Killer tornado devastates Joplin, Missouri: 116 dead (videos)

Joplin, Missouri, a small Midwestern city of slightly over fifty thousand people was turned into a war zone on Sunday around dinnertime when a monster tornado tore a half-mile wide swath through the middle of the urban area. Thousands of homes and businesses were destroyed while the local hospital had its roof ripped off. U.S. weather officials are calling this the deadliest single tornado in the country since 1953. The count so far from emergency officials is 116 dead and about 400 injured with reports of many with massive internal injuries. While emergency sirens sounded to give notice to the population, it is thought the storm was so loud at that point; many people probably never heard the warning and so did not seek shelter in time.

Rescue efforts went on through the night and through Monday’s driving rain and thunderstorm looking for any survivors. Seven people were reportedly found.

St. John’s Regional Medical Center was heavily damaged with many windows and the exterior walls damaged and the upper floors destroyed. According to television reports, staff at the hospital managed to get patients out into the halls before the tornado hit.

Unofficial estimates rate this as an EF4 although it could have been an EF5. (EF = Enhanced Fujita Scale)

From April 25 to 28, the U.S. was subject to an extreme and violent tornado outbreak, the largest in its history. 327 tornadoes in 21 states from Texas to New York left a path of destruction worth more than $2 billion as well as killing 344 people. After three weeks of relatively calm weather, a system of thunderstorms started up on May 21 leading to several tornadoes and finally on May 22 to multiple tornadoes hitting several different areas including Joplin which appears to have been the worst of the lot.

Associated Press – May 23/2011

Raw Video: Killer Tornado Rakes Joplin, Mo.

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, ripping into a hospital, crushing cars like soda cans and leaving a forest of splintered tree trunks.

Associated Press – May 23/2011

Raw Video: View of Damage Above Joplin, Mo.

Helicopter cameras captured widespread damage in Joplin, Missouri after a tornado ripped through the town.

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Associated Press – May 23/2011

Tornadoes Batter Central US, Kill Unknown Number

A massive tornado blasted its way across southwestern Missouri on Sunday, flattening several blocks of homes and businesses, smashing up cars and leaving an untold number of people dead.

References

Wikipedia: Joplin, Missouri

Joplin is a city in southern Jasper County and northern Newton County in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Missouri. Joplin is the largest city in Jasper County, though it is not the county seat. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 50,150.

Wikipedia: May 2011 tornado outbreak

The May 2011 tornado outbreak is an ongoing tornado outbreak across the Midwestern United States, particularly from Lake Superior south to the Red River area. One especially destructive tornado resulted in catastrophic destruction in Joplin, Missouri, and at least 116 deaths, the deadliest US tornado since one that hit Flint, Michigan, in 1953 which also killed 116. Killer tornadoes were also reported in Minnesota and Kansas.

Wikipedia: Enhanced Fujita Scale

The Enhanced Fujita Scale (EF Scale) rates the strength of tornadoes in the United States based on the damage they cause. Six categories from zero to five represent increasing degrees of damage. The scale remains a damage scale and only a proxy for actual wind speeds.

Wikipedia: April 25–28, 2011 tornado outbreak

An extremely large and violent tornado outbreak, the largest in United States history and popularly known as the 2011 Super Outbreak, occurred from April 25 to 28, 2011. The outbreak affected the Southern, Midwestern, and Northeastern United States, leaving catastrophic destruction in its wake, especially across the state of Alabama. It produced destructive tornadoes in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia, and affected several other areas throughout the Southern and Eastern United States with a total of 327 tornadoes confirmed in 21 states from Texas to New York and even isolated tornadoes in Canada. Widespread and destructive tornadoes occurred on each day of the outbreak, with April 27 being among the most prolific and destructive tornado days in United States history. At least 344 people were killed as a result of the outbreak.

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