About half of the television tower at KSNF-TV in Joplin came down this morning shortly after 7 a.m. A large section of the broadcast tower fell, crushing a vehicle and causing damage to several homes in the area.
Dianna Woodwind, 3038 West 16th Street, said she heard the tower break and fall onto the home next to hers.
“All of the sudden there was a big boom like a lightening bolt,” she said. “We ran outside and this is what we saw.”
A section of the tower more than 50 feet fell east of the TV studio damaging homes and doing significant damage to the station.
Keith Johnston, who lives next door to Woodward at 3042 West 16th St., was not at home at the time the tower collapsed, but his wife and two children were.
“My wife said she heard the wind come up and got the kids into the closet,” he said as he surveyed the damage to his home and vehicle.
“They heard a booming noise and thought the tower fell. In fact, my boy and I were laughing the other day about the tower falling as we sat out on the patio watching it wiggle in the wind. We were laughing about how it could fall.”
As of 9 a.m. emergency personnel were beginning to assess the damage and restrict access to the area due to live power lines and cables laying near the metal skeleton. No one was injured in either home.
