BRANSON, Mo. — Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon visited Branson Wednesday afternoon and assured everyone that the tourist town will be restored very soon.
He says the path of destruction from Wednesday’s early morning tornado is about nine miles long, and he acknowledged that the damage is significant to Branson’s tourist strip.
Nixon has declared a state of emergency for several cities across the state, including Branson, Buffalo, Cassville, Lebanon and Oak Ridge.
During the news conference with reporters, Nixon reflected on the lessons learned from the devastating EF5 tornado in Joplin last May.
“Joplin is going to be a real sounding board for everybody else across our state. That you can rebuild, that you will rebuild, that you’re going to stay calm during that. We’re going to keep the rule of law,” Nixon said. “Bottom line is we are confident that Branson will be back bigger and better than ever.”
Considering the damage he has seen, Nixon said it is amazing there was no one killed and credited the deliberate preparation and caution exercised in the storm.
“The preparation done before this storm has put us in a situation where it appears we didn’t have a single fatality. There were some injuries but not fatalities and with the level of damage her, that preparation part is so very, very important,” Nixon said. “I want to stress to everyone out there, those getting the hotel guests down to the basement, getting that stuff done… very, very important.”
