A severe squall line ripped across portions of Kansas and Missouri on Thursday, accompanied by destructive wind gusts as high as 90 mph. The storms whipped up high winds and waves on Table Rock Lake near Branson in southern Missouri around 7 pm, leading to the capsizing of a tourist boat. Officials have confirmed a death toll now at 17, including nine of an eleven-member family that was onboard.
The tourist-carrying vessel was of the duck boat type which can travel on both land and water. The vessel in question, operated by the “Ride the Ducks Branson” company, had entered reportedly calm water about half an hour before the storms hit. Thirty-one people were onboard. Video below shows the vessel struggling to stay afloat soon after the storms roared in.
***WARNING! This video may be disturbing to some viewers ***
A duck boat carrying tourists capsized and sank during a severe thunderstorm in Missouri, killing at least 11 people, some of them children, authorities said. THE STORY –> https://t.co/gbtRDbcZW7 pic.twitter.com/Z64ytLeLQE— KPRC 2 Houston (@KPRC2) July 20, 2018
The owners of the tourist company have initially claimed the storms came in with no warning. However, National Weather Service warnings had been issued around 6:35 pm CT for the Branson area. Indeed, the squall line in question had been slamming portions of eastern Kansas and Missouri since late Thursday morning. Numerous reports of severe wind damage and recorded wind gusts of 70-90 mph had been received. Soon after the storms passed Table Rock Lake, neighboring Branson Airport reported a wind gust to 63 mph.
Elsewhere, a tornado outbreak in central Iowa led to 34 reports of twisters, including at least one of F3 intensity. Dozens of injury reports have come in, especially in and around Marshalltown, Iowa.
Video shows tornado striking Marshalltown, Iowa, causing courthouse tower to collapse. 📷: @b_hernandez21s pic.twitter.com/Hzxn4veeiD
— BuzzFeed Storm (@BuzzFeedStorm) July 19, 2018