Authorities say at least 89 have died in the massive tornado that struck the southwest Missouri city of Joplin.
City manager Mark Rohr announced the number at a pre-dawn news conference outside the wreckage of a hospital that took a direct hit from Sunday's storm.
Rohr said the twister cut a path nearly six miles long and more than a half-mile wide through the center of town.
Much of the city's south side was leveled, with businesses, homes and restaurants reduced to ruins.
Missouri's governor Jay Nixon expects to find more survivors in the rubble, and undoubtedly more bodies as well. He also said that over 2,000 buildings were "wiped out".
Joplin will be cleaned up, the dead buried, the injured healed. Life will go on in the Ozarks. People here are self-reliant, strong, and conduct their lives with a quiet determination and a firm belief in God. Everyone in the region has dug deep to help with the Tuscaloosa disaster, and with the floods that have drowned entire communities up and down the Mississippi. Now they will dig even deeper.
As a sidenote: Mike Bettes of The Weather Channel was chasing this tornado when it slammed into Joplin. He was first person on the scene, and did a remarkable job reporting and helping to search for survivors. He was so overwhelmed by the death and destruction that he was reduced to tears on camera. I think he's left a little bit of his heart in Joplin, and I know he's won the hearts of all who call the Ozarks home.
ANOTHER UPDATE: God in Heaven. Warning: this video is VERY intense. VERY.
THIRD UPDATE: View from a chopper:
Dear God. I'd heard, this morning, "at least 12 killed" but nothing since to bring it up to 89, and the likelihood of many more in those shattered buildings.
ReplyDeleteMay is usually the worst month for midwest tornadoes, but I'd hoped, given the fierce April, that nature had decided to stop it early this year.
I see it was a forlorn hope.
And there's more potential tornadoes coming today. Nixon has called up the National Guard.
ReplyDeleteI just added a link for more jaw-dropping photographs to the bottom of my post.
ReplyDeleteMany people around these parts have tornado shelters, but many more retreat to under their house (if built on a stemwall) or to their basement. Others take shelter in a small, inside room such as a closet or bathroom.
Looking at the pictures, this was an effort in futility for the people of Joplin. So many homes were utterly obliterated.
I just added a video.
ReplyDeleteI just watched it, Holy Crap.
ReplyDeleteIt is darkening rapidly here - I just checked the weather radar, and it seems the remnants of that storm that smashed Joplin is almost here now.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I hear the thunder, but I know that it will be nothing like it was there.
Back after the boomers.
Stay safe, DWT. If you hear the sirens, take cover as best as you can.
ReplyDeleteIt's dark here, too...thunder in the distance.
OMG! Those pictures are just horrifying! And the video is one of the most terrifying I've seen (or rather heard, not much visible).
ReplyDeleteI've been looking at them with my son and he asked "why don't people just leave the area? Why do they live there?". I told him that people say the same thing to Israelis. "It's home for them".
I'm not sure he sees the comparison. He thinks Arabs are more easily tameable than Nature.
Please stay safe Lady Red, DWT and anyone else in the vicinity. My thoughts and prayers with all the residents.
Annie, I don't know of any states that don't have tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, and/or earthquakes. It's just part of life in America.
ReplyDeleteI love where I live. It's breathtakingly beautiful and the people are the salt of the earth. It's home.
Geez, nice double negative, lady red. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteThat last picture from your link looks like the aftermath of a nuclear bomb.
ReplyDeleteThose poor people, I pray aid arrives quickly.
Florrie, crews are frantically searching the rubble while more severe storms blow through. Emergency crews in Arkansas have been put on stand-by, so I'm thinking that they have ample manpower.
ReplyDeleteThe death toll just climbed to 92.
OK, the first line of the storm was nothing.
ReplyDeleteLiterally, even though the weather radar showed some real hot-spots, they passed northwest and southeast of us.
Between the storms, I took my Mom to have her BP checked, then picked up my sister at work and drove her to a store (where someone proceeded to relieve her purse of $60 while she was talking to the cashier) and while I was outside waiting for her, the second line hit.
Torrents of rain and trees at a 45 degree angle, but it passed quickly, and I saw no permanent damage.
For now it is sunny again, but the trees are still blowing strongly in a wind coming up from the southwest.
This little town never seems to get hit by tornadoes (knock wood) as we are deep in a river valley.
My big concern are the three huge pines in out neighbors yard, each at least 80 feet tall, and the closest less than 25 feet from my bedroom window.
With all the rain, and the saturated ground, the root systems on even trees that big tend to have a tenuous grip under strong winds. At least the trees are upwind of me, so should go the other way if they lose it.
I just added a third update; an aerial view taken from a helicopter.
ReplyDeletemy comments on this thread keep getting eaten.
ReplyDeletePraying for those in the area as they come to terms.
This is just horrific. :-( And I know they said they expect the numbers to go down, but they're reporting 1,500 still unaccounted for?!? Those poor people...
ReplyDeleteLyana, yes, we just heard that there are still 1,500 people unaccounted for. It's heartbreaking. I fear the death toll could rise dramatically.
ReplyDeleteThe sadness here is palpable. We took a load to Mountain Home this morning to go on the next truck; diapers, juice boxes, granola bars. The need in Joplin is massive. Those that did survive are left with nothing but the clothes they were wearing when the twister struck.
More ugly weather is expected tonight and tomorrow in the Joplin area. The storms are already firing in western Oklahoma.
Not just Oklahoma is a worry, Lady Red. You be careful yourself while doing the good that you are.
ReplyDeleteClassic Plains Tornado Outbreak Ingredients
Thanks Luther. Our risk tonight is only moderate; Oklahoma is gonna get clobbered. If the sirens go off, we'll be under our house in a twinkle. We have a backpack next to the door with water, money, flashlights, and other supplies.
ReplyDeleteOMG. :-( These pictures are unbelievable. I feel shell shocked just looking at them; I can't imagine what it must be like for the people living there. And they're saying the OK storms tonight are even worse...
ReplyDeleteThere are no words that can describe what those photographs have captured, Lyana. It's beyond comprehension. Thanks for sharing them.
ReplyDeleteThe storms tonight are bad...supercells firing up all over Oklahoma with multiple tornadoes, all working their way east toward what's left of Joplin. Tomorrow will be even worse.