The damage could have been much worse in the small town. The tornado tossed one mobile home 10 feet from its foundation, then dumped another one on top of it.

"Think I've been through some stuff, and it's probably the scariest thing I've ever experienced," admitted one of the occupants, Jay Pierce. "It was a roller coaster ride."

Now, Pierce and his friends count their blessings.

"I didn't know what to expect, dude," he added. "I came down here expecting everything to be gone. So, when I walked in here and my TV was OK, dude, I was all smiles, yeah."

Pierce moved into the mobile home just three days ago. He said he never wants to live in another one. The storm also destroyed homes and ripped docks out of the water at the Lake of the Ozarks.

Jayme Sheeley said her house is a mess.

"That's a big tree," she said, "so it's going to take a while to clean it all up."