Rescuers race to find survivors of Joplin tornado

Rescuers race to find survivors of Joplin tornado





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.Customized imprinted and promotional usb flash drives. And the danger was by no means over.Choose from one of the major categories of Bedding, Fires from gas leaks burned across town, and more violent weather loomed, including the threat of hail, high winds and even more tornadoes.



At daybreak, the city's south side emerged from darkness as a barren, smoky wasteland.



"I've never seen such devastation ¨C just block upon block upon block of homes just completely gone," said former state legislator Gary Burton who showed up to help at a volunteer center at Missouri Southern State University.



Unlike the multiple storms that killed more than 300 people last month across the South, Joplin was smashed by just one exceptionally powerful tornado.



Not since a June 1953 tornado in Flint, Mich., had a single twister been so deadly. That storm also killed 116, according to the National Weather Service.



Authorities were prepared to find more bodies in the rubble throughout this gritty, blue-collar town of 50,000 people about 160 miles south of Kansas City.



Gov. Jay Nixon told The Associated Press he did not want to guess how high the death toll would eventually climb. But he said: "Clearly,Use bluray burner to burn video to BD DVD on blu ray burner disc. it's on its way up."



Seventeen people were pulled alive from the rubble. An unknown number of people were hurt.



While many residents had up to 17 minutes of warning, rain and hail may have drowned out the sirens.



Larry Bruffy said he heard the first warning but looked out from his garage and saw nothing. "Five minutes later, the second warning went off," he said. "By the time we tried to get under the house, it already went over us."



As rescuers toiled in the debris, a strong thunderstorm lashed the crippled city. Rescue crews had to move gingerly around downed power lines and jagged chunks of debris as they hunted for victims and hoped for survivors. Fires, gas fumes and unstable buildings posed constant threats.



Teams of searchers fanned out in waves across several square miles. Many of the groups included specially trained dogs. The teams went door to door, making quick checks of property that in many places had been stripped to its foundations or had its walls collapse.What to consider before you buy oil painting supplies.



National Weather Service Director Jack Hayes said the storm was given a preliminary label as an EF4 ¨C the second-highest rating given to twisters. The rating is assigned to storms based on the damage they cause. Mr. Hayes said the storm had winds of 190 to 198 mph. At times, it was three-quarters of a mile wide.



Some of the most startling damage was at St. John's Regional Medical Center, where staff had only moments to hustle their patients into the hallway. Five patients died there, although it was not clear if they were patients or staff members.



The storm blew out hundreds of windows and caused damage so extensive that doctors had to abandon the hospital after the twister had passed.Save on hydraulic hose and fittings, A crumpled helicopter lay on its side in the parking lot near a single twisted mass of metal that used to be cars.



Dr. Jim Roscoe, said some members of his emergency room staff showed up after the tornado with injuries of their own, but they worked through the night anyway.



"I spent most of my life at that hospital," Dr. Roscoe said at a triage center at Joplin's Memorial Hall entertainment venue. "It's awful. I had two pregnant nurses who dove under gurneys ... It's a testimony to the human spirit."



Once the center of a thriving mining industry, Joplin flourished though World War II because of its rich lead and zinc mines. It also gained fame as a stop along Route 66, the storied highway stretching from Chicago to Santa Monica, Calif., before freeways diminished the city's importance.