23-05-2025
Truman Lake cleaning up after recent storms, ahead of Memorial Day weekend
WARSAW, Mo. — Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start to summer with many people heading to a lake.
Crews at Truman Lake are still cleaning up damage and making repairs following Monday's storms.
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An EF-1 tornado tore through Henry and Benton counties with winds clocked at 110 miles per hour.
The park manager at Truman Lake tells FOX4 the visitor center and three campgrounds saw significant damage.
Their crews have been moving trees and picking up limbs, hoping to get camp sites open for the weekend.
'This is not a typical three day weekend because we'll be busy,' Park Manager Bradley Wright said.
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Warren Benigar lives near Warsaw. They were supposed to have family visit his home near Truman Lake, but the visit got canceled.
Truman Lake Opry opened its doors to help those impacted.
'Come and help yourself, we want people to feel at home here and come right in,' Denise Snider, owner of Truman Lake Opry, said.
The space is typically a restaurant, bar and concert venue, now functioning as a community center.
Snider turned the back stage into a bedroom for people who've been impacted. There's bathrooms, fresh water, food, a kitchen, plus staff with the nonprofit, Compass Health, are on hand.
'There's so many people around here that needed a place to take a shower, to get water, get ice and I was thinking, well we have all of that and we're right here centrally located, so I was like, let's help,' Snider said.
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Wright said Long Shoal, Thibaut Point and Berry Bend campgrounds saw the most significant damage along with the visitor center. Storms blew out two windows and trees toppled over, covering streets.
Wright said 5 to 10 campers were staying at Long Shoal, but nobody was hurt. However, some of their property was damaged.
'Pretty much right after the storm, we had closed the campground and asked folks inside to leave just so we could get the roads back open and get the facilities cleaned up,' he said.
There are about 100 campsites at Long Shoal. He said half their staff and volunteers are working with heavy machinery to clear debris. The power is back on at Long Shoal and Thibaut Point.
'Slowly getting things back on and hoping for the best and working as much as we can getting things ready for the public for the weekend,' Wright said.
Wright said this is typically their busiest holiday weekend of the year with each camp site reserved.
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released the following updates late Thursday afternoon.
Long Shoal: Campground, swim beach, and day-use shelter have been cleaned up, power restored, and will have the gates open at 8:00 a.m. Friday. Boat Ramp is currently open.
Thibaut Point: B loop and boat ramp are currently open. A loop will be open at 6 p.m. Friday. The swim beach will remain closed.
Berry Bend: B Loop of the campground, boat ramp, equestrian trails, and both day use shelters are currently open. C loop currently has a power issue and will be closed for the holiday weekend.
Visitor Center: Will be open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fri-Mon for the holiday weekend. Please excuse our mess as we continue to clean up and make repairs.
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