Tornado Destroys Joplin MO

[The Stig]

Original Story from stltoday.com (http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/article_510b0a86-84cf-11e0-9387-001a4bcf6878.html)


THE ASSOCIATED PRESS | Posted: Monday, May 23, 2011 7:15 am | (20) Comments


JOPLIN, Mo. • A massive tornado that tore through the southwest Missouri city of Joplin killed at least 89 people, but authorities warned that the death toll could climb Monday as search and rescuers continued their work at sunrise.

City manager Mark Rohr announced the number of known dead 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, adding that tornado sirens gave residents about a 20-minute warning before the tornado touched down on the city's west side.

Much of the city's south side was leveled, with churches, schools, businesses and homes reduced to ruins.

Fire chief Mitch Randles estimated that 25 percent to 30 percent of the city was damaged, and said his own home was among the buildings destroyed as the twister swept through this city of about 50,000 people some 160 miles south of Kansas City.

"It cut the city in half," Randles said.

An unknown number of people were injured in the storm, and officials said patients were scattered to any nearby hospitals that could take them.

Authorities planned to conduct a door-to-door search of the damaged area Monday morning, but were expected to move gingerly around downed power lines, jagged debris and a series of gas leaks that caused fires around the city overnight.

"We will recover and come back stronger than we are today," Rohr said defiantly of his city's future.

Early Monday, Gov. Jay Nixon said fires from gas leaks still burned across the city.

"It's a very, very precarious situation," Nixon told CNN. "It's going to be a stark view as people see dawn rise in Joplin, Missouri."

Residents said the damage was breathtaking in scope.

"You see pictures of World War II, the devastation and all that with the bombing. That's really what it looked like," said Kerry Sachetta, the principal of a flattened Joplin High School. "I couldn't even make out the side of the building. It was total devastation in my view. I just couldn't believe what I saw."

The same storm system that produced the Joplin tornado spawned twisters along a broad swath of the Midwest, from Oklahoma to Wisconsin. At least one person was killed in Minneapolis. But the devastation in Missouri was the worst of the day, eerily reminiscent the tornadoes that killed more than 300 people across the South last month.

Sunday's storm in Joplin hit a hospital packed with patients and a commercial area including a Home Depot construction store, numerous smaller businesses and restaurants and a grocery store. Jasper County emergency management director Keith Stammer said an estimated 2,000 buildings were damaged.

Among the worst-hit locations in Joplin was St. John's Regional Medical Center. The staff had just a few moments' notice to hustle patients into hallways before the storm struck the nine-story building, blowing out hundreds of windows and leaving the facility useless.

In the parking lot, a helicopter lay crushed on its side, its rotors torn apart and windows smashed. Nearby, a pile of cars lay crumpled into a single mass of twisted metal. Matt Sheffer dodged downed power lines, trees and closed streets to make it to his dental office across from the hospital. Rubble littered a flattened lot where a pharmacy, gas station and some doctor's offices once stood.

"My office is totally gone. Probably for two to three blocks, it's just leveled," he said. "The building that my office was in was not flimsy. It was 30 years old and two layers of brick. It was very sturdy and well built."

St. John's patients were evacuated to other hospitals in the region, said Cora Scott, a spokeswoman for the medical center's sister hospital in Springfield.

Early Monday morning, floodlights from a temporary triage facility lit what remained of the hospital that once held as many 367 patients. Police officers could be seen combing the surrounding area for bodies.

Miranda Lewis, a spokeswoman for St. John's, was at home when the tornado sirens began going off. By early Monday, she still had no details on any deaths or injuries suffered at the hospital in the tornado strike, although she had seen the damaged building.

"It's like what you see someplace else, honestly," Lewis said. "That's a terrible way to say it, but you don't recognize what's across the street.

"I had seen it on television, but until you're standing right here and see the devastation, you can't believe it."

Michael Spencer, a national Red Cross spokesman who also assisted in the aftermath of a tornado that devastated nearby Pierce City in 2003, was also stunned.

"I've been to about 75 disasters, and I've never seen anything quite like this before," Spencer said. "You don't typically see metal structures and metal frames torn apart, and that's what you see here."

Triage centers and shelters setup around the city quickly filled to capacity. At Memorial Hall, a downtown entertainment venue, nurses and other emergency workers from across the region were treating critically injured patients.

At another makeshift unit at a Lowe's home improvement store, wooden planks served as beds. Outside, ambulances and fire trucks waited for calls. During one stretch after midnight Monday, emergency vehicles were scrambling nearly every two minutes.

Winds from the storm carried debris up to 60 miles away, with medical records, X-rays, insulation and other items falling to the ground in Greene County, said Larry Woods, assistant director of the Springfield-Greene County Office of Emergency Management.

Travel through and around Joplin was difficult, with Interstate 44 shut down and streets clogged with emergency vehicles and the wreckage of buildings.

Emergency management officials rushed heavy equipment to Joplin to help lift debris and clear the way for search and recovery operations. Gov. Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency, and President Barack Obama said the Federal Emergency Management Agency was working with state and local agencies.

Jeff Lehr, a reporter for the Joplin Globe, said he was upstairs in his home when the storm hit but was able to make his way to a basement closet.

"There was a loud huffing noise, my windows started popping. I had to get downstairs, glass was flying. I opened a closet and pulled myself into it," he told The Associated Press. "Then you could hear everything go. It tore the roof off my house, everybody's house. I came outside and there was nothing left."

An aching helplessness settled over residents, many of whom could only wander the wreckage bereft and wondering about the fate of loved ones.

Justin Gibson, 30, huddled with three relatives outside the tangled debris field of what remained of a Home Depot. He pointed to a black pickup that had been tossed into the store's ruins and said it belonged to his roommate's brother. "He was last seen here with his two little girls," ages 4 and 5, Gibson said.

"We've been trying to get ahold of him since the tornado happened," Gibson said, adding his own house had been leveled.

"It's just gone. Everything in that neighborhood is gone. The high school, the churches, the grocery store. I can't get ahold of my ex-wife to see how my kids are," he said, referring to his three children, ranging in age from 4 months to 5 years.

"I don't know the extent of this yet," Gibson said, "but I know I'll have friends and family dead."

Minneapolis city spokeswoman Sara Dietrich said the death there was confirmed by the Hennepin County medical examiner. She had no other immediate details. Only two of the 29 people injured there were hurt critically.

Though the damage covered several blocks in Minneapolis, it appeared few houses were totally demolished. Much of the damage was to roofs, front porches that had been sheared away, or smaller items such as fences and basketball goals.

In Wisconsin, the mayor of La Crosse declared a state of emergency Sunday after a powerful storm tore roofs from homes and littered streets and lawns with downed trees and debris.

Additional storms were predicted across the southern Plains through Thursday morning.

An advisory from the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., said warm weather Monday could fuel instability in advance of another weather system. A few tornadoes, some strong, could occur - starting in Oklahoma and southern Kansas in the afternoon and in North Texas in the late afternoon.

___

Associated Press writers Jim Salter in Joplin; Heather Hollingsworth, Dana Fields, Chris Clark and Bill Draper in Kansas City, Mo.; Todd Richmond in La Crosse, Wis.; Chris Williams and Jeff Baenen in Minneapolis; and Kelly Kissel in Little Rock contributed to this report.

[The Stig]

Original story from Accuweather.com (http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/news/story/49984/wild-weather-leaves-trail-of-d.asp)


"Joplin gets hit again by high winds and hail. Another round of tornadoes possible Tuesday..."


Dozens are dead and even more injured after nearly 50 tornadoes tore though parts of the Midwest on Sunday.

At least 89 people were killed in Joplin, Mo., which received the worst of the severe weather.

If the death toll in Joplin reaches >115, it will be in the top 10 deadliest tornadoes in all time, none of which have occurred since 1953 according to the Storm Prediction Center.

This story will be continually updated throughout the day as more information becomes available.

More Severe Weather Expected Today

The area will have little time to clean up as another round of severe weather is expected again today.

A complex of severe thunderstorms tracked across Joplin and southwestern Missouri this morning producing gusty winds and hail.

1 inch diameter hail was reported in the vicinity of Joplin Municipal Airport along with wind gusts to 36 mph.

Additional thunderstorms will develop this afternoon across the southern Plains, potentially affecting the Joplin area once again.

Torrential downpours and frequent lightning associated with these thunderstorms will interfere with cleanup efforts. Localized flash flooding is likely as the ground is already saturated due to above normal rainfall the last two months.

High winds could cause additional damage and may topple cranes which are in the city helping with the cleanup.

Damage was widespread across the city as homes, schools and a hospital were hit by a massive tornado.

According to AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist Alan Reppert, x-ray films from the hospital were found 70 miles away in a driveway.

Meanwhile, school has already been canceled on Monday with one of the Joplin School District's buildings receiving catastrophic damage.

Many of the dead were residents looking to seek shelter when the buildings they were in collapsed.

The tornado traveled 6 miles from the west side of the city to the southeast portion. The southern edge of the city was the hardest hit. The tornado ranged from half a mile to three-quarters of a mile wide. While the exact strength of the storm is yet to be determined, it could be upwards of an EF4.

According to Kathy Dennis of the American Red Cross, "75% of the town is virtually gone."

Scenes from the city look much like those of the tornadoes that claimed more than 300 lives in the Southeast last month.

Throughout the city, roads are littered with downed trees and buildings, making them nearly impassable. Interstate 44 also had significant damage as 20 cars and tractor-trailers were overturned.

According to the Associated Press, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon has declared a state of emergency and activated the National Guard, while emergency crews were conducting search and rescue operations.

The number of dead is expected to rise as the crews sort through the rubble.

These storms are part of a larger system that triggered severe weather that killed one person in Kansas on Saturday night and caused damage from Minnesota to Texas on Sunday.

At least one person was killed and 29 injured in storms that hit Minneapolis, Minn. Meanwhile, La Crosse, Wis., was also hit hard as winds tore roofs off homes and trapped residents inside.

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[The Stig]

Original story from CNN (http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/05/23/missouri.tornado/index.html)


oplin, Missouri (CNN) -- A tornado that chewed through a densely populated area of Joplin, Missouri, killed at least 89 people as it tore apart homes and businesses, ripped into a high school and caused severe damage to one of the two hospitals in the city, officials said Monday.

"Everybody's going to know people who are dead," said CNN iReporter Zach Tusinger, who said his aunt and uncle died in the tornado. "You could have probably dropped a nuclear bomb on the town and I don't think it would have done near as much damage as it did."

As many as a quarter of the buildings in the southwest Missouri city suffered major or significant damage, fire and emergency management officials said.

Parts of the city were unrecognizable, according to Steve Polley, a storm chaser from Kansas City, Missouri, who described the damage from the Sunday night tornado as "complete devastation."

Joplin Fire Chief Mitch Randles said he believes people were still trapped in buildings Monday morning. Authorities warned the death toll was likely to rise.

Complicating the situation, broken natural gas lines were causing fires throughout the city, and a new round of severe weather was bearing down on the city of 50,500.

The tornado struck about 6 p.m. Sunday. It demolished the 1,800-square-foot house that the Rev. C.J. Campbell and his foster sister were in when the storm hit. He called the tornado an "evil monster vortex."

It began as a low roar, he said.

"Then it got louder and louder until it sounded like about 50 semi tractor-trailer trucks fully laden going about 70 miles per hour about 10 feet outside the front door," he said. "The floor began to vibrate and then shake very violently and seemingly buckle and we thought we were going to be sucked up the chimney."

Stories from the storm: Fear, tears, prayers

President Barack Obama ordered Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate and an incident management team to Joplin to coordinate federal disaster relief assistance efforts, White House spokesman Nicholas Shapiro said Monday.

Obama also called Gov. Jay Nixon to "personally extend his condolences and to tell all of the families of Joplin affected by the severe tornadoes that they are in his thoughts and prayers," Shapiro said.

Nixon dispatched a specialized search-and-rescue team to the city, along with 140 National Guard troops and state troopers from other parts of the state. City officials said they were being supported by at least 40 public safety agencies from Kansas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri.

Mike O'Connell, spokesman for the Missouri Department of Public Safety, said Sunday night that authorities were trying to get additional search-and-rescue teams to the area.

"The priority is to get every available resource there ... as quickly as possible," O'Connell said.

The Red Cross has established a shelter at Missouri Southern State University in Joplin and was offering shuttle service to bring people there, city spokeswoman Lynn Onstot said.

The tornado struck along Rangeline Road, the main commercial strip in the city. It affected both commercial and residential areas, she said.

Aerial footage from CNN affiliate KOTV showed houses reduced to lumber and smashed cars sitting atop heaps of wood. Some structures were engulfed in flames.

"The particular area that the tornado went through is just like the central portion of the city, and it's very dense in terms of population," Joplin Emergency Management Director Keith Stammer said on CNN's "American Morning."

St. John's Regional Medical Center in Joplin was hit directly by the tornado and suffered significant structural damage, city officials said. CNN affiliate KSHB said there were reports of fires throughout the hospital.

One facade of the building made of glass was blown out, and authorities evacuated the medical center, said Ray Foreman, a meteorologist with CNN affiliate KODE in Joplin. Makeshift triage centers were set up in tents outside, witness Bethany Scutti said.

iReporter records destruction at medical center

Patients were being moved to Springfield, Missouri and other medical centers, officials said.

Stores including a Home Depot and Wal-Mart were severely damaged.

"I remember at one point walking around the Wal-Mart to the south and seeing the area that used to be Home Depot, and just standing there not knowing what to think or do," said CNN iReporter Andrew Boyd.

The storm also overturned as many as a dozen tractor-trailers on Interstate 44 as it barreled through the town, a major trucking center. The interstate, shut down for nearly 12 hours, reopened Monday morning, according to Mike Watson with the Missouri State Highway Patrol. No motorists were severely hurt, he said.

Amber Gonzales was driving through southwest Missouri when she heard tornado warnings on the radio. She took refuge at a gas station before getting back on the road and seeing the aftermath of what she narrowly missed.

At a shopping center, she saw people pulling people from rubble and rushing them to the hospital as overwhelmed emergency workers were unable to reach everyone in need.

"I saw an older woman taken on the back of a truck bed, speeding down the road," Gonzales said. "I can't get the lady out of my mind. ... I don't know if she made it."

The tornado caused significant damage to several Joplin schools, including Joplin High School, whose seniors were scheduled to graduate Sunday afternoon at Missouri Southern, according to the school district's Facebook page. The district canceled all classes for Monday as officials evaluated the situation, according to a posting on the page.

Pastor Jim Marcum of Citywide Christian Fellowship church said he was delivering a sermon to about 100 people when a man jumped in and said, "It's coming this way."

"I didn't know which was louder, us praying or the wind outside," Marcum said late Sunday. He said those inside the church could feel the pressure of the wind.
iReporter describes aftermath of tornado

"We were praying to be spared. I just thank God," Marcum said.

After the storm left, church members went out to help.

"Every time people would leave and go out to help as part of a search and rescue, people would return and they would be emotional," Marcum said. "We have one couple still at the church late into the night because their home was completely destroyed. They don't have a home to go to."

The tornado was part of a line of severe weather that swept across the Midwest on Sunday, prompting tornado watches and warnings that stretched from Wisconsin to Texas. High winds and possible tornadoes struck Minneapolis and other parts of Minnesota, leaving at least one person dead and injuring nearly two dozen others, police said.

Elsewhere, reports of tornadoes came in from Forest Lake, north of the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, and near Harmony, more than 120 miles to the south. In Minneapolis, witnesses reported numerous downed trees and neighborhoods without power.

Minneapolis police spokeswoman Sara Dietrich said the storm left one fatality, with 22 people reported hurt.

LeDale Davis, who lives on the north side of Minneapolis, told CNN, "This is the first time we can remember a tornado touched down in this area. They aren't usually in the heart of the city."

Forecasters said the system that struck Minnesota was separate from another storm that struck eastern Kansas on Saturday, killing one person and damaging or destroying hundreds of homes there.

CNN's Greg Morrison, Holly Yan, Rick Martin, Sarah Aarthun, Ross Levitt, Stephanie Gallman, Jessica Jordan, Don Lemon, Sean Morris, Anna Gonzalez, Divina Mims and Steve Brusk contributed to this report.

[The Stig]

http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/bestoftv/2011/05/23/exp.am.intv.green.cnn

[RedJohn]

Tough times in the US lately. Mother Nature is angry.

[The Stig]

No doubt my friend.

I think those of us in the path of these storms would be wise to make sure our gear is up to snuff, our supplies are ready to go and our plans are rehearsed.

[RedJohn]

Plus, the hurricane season will be there soon. It is now for shutters and supplies.

[bacpacker]

No doubt my friend.

I think those of us in the path of these storms would be wise to make sure our gear is up to snuff, our supplies are ready to go and our plans are rehearsed.

+1 ! Right on Stig. I know our little expereince a few weeks back got us planning much more intensly for just such a senario. One thing I am gratefult for out of this, we both got our Ham license several years ago and spent time working EmComm. We have a established group of "Skywarn" trained weather spotters in the area, if you know the area fairly well and general direction of travel of the storms, you can pretty well know a few minutes before it arrives and about how bad it will be. Sometimes the early warning is the difference between living and ding.

Thanks for the news postings. Prayers sent to all involved and affected.

To all the folks from the midwest east, keep your eyes and ears open the next 2-3 days. This roud of storms ain't over yet.

[RedJohn]

The BOB makes so much sense when you see this kind of terror.

[ak474u]

Yea, it's pretty bad up there. My buddy is running a bunch of mobile shower units for the temporary shelters, and recovery workers in Alabama. (works for an oil field services co. that has a disaster response subsidiary) he said they were already talking about tearing down and moving at least 2 of their units to MO. in the next 24 hours.

The good thing is, on the location of one of his units, the city he is in is already working on building an earth bermed shelter in the downtown for 500 people. I have to say that as climate change occurs, we need to be prepared for nature's wrath, as much as I hate to say it, it should be code to have a shelter in all new construction commercial and residential buildings especially if they are being re-built after a tornado. I'm pretty sure Edmond OK has that in their code due to the monster F5 with the fastest winds in history that plowed thru there a decade ago.

[bacpacker]

I agree with upgrading the code to meet the expected weather. Pretty much the same that Florida has went to for hurricane's. You gotta have a place to get to quick when storms are moving thru.

The wife and I were just talkin last night about planning now for a totally underground shelter when we do our retirment/Bug out. We want to build a underground home. Not sure if that's happening or not, but what ever type house we end up with will have a basement and a room or two underground. It will be deep enough for tornado protection and at least somewhat radiation protection as well. There are 4 reactors within 75 miles of us, and all the stuff at Oak Ridge. After the issue's in Japan, planning some for this makes at least a little sense to me. At least for accidental releases.

[RedJohn]

We want to build a underground home.

I want that too and the blueprint is in my head.

[bacpacker]

Still plannin mine. But they aren't cheap.

[piranha2]

We all share the "funds" issue.

[The Stig]

Original story from New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/25/us/25tornado.html?_r=4)


JOPLIN, Mo. — About 1,500 people are unaccounted for in this battered city, a Fire Department official said Tuesday, as rescue workers took advantage of a few hours of sunny weather to continue searching for survivors in buildings leveled by the country’s deadliest tornado in more than 60 years. At least 122 people have died.

While the number of those unaccounted for is alarmingly high in a city with only 49,000 people — and raises the specter of a far higher death count — it may merely be a reflection of the widespread breakdown of communication systems here in the wake of Sunday’s vicious storm. Many residents who fled ahead of the tornado or survived it may be unable to notify the authorities or family members who have reported them missing.

Capt. Robert Daus of the Maryland Heights Fire District, who is helping to lead a team of about 100 St. Louis-area firefighters in search and rescue operations in Joplin, said that in addition to the 1,500 people who remain unaccounted for, an additional 750 had been injured by the tornado, which cut a three-quarter-mile-wide path through this southwestern Missouri city and damaged as many as 30 percent of its buildings.

The National Weather Service said the tornado that struck the city Sunday evening was an EF5 storm, with winds greater than 200 mph — the most powerful category of tornado.While much of Tuesday provided a respite from the nearly unrelenting rain and wind that had hampered rescue efforts, more challenging weather may be on the way. An unusually strong weather system moving east across the Rockies is expected to mix with moist air heading north from the Gulf of Mexico, carrying with it the possibility of creating severe storms late Tuesday.

“We are expecting some violent storms to develop across Kansas and Oklahoma today bringing rain, hail and the risk of tornadoes that could move into the Joplin area this evening,” said Doug Cramer, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “This is a very good set up for very big tornadoes.”

A tornado touched down Tuesday afternoon about two miles north of Canton, Okla., according the National Weather Service. The Associated Press was also reporting Oklahoma City metropolitan area at the start of evening rush hour, damaging homes and injuring a number of people.On Tuesday morning, American flags flew outside many houses in Joplin, including flags that had been draped over sections of ruined homes. When there was not enough structure of a house left behind to support a flag, flags were placed in nearby trees that had somehow managed to retain a few branches.

About one-third of the most heavily damaged sections of the city were cordoned off by the authorities on Tuesday as rescue teams with dogs combed rubble. The doors of houses that had been searched were marked with an “X.” If bodies were found inside, a number was listed under the “X.”

The authorities said they planned to complete a second sweep through the city on Tuesday, methodically examining every structure that had been damaged — at least 2,000.

On Monday, crews pulled seven people out of buildings that had collapsed, officials said. But on Tuesday, some 60 hours after the tornado struck, no survivors had been found.

“We’re hoping to find more folks, that’s why we’re doing these searches,” said Keith Stammer, the Jasper County emergency management director.

Mr. Stammer said the city planned on conducting at least two more rounds of searches, but those would likely not take place until after the storm expected Tuesday evening had passed.

Earlier Tuesday, President Obama, who is on a state trip in Britain, said that he was monitoring the federal response to the tornado and that he planned to visit Missouri on Sunday “to talk with folks who’ve been affected, to talk to local officials about our response effort and hopefully to pray with folks and give them whatever assurance and comfort I can that the entire country is going to be behind them.”

Among the buildings that search and rescue teams were focusing on Tuesday was Hampshire Terrace, a 100-unit apartment complex with about 300 tenants, where the tornado’s fierce winds had ripped off and blown away nearly the entire second story of the two-floor building.

Jessica Blackwood, 22, who had lived in Hampshire Terrace with her 2-year-old son, was not at home when the tornado hit. Her grandmother, who lived in another unit in the complex was also not home and escaped harm. But Ms. Blackwood said she is very worried about her neighbors.

“I keep hearing the count go up and I keep praying it stops,” she said. “I’m so scared one of these times I’m going to hear a name a know.”

Firefighters and cadaver-sniffing dogs have been through the building twice, officials said and have not reported finding bodies or making rescues. On Tuesday, a team of 50 firefighters planned to spend all day long going through the building’s debris.

“It’s absolutely gone. It’s a total loss,” said Rick Plush, president of the building’s management agency, the Heritage Management Corporation, based in Topeka, Kan. “You want to be optimistic, but when you see the level of devastation, you wonder if there aren’t parts of people in the rubble. We are as optimistic as we can be.”

Most of the building’s residents were low- or moderate-income families, including elderly people and families with children, said Amy Thompson, vice president of Heritage Management. About 20 percent of the tenants received federal Section 8 housing vouchers.

The company said that it had set up a special Web site and that it had established a special phone number for tenants to call, but that the whereabouts of only seven or eight tenants had been determined so far.

“When something like this happens, people scatter and I think most people are still in survival mode - making sure they have food and a place to live,” Ms. Thompson said. “Hopefully within three or four days, we’ll have heard from a lot more people.”

Timothy Williams contributed reporting from New York.

[RedJohn]

1500 missing, 122 dead?? How can this be possible in these days?

[The Stig]

Original Story from the Daily News UK (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1391075/The-block-scar-Amazing-satellite-photos-pinpoint-devastation-Joplin-town-wiped-map-deadliest-tornado-modern-times.html)


The six-block scar: Amazing satellite photos pinpoint devastation of Joplin, the town wiped off map by deadliest tornado in modern times

By Daily Mail Reporter

Following the devastating tornado which ripped though Joplin at the weekend, these satellite images show the extent of the damage.

After and before aerial photos show the shocking extent of the damage caused by the twister in the Missouri city - this image show a six-block path of destruction.

At least 125 people were killed by the twister on Sunday, which authorities say is the deadliest single tornado in America since modern record-keeping began over 60 years ago.

A further 750 people were taken to hospitals in the area and these images show lucky some people were, and how close they came to having their homes destroyed.

Joplin is reckoned to be the eighth deadliest in U.S. history - The so called Tri-State Tornado which hit Missouri, Illinois and Indiana on March 18, 1925, is believed to be the most deadly. That four-hour twister killed 695 people.

Meanwhile powerful storms roared through middle America again yesterday, with weak tornadoes touching down in isolated spots and severe thunderstorms threatening such strikes in several states.

The National Weather Service issued tornado watches and a series of warnings in a dozen states, stretching northeast from Texas though the Mississippi River valley to Ohio.

Who will help? This aerial image shows the destruction of the the St John's Regional Medical Centre meanwhile the high school in Joplin was also flattened by the twister

'Everybody's working as fast and furious as possible,' said Beverly Poole, the chief meteorologist at the National Weather Service's office in Kentucky, which covers southeastern Missouri and southern Illinois. 'This is just a wild ride.'

There were no immediate reports of deaths from the new round of storms, though authorities reported dozens of minor injuries following brief tornado touchdowns in Missouri and Indiana.

Yesterday's storms followed a deadly outbreak on Tuesday in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Kansas that killed at least 15 people. The nation's deadliest single tornado since 1950 killed 125 on Sunday in the southwest Missouri city.

Menacing clouds showed some rotation, but there were no confirmed reports of tornadoes touching down.

Southern Indiana authorities said at least 12 people were treated for non-life-threatening injuries after a tornado touched down along a highway east of Bedford, flattening homes, barns and other structures in its path.

'The guys on the ground there say it's a predominantly rural area, which is fortunate for the masses but of course not for the people nearby,' said Sergeant Brian Olehy of Indiana State Police.

There were also injuries reported when a storm struck a mobile home park west of Bloomington, state police said. Authorities were on their way to the scene but had to clear downed tree limbs and power lines from the roads first.

The Herald-Times reported emergency services in the area were conducting search and rescue operations and that a gas line in the area ruptured.

'Considering the destruction that occurred in Joplin - being that we're in tornado alley and Sedalia has historically been hit by tornadoes in the past - I think people heeded that warning,' Sheriff Kevin Bond said. 'And so, I think that helped tremendously.'

Officials in Sedalia ended the school year several days early because of damage to buses. In one hard-hit neighbourhood, law officers stood on corners and electrical crews worked on power lines as people cleaned debris and sifted through belongings.

One of the heavily damaged homes was the house of Priscilla McCabe, 61, and her 30-year-old son Sean McCabe, who was home when the tornado struck.

Mr McCabe was heading to the basement and says the storm shoved him down the final flight of steps. He had scraps and cuts on his hands, wrists, back and feet. Blood was visible in the house, and much of the roof of the house was gone.

In Illinois, high winds, rain and at least four possible tornadoes knocked down power lines and damaged at least one home and a number of farm buildings across the central and eastern parts of the state.

Read more: The six-block scar: Amazing satellite photos pinpoint devastation of Joplin, the town wiped off map by deadliest tornado in modern times | Mail Online (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1391075/The-block-scar-Amazing-satellite-photos-pinpoint-devastation-Joplin-town-wiped-map-deadliest-tornado-modern-times.html#ixzz1NSebyKPx)

[The Stig]

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[The Stig]

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[The Stig]

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[The Stig]

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/05/26/article-1391075-0C46481D00000578-965_470x598.jpg

Explain to me again how SHTF can only be considered the Mad-Max/EOTWAWKI jerk-off fantasies.

[izzyscout21]

wow.....just wow

[bacpacker]

That is amazing. It's hard to tell what anything was before.

Just saw on the news tonight that some folks have already started rebuilding, I have to agree, no reason to wait for someone else to come do it for you.

[RedJohn]

It is just unbelievable. Better be prepped if you survive this.

[izzyscout21]

i can't imagine what it would be like to live through that and lose everything.

[RedJohn]

i can't imagine what it would be like to live through that and lose everything.

Odds are that you will live thru something like that a lot better than a lot of other folks.

[izzyscout21]

Odds are that you will live thru something like that a lot better than a lot of other folks.

I'll take it.

[bacpacker]

Just heard on the news tonight that a F2 tornado hit Springfield Mass around 4:30pm. Report ssaid several hurt, no one killed. First tornado in that area in something like 30-40 years.

[Stg1swret]

Updated report list 4 dead. Tornado's can occur anywhere if the conditions are right.

[The Stig]

Original story from CBS St Louis (http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2011/06/10/rare-aggressive-fungus-strikes-joplin-tornado-victims/)


Rare, Aggressive Fungus Strikes Joplin Tornado Victims
June 10, 2011 7:55 AM

JOPLIN, Mo. (KMOX/AP) - A Joplin doctor said Thursday his hospital treated five Joplin tornado victims for a rare, aggressive fungal infection sometimes found in survivors of other natural disasters.

Dr. Uwe Schmidt, an infectious disease specialist at Freeman Health System in Joplin, said three of those patients who contracted zygomycosis have since died, but he stopped short of blaming their deaths specifically on the infections.

“These people had multiple traumas, pneumonia, all kinds of problems,” Schmidt said. “It’s difficult to say how much the fungal infections contributed to their demise.”

Zygomycosis, now known as mucormycosis, is a fungal infection that spreads rapidly and can be caused by soil or vegetative material becoming embedded under the skin. It’s more prevalent in people with weakened immune systems or untreated diabetes but can affect healthy people who suffer trauma and are injected with contaminated soil.

Dr. Benjamin Park with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said people who have had a traumatic skin injury that is not improving should seek medical attention immediately so the infection can be identified and treated promptly.

Here is a portion of the memo from health care authorities:

“Dear Greene County Medical Providers,

The Springfield-Greene County Health Department was made aware of medical concerns associated with tornado victims. Please see the statement below:

All Medical Providers Caring for Joplin Tornado Victims

Several patients have been identified recently with aggressive fungal soft tissue infections. These patients were transferred in from the field and had lacerations that were closed at the scene. These patients have developed cellulitis followed by aggressive necrotizing soft tissue infection. Despite aggressive surgical debridement, the wounds have continued to advance. Microscopy demonstrates invasive fungal elements with capillary thrombosis. Grossly, the wounds have a cellulitic appearance with necrosis of the deeper aspect of the wound. The fat has a saponified appearance. In some cases gross fungal elements are visible with the naked eye. Despite aggressive surgical debridement, the necrosis reoccurs within 24 hours. Treatment currently consists of aggressive serial surgical debridement with IV amphotericin therapy.”

“These fungal infections are usually quite serious, and often have a case-fatality rate of 50 percent or higher,” Park said in an email to The Associated Press. “Although persons with weakened immune systems and those with diabetes are the most common risk groups, otherwise healthy people can develop infection, particularly after a traumatic wound. Skin infection usually occurs following traumatic inoculation of the fungal spores into the skin.”

Schmidt said he had seen only two cases of zygomycosis in his 30 years of practice, and both of those cases involved people with untreated diabetes.

“I never have seen personally this kind of fungal infection of the skin,” he said.

Stacy Fender, a spokeswoman for CoxHealth, said Cox South hospital in Springfield has one patient who may have a fungal infection. Overall numbers weren’t available. The health department in Springfield-Greene County, where some patients were treated, declined to release information about patients sickened by the fungus, citing patient privacy concerns.

The Springfield News-Leader reported the department sent a memo Monday to area health providers warning them to be on the lookout for the infections.

Kendra Williams, the administrator of community health and epidemiology for the health department, said the fungus likely came from soil or vegetative materials imbedded in the skin by the tornado.

In the aftermath of the tornado, Freeman Health System treated more than 1,700 patients. Doctors from St. John’s Hospital, which was hit by the twister, treated patients at makeshift facilities. Schmidt said some wounds that were stitched up had to be reopened because they weren’t adequately cleaned.

“These were very extensive wounds,” Schmidt said. “They were treated in the emergency room as quickly as possible.”

A week after the tornado patients began arriving with fungal infections.

“We could visibly see mold in the wounds,” Schmidt said. “It rapidly spread. The tissue dies off and becomes black. It doesn’t have any circulation. It has to be removed.”

Schmidt said the infection is sometimes seen in survivors of mass trauma such as the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia.

“This fungus invades the underlying tissue and actually invades the underlying blood vessels and cuts off the circulation to the skin,” Schmidt said. “It’s very invasive.”

Don't think that once the SHTF event is over that you are out of the woods.

[bacpacker]

Never heard of this before but sounds extremly painful until it kills you. And I totally agree that you may not be out of the woods for a long time after SHTF depending on what it is.