Tornado slams Joplin, Missouri
A massive tornado that tore a 6-mile path across southwestern Missouri killed at least 89 people as it slammed into the city of Joplin Sunday, May 22, 2011.
Section:Picture story
This frame grab from video shows lightning inside a massive tornado on Sunday, May 22, 2011, outside Joplin, Mo. The tornado tore a 6-mile path across southwestern Missouri killing at least 89 people as it slammed into the city of Joplin, ripping into a hospital, crushing cars like soda cans and leaving a forest of splintered tree trunks behind where entire neighborhoods once stood.
Tornadovideo.net Associated Press
Emergency workers wait for a medical team after finding a body in a tornado ravaged car in Joplin, Mo., Monday, May 23, 2011. A large tornado moved through much of the city Sunday, damaging a hospital and hundreds of homes and businesses.
Charlie Riedel Associated Press
“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.”
Kerry Sachetta Associated Press
A man carries a young girl who was rescued after being trapped with her mother in their home after a tornado hit Joplin, Mo. on Sunday evening, May 22, 2011. The tornado tore a path a mile wide and four miles long destroying homes and businesses.
Mike Gullett Associated Press
Emergency vehicles line up along northbound Rangeline Road in Joplin, Mo. after a tornado swept through the city in Joplin, Mo. on Sunday evening, May 22, 2011.
Roger Nomer AP/The Joplin Globe
Much of the city’s south side was leveled, with churches, schools, businesses and homes reduced to ruins. Fire chief Mitch Randles estimated 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.
Associated Press
A commercial neighborhood in Joplin, Mo., is seen Monday, May 23, 2011, after it was leveled by a tornado that caused heavy damage on Sunday afternoon. The twister cut a six-mile path through the city.
Adam Wisneski AP/Tulsa World
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.
Associated Press
A destroyed helicopter lies on its side in the parking lot of the Joplin Regional Medical Center in Joplin, Mo., Sunday, May 22, 2011. A large tornado moved through much of the city, damaging the hospital and hundreds of homes and businesses.
Mark Schiefelbein AP
Rescue workers in lime-green jackets search for bodies and survivors inside St. John’s hospital in Joplin, Mo., Monday, May 23, 2011. The hospital was damaged by a tornado that destroyed nearly 30 percent of the city on Sunday afternoon.
Adam Wisneski AP/Tulsa World
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,”
Jeff Lehr, a reporter for the Joplin Globe Associated Press
Fire chief Mike McLeod, left, and firefighter Kyle Newport of the Arma, Kan., fire department look through the wreckage of a business in Joplin, Mo., Monday, May 23, 2011.
Mark Schiefelbein Associated Press
A triage team treats wounded people at a triage station set up at Twenty-sixth and Main Streets in Joplin, Mo. after a tornado swept through the city on Sunday evening, May 22, 2011.
Mari Taylor AP/Joplin Globe
Jean Logan reacts as she sees the damage to her home in Joplin, Mo., Monday, May 23, 2011 after it was damaged by a tornado that destroyed nearly 30 percent of the town on Sunday afternoon. Logan and her granddaughter rode out the storm in the laundry room. The twister cut a six-mile path through the city.
Adam Wisneski AP/Tulsa World
Rescue specialist Kris Tate of the Springfield, Mo., Fire Department digs under a destroyed vehicle at a home near the St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Joplin, Mo., Monday, May 23, 2011.
Mark Schiefelbein Associated Press
“There were people wandering the streets, all mud-covered,” he said. “I’m talking to them, asking if they knew where their family is. Some of them didn’t know, and weren’t sure where they were. All the street markers were gone.”
Jeff Lehr, reporter for the Joplin Globe Associated Press
Maggie Kelley and her husband, Trey Adams hug their dog, Saint, after finding him amid the rubble of her home in Joplin, Mo. Monday, May 23, 2011. The two are Hurricane Katrina evacuees. Joplin was leveled by a tornado that destroyed nearly 30 percent of the town on Sunday afternoon.
Adam Wisneski AP/Tulsa World
Josh Ramsey looks through the rubble of what is left of his mother-in-law’s home following a tornado Monday, May 23, 2011, in Joplin , Mo.
Jeff Roberson Associated Press
An emergency worker carries a girl to safety from the remains of Academy Sports in Joplin, Mo. after a tornado struck the city on Sunday evening, May 22, 2011.
Roger Nomer AP/The Joplin Globe
"Our house is gone. It’s just gone,” Rogers told the Joplin Globe. “We heard the tornado sirens for the second time. All of a sudden, everything came crashing down on us. We pulled our heads up and there was nothing. It was gone.”
Tom Roger, Joplin resident Associated Press
A man carries a box out of a house damaged by a tornado Monday, May 23, 2011, in Joplin , Mo.
Jeff Roberson Associated Press
Fire chief Mike McLeod, left, and firefighter Kyle Newport of the Arma, Kan., fire department look through the wreckage of a business in Joplin, Mo., Monday, May 23, 2011.
Mark Schiefelbein Associated Press
Alexia Neal carries a pot and a bottle of syrup out of the rubble that used to be her home in Joplin, Mo. Monday, May 23, 2011. Her home and neighborhood near St. John’s Regional Medical Center was destroyed when a tornado hit it on Sunday.
Jamie Green AP/The Wichita Eagle
Laura Vanzant looks for her dog Monday, May 23, 2011 in her home that was destroyed by a tornado in Joplin, Mo.
Charlie Riedel Associated Press
Emergency personnel walk through a neighborhood severely damaged by a tornado near the Joplin Regional Medical Center in Joplin, Mo., Sunday, May 22, 2011.
Mark Schiefelbein Associated Press
Storm clouds dwarf a farm near Lamar, Mo. as the sun sets Sunday, May 22, 2011. The storm earlier produced a large tornado moved through much of Joplin, Mo., damaging a hospital and hundreds of homes and businesses.
Charlie Riedel Associated Press
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