JOPLIN, Mo. — Rescue crews dug through piles of splintered houses and crushed cars Monday in a search for victims of a half-mile-wide tornado that killed at least 116 people when it blasted much of this Missouri town off the map and slammed straight into its hospital.
It was the nation’s deadliest single twister in nearly 60 years and the second major tornado disaster in less than a month.
Authorities feared the toll could rise as the full scope of the destruction comes into view: house after house reduced to slabs, cars crushed like soda cans, shaken residents roaming streets in search of missing family members. And the danger was by no means over. Fires from gas leaks burned across town, and more violent weather loomed, including the threat of hail, high winds and even more tornadoes.
The National Weather Service said the tornado that swept through packed winds up to 198 mph.
The weather service’s director, Jack Hayes, said the storm was given a preliminary label as an EF4 — the second-highest rating given to twisters. The rating is assigned to storms based on the damage they cause.
City Manager Mark Rohr announced the new death toll at a Monday afternoon news conference.
Seventeen people were pulled alive from the rubble. An unknown number of people were hurt.
Authorities warned that the death toll could climb as search-and-rescue workers continued their efforts. Their task was made more miserable early Monday by a new thunderstorm that brought strong winds, heavy rain and hail.
Much of the city's south side has been leveled, with churches, schools, businesses and homes reduced to ruins.
Jasper County Emergency Management Director Keith Stammer said about 2,000 buildings were damaged. Joplin Fire Chief Mitch Randles estimated the damage covered a quarter or more of the city of about 50,000 people some 160 miles south of Kansas City. He said his home was among those destroyed.
An unknown number of people were injured, and officials said patients were sent to any nearby hospitals that could take them.
Police officers staffed virtually every major intersection as ambulances screamed through the streets. Rescuers involved in a door-to-door searches moved gingerly around downed power lines and jagged debris, while survivors picked through the rubble of their homes, salvaging clothes, furniture, family photos and financial records, the air pungent with the smell of gas and smoking embers.
Some neighborhoods were completely flattened and the leaves stripped from trees, giving the landscape an apocalyptic aura. In others where structures still stood, families found their belongings jumbled as if someone had picked up their homes and shaken them.
HOW TO HELP
- http://www.facebook…">NW Arkansas helping Joplin
- Visit http://american.red…">American Red Cross Disaster Relief, call 1-800-RED-CROSS or text "REDCROSS" to 90999 to make a $10 donation
- http://news.uwmidso… ">United Way
- Visit http://www.disaster…">Salvation Army, call 1-800-SAL-ARMY or text "GIVE" to 80888 to make a $10 donation.
- http://www.facebook…">Help Joplin Facebook page
- http://www.facebook…">Joplin Tornado Recovery
- Medical professionals can visit https://www.showmer…">ShowMeResponse.org
- http://www.cbco.org…">The Community Blood Center of the Ozarks is in need of blood — particularly type O.
- http://www.facebook…">Animals Lost and Found from the Joplin tornado
- http://www.facebook…">St. John's Health System
A door-to-door search of the damaged area was to begin Monday morning, but authorities were expected to move gingerly around downed power lines, jagged debris and a series of gas leaks that caused fires around the city overnight.
Gov. Mike Beebe says Arkansas is on standby to help neighboring Missouri with medical care or security
Read tomorrow's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.
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