did he know it had just formed about a block over.
'So I was sitting there and all of the sudden I hear crunch and I thought something had fallen around me until I heard my glass blow out of my side rear windows and I thought, 'Oh heck,'' Chastain said.
A large section of the tree, at least a foot in diameter, fell from high above directly onto the back of his Ford Flex. Chastain had to crawl out the passenger door.
The National Weather Service preliminary damage survey says it was an EF-1 tornado up to 50 yards wide that continued on for 3.75 miles to Independence Station, where it blew the carport off one mobile home. No one was hurt there despite pieces of the shrapnel sent through a neighbor's home.
Pedestrian waiting for bus in critical condition after being hit by car
Back where the tornado first touched down, Chastain can only think about how close he came to the tree crushing the part of the car where he was sitting.
'If I had been 6-8 inches closer, I would have been injured or killed. So God protected me yesterday, for some reason I have no idea what it is,' he said.
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