Tornado Damages Homes in Missouri Town

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By Kevin Murphy

KANSAS CITY Mo. (Reuters) - A tornado seriously damaged homes and toppled trees in a small town just east of Kansas City, Missouri, on Saturday, but a law enforcement dispatcher said there were no initial reports of injuries.

Officials said the twister touched down in Orrick, Missouri, and local television news footage showed it tore through several homes, leaving only the shells standing. It flattened some other buildings, felled large trees and flipped over cars and campers.

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The tornado struck about 5:40 p.m local time, said National Weather Service meteorologist Dan Hawblitzel in Kansas City.

A dispatcher for the Ray County sheriff's office said there were no known injuries from the twister. Orrick is a town of about 820 people some 30 miles (48 km) northeast of downtown Kansas City.

A tornado warning remained in effect on Saturday evening for some communities east of Orrick, but the threat was expected to lessen as the storm system moved on, Hawblitzel said.

(Reporting by Kevin Murphy, Editing by Alex Dobuzinskis and Peter Cooney)

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