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Tornado devastates Joplin, Missouri, 116 dead
May 24, 2011, Tuesday
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A monster tornado killed at least 116 people in Joplin, Missouri, when it tore through the heart of the small Midwestern city, ripping the roof off a hospital and destroying thousands of homes and businesses.
Weather officials said the twister that struck the city of 50,000 at dinner time on Sunday was the deadliest single tornado in the United States since 1947 and the ninth-deadliest tornado of all time.
Authorities yesterday put the casualty toll at 116 dead and some 400 people hurt, many suffering severe internal injuries.
Seven people trapped by the storm had been rescued, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon told reporters in Joplin. Emergency crews searched through the night and through a thunderstorm with driving rain yesterday for additional survivors.
"We still believe there are folks alive under the rubble, and we're trying hard to reach them," Nixon said.
Survivors told harrowing stories of seeking shelter from winds of nearly 200 miles per hour (322 kph) in walk-in coolers in restaurants and convenience stores, hiding in bathtubs and closets, and of running for their lives as the tornado neared.
"We were getting hit by rocks, and I don't even know what hit me," said Leslie Swatosh, 22, who huddled on the floor of a liquor store with several others clutching one another as they prayed. When the tornado passed, the store was destroyed but those inside were all alive.
"Everyone in that store was blessed. There was nothing of that store left," she said.
More severe storms were predicted for the region, in a year that has brought tornadoes of record intensity across several states. Further complicating the rescue effort, power lines were downed, broken gas lines ignited fires, and cell phone communications were spotty due to 17 toppled phone towers.
A number of bodies were found along the city's "restaurant row," on the main commercial street, and a local nursing home took a direct hit, said Newton County Coroner Mark Bridges.
Roaring along a path nearly six miles (9.5 km) long and about 1/2 mile to 3/4 mile wide, the tornado flattened whole neighborhoods, splintered trees and flipped over cars and trucks. Some 2,000 homes and many other businesses, schools and other buildings were destroyed.
At St John's hospital 180 patients cowered as the fierce winds blew out windows and pulled off the roof. According to AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist Alan Reppert, X-ray films from the hospital were found 70 miles away.
Six of the confirmed fatalities occurred at the hospital said Joanne Cox, a spokeswoman for the facility. Five were intensive-care patients who were on ventilators that lost power when the tornado struck, Cox said. The sixth was a visitor, but the circumstances of that death were unclear.
Weather officials said the twister that struck the city of 50,000 at dinner time on Sunday was the deadliest single tornado in the United States since 1947 and the ninth-deadliest tornado of all time.
Authorities yesterday put the casualty toll at 116 dead and some 400 people hurt, many suffering severe internal injuries.
Seven people trapped by the storm had been rescued, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon told reporters in Joplin. Emergency crews searched through the night and through a thunderstorm with driving rain yesterday for additional survivors.
"We still believe there are folks alive under the rubble, and we're trying hard to reach them," Nixon said.
Survivors told harrowing stories of seeking shelter from winds of nearly 200 miles per hour (322 kph) in walk-in coolers in restaurants and convenience stores, hiding in bathtubs and closets, and of running for their lives as the tornado neared.
"We were getting hit by rocks, and I don't even know what hit me," said Leslie Swatosh, 22, who huddled on the floor of a liquor store with several others clutching one another as they prayed. When the tornado passed, the store was destroyed but those inside were all alive.
"Everyone in that store was blessed. There was nothing of that store left," she said.
More severe storms were predicted for the region, in a year that has brought tornadoes of record intensity across several states. Further complicating the rescue effort, power lines were downed, broken gas lines ignited fires, and cell phone communications were spotty due to 17 toppled phone towers.
A number of bodies were found along the city's "restaurant row," on the main commercial street, and a local nursing home took a direct hit, said Newton County Coroner Mark Bridges.
Roaring along a path nearly six miles (9.5 km) long and about 1/2 mile to 3/4 mile wide, the tornado flattened whole neighborhoods, splintered trees and flipped over cars and trucks. Some 2,000 homes and many other businesses, schools and other buildings were destroyed.
At St John's hospital 180 patients cowered as the fierce winds blew out windows and pulled off the roof. According to AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist Alan Reppert, X-ray films from the hospital were found 70 miles away.
Six of the confirmed fatalities occurred at the hospital said Joanne Cox, a spokeswoman for the facility. Five were intensive-care patients who were on ventilators that lost power when the tornado struck, Cox said. The sixth was a visitor, but the circumstances of that death were unclear.
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