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[KBCraig]

SDC's Facebook page said they had no damage to the park or Showboat. The ducks had minor damage.

Ozarkland is gone. There's an icon lost!

[MissinTheGreenTrams]

I saw that too. It made me sad because you know your in branson when you pass ozark land. I love that store!

[Colby Cox]

Thank God this one didn't end up like Joplin's tornado last year! Much less death. Buildings would have come and gone anyways, so I'm just happy to hear that the people are fine for the most part.

[joshblakebran]

Sitting here at work devastated over the news of my 2nd hometown. I'm absolutely devastated over this, and my heart goes out to everyone involved in this.

I echo that sentiment...

[sanddunerider]

terrible thing, we were scheduled to go down this weekend.  I think i will still go down, they should have all the streets open by then..

I am like rube, i had a list of places i wonted to check out this year and now some of them are gone or beyond repair.. anxious to see the damage in person.

ozarkland being gone is a shame..it was a landmark.

[Ozarks Gal]

My hubby woke me up early this morning to give me the news. My heart is broken over the news. We live in Springfield, so we've gotten lots of news coverage. If you are a Facebook member there is a page giving updates about the damage. It has been ruled an EF-2. Everyone keeps repeating how blessed they are that this happened before tourist season instead of during.

[Zephon]

The tornado passed about a mile north of my house and we suffered no damage. The sirens just a hundred yards from my house started blaring around 1:30 and woke me up.  They stopped after a minute or so and then came back on two more times in the next fifteen minutes.  I got the family up and we started listening to the EMS scanner.  Emergency workers were searching for injured, doing preliminary road clearing, identifying downed power lines, and generally trying to get things organized. We lost power for about an hour and a half, coming back on around 3 am, and we watched the news and internet to keep abreast of what was going on around us.  The wife and I went back to bed a little later while the two kids were out driving around surveying the aftermath.  

On my way to work at 6:45 am, I didn't see much more than small limbs and twigs across the roads until, on 265, I reached that antique dealership about a half mile south of the 265/376 intersection.  Some of you may know of it from your visits to the area.  It was demolished, power lines down and traffic restricted to one lane.  Got to work, and of course, the topic of discussion was the storm, with people talking about damage in the Kimberling City areas as well as Branson.  SDC was not hit at all.  

The talking heads are saying we'll be up and running in no time at all, some saying within a week or so (a bit optimistically) and encouraging fans of Branson not to put off/cancel their plans to visit.  Of course, despite the fact that the tornado tracked right down 76 and a lot of damage was done, there are still a lot of theaters and businesses that were not hurt at all.  Our "hit" was nothing compared to Joplin's last year...no deaths and relatively few injuries.  Thank you, Lord, for watching over us all.

[How-doFolks]

Thoughts & Prayers for all involved.

[Duelist]

Glad to hear you are ok, Zephon.  Has anyone one heard from Copper?  Steam Freak?

[eagle1]

We were very fortunate. No property damage at Homestay or Econo. BW Landing does have some damage but are up and going as of late this afternoon. I am also posting on another thread (Homestay Inn) as we are NOW open! 

[DeweyBald]

Hope my SDC family are all alright.  Breaks my heart because of all the damage, but like was said earlier....all that "stuff" can be rebuilt. The important thing is everyone is OK.  Thoughts and prayers going up for the entire area!

[biscuitcreek]

KY3 now reports that it was an EF-2 tornado that started near Joe Bald Rd. in Kimberling City and ended 22 miles east of Forsyth near Kissee Mills.  Winds were 120 -130 mph and it was 400 yards wide. It lasted 19 minutes.

The Hilton Convention Center Hotel and the Branson Convention Center will be closed for 90 - 100 days.  The list indicates that 15 hotels/motels were damaged or destroyed, 12 theaters/attractions damaged, and 50 stores/shops damaged or destroyed.

More details:

http://www.ky3.com/news/ky3-tornado-that-hit-branson-had-22mile-track-in-stone-taney-counties-20120229,0,607553.story

[Ozark Outlaw]

It's interesting to hear how city officials are trying to persuade tourist to keep their plans, and still visit despite the damage. Branson may get a tiny boost anyway just for folks wanting to come see the aftermath.

[mbrownx4]

Yeah, my wife asked me (with a grin on her face) if I was planning to go down and check out the damage.  I said that although it was tempting, without SDC being open, I'd pass.  Plus, it would be very sad to see memories damaged all around.  But the most important thing is that there was not many injuries and Branson is still there with all the people that make her great.

[sanddunerider]

I had plans to go this weekend, am after making some calls yestarday.. I am still going down for a couple of days.

I would bet there is a lot of traffic saturday and sunday,  people looking at the damage..