Community | May 22, 2011 | 67 comments

Violent tornado hits Midwest causing death, injury and destruction

source: http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/05/22/severe.weather/index.html

Image
JanforGore
A tornado flattened buildings, snapped trees and tossed tractor-trailers like toys as it touched down in Joplin, Missouri, on Sunday night, causing an unknown number of deaths and injuries.

The twister was part of a line of severe weather that swept across the Midwest on Sunday, prompting tornado watches and warnings that stretched from Wisconsin to Texas. High winds and possible tornadoes struck Minneapolis and other parts of Minnesota, leaving at least one person dead and injuring nearly two dozen others, police said.

Authorities in Joplin were contending with multiple reports of people trapped, as well as significant structural damage to St. John's Regional Medical Center, which was hit directly by the tornado, city officials said. CNN affiliate KSHB said there were reports of fires throughout the hospital.

One facade of the building made of glass was completely blown out, and authorities were evacuating the medical center, said Ray Foreman, a meteorologist with KODE in Joplin.

Residents 70 miles away from Joplin in Dade County were finding X-rays from St. John's in their driveways, said Foreman, indicating the size and power of the twister.

Parts of the city were unrecognizable, according to Steve Polley, a storm chaser from Kansas City who described the damage as "complete devastation."

The tornado cut a path of destruction through the heart of the city, hitting heavily populated areas, Foreman said.

"We've had numerous vehicles picked up and thrown into houses," he said.

At least seven overturned tractor-trailers were seen on one stretch of Interstate 44 west of the city, said Michael Ratliff, who has been chasing storms for eight years. Ratliff said the possible tornado was "rain wrapped," making it impossible to see as it tore what he estimated to be a half-mile to three-quarter-mile path of damage.

Officials did not know an exact number of injuries reported. Lynn Ostot, the spokeswoman for the city of Joplin confirmed "some fatalities," but did not have an exact number. The Joplin mayor has declared a local disaster.

Elsewhere, tornadoes were spotted in Forest Lake, north of the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, and near Harmony, more than 120 miles to the south. And in Minneapolis, witnesses reported numerous downed trees and neighborhoods without power.

Widespread damage from severe weather was reported across Minneapolis on Sunday.
Minneapolis police spokeswoman Sara Dietrich said the storm left behind one fatality in the city, with 22 people reported hurt. One hospital, North Memorial Medical Center, said it had treated 18 people for minor injuries.

"This is the first time we can remember a tornado touched down in this area," he told CNN. "They aren't usually in the heart of the city."


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67 comments // Violent tornado hits Midwest causing death, injury and destruction

  • EthicalVegan
    • 0
      EthicalVegan  

    • Hey, dear Jan... when I got home at around 1:30 in the morning (last night), I turned on CNN and saw what I thought was brand new news. Turns out that that late at night, CNN sometimes repeats the main "shows," so I was watching "stale" news.

      So my immense apologies that I went ahead and made a separate submission from yours, the latter of which I didn't see 'til sometime mid-afternoon today.

      As you can see, I was concentrating solely on Joplin, Missouri, because that's where the televised news was coming from and being reported upon. So I hope you can forgive me for "stepping on your toes," as it were. I didn't KNOW I was re-submitting material you'd already posted. [Trust me: I got bawled out for doing it.]

      I also see that "my" submission was then removed from any number of the topic groups that you run or regularly participate in. I'm truly sorry it had to come to this, because we both care THAT damn much, and that's what really should matter, always.

    • 1 year ago
  • JanforGore
  • EthicalVegan
    • 0
      EthicalVegan  
    • JanforGore:

      No, no, no... quite the opposite. I'm apologizing for submitting something related to what YOU'D already submitted. I didn't want it to appear as if I was trying to "out-do" you, or whatever one individual privately insinuated. Hope you'll understand... which is what I was originally trying to explain.

    • 1 year ago
  • JanforGore
  • EthicalVegan
  • JanforGore
    • +1
      JanforGore  
    • Image

    • http://www.freep.com/article/20110523/NEWS07/110523009/Missouri-officials-say-to...|head

      Last month, a ferocious pack of twisters roared across six Southern states, killing more than 300 people, more than two-thirds of them in Alabama.

      As in the Midwest, the Southerners also had warning — as much as 24 minutes. But those storms were too wide and too powerful to escape. They obliterated entire towns from Tuscaloosa, Ala., to Bristol, Va., in what the weather service said was the nation’s deadliest tornado outbreak since April 1974.

      “This was one tornado,” said Greg Carbin, warning specialist with the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla. “It was not the same type of large-scale outbreak.”

      It did, however, get the attention of those who suffered in the South.

      “We’re praying for those people,” said retired Marine Willie Walker, whose Tuscaloosa home suffered more than $50,000 in damage. “We know what they’re going through because we’ve been there already.”

      Forecasters said severe weather would probably persist all week. Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma could see tornadoes through Tuesday, he said, and the bad weather could reach the East Coast by Friday.

      The twister that hit Joplin was one of 68 reported across seven Midwest states over the weekend. One person was killed in Minneapolis and another in Kansas, but Missouri took the hardest hits.

    • 1 year ago
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  

    • How many more people will have to die before we stop playing these political games as if there is any disputing the role of increased greenhouse gases and methane in our atmosphere in the severe weather events we are seeing globally? This is an interview with Christine Todd Whitman, a Republican, talking about climate change, its effects, its part in stronger storms and what we need to do in order to adapt to this. And it isn't building a tarsands pipeline in tornado alley!

    • 1 year ago
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  

    • http://ams.confex.com/ams/91Annual/webprogram/Paper180230.html

      http://ams.confex.com/ams/91Annual/webprogram/Paper180230.html

      Wednesday, 26 January 2011: 2:00 PM
      609 (Washington State Convention Center)
      Kevin E. Trenberth, NCAR, Boulder, CO
      Recorded Presentation
      Manuscript (270.8 kB)
      This talk is in honor of my friend and colleague Stephen Schneider, who was pre-eminent in communicating climate change to the public. I have given many public talks on climate change, and I have always tried to emphasize the observational facts and their interpretation, rather than the less certain projections into the future. I will illustrate how I have always tried to present the material in a fairly policy neutral way, and I have pointed out ways to encourage discussion about value systems and why these lead to potentially different actions about what one does about climate change. For many years now I have been an advocate of the need for a climate information system, of which a vital component is climate services, but it is essential to recognize that good climate services and information ride upon the basic observations and their analysis and interpretation. The WCRP Observations and Assimilation Panel, which I have chaired for 6 years, has advocated for the climate observing system and the development of useful products. Moving towards a form of operational real time attribution of climate and weather events is essential, but needs to recognize the shortcomings of models and understanding (or the uncertainties, as Steve would say). Given that global warming is unequivocal, the null hypothesis should be that all weather events are affected by global warming rather than the inane statements along the lines of "of course we cannot attribute any particular weather event to global warming". That kind of comment is answering the wrong question.

      Supplementary URL: http://www.cgd.ucar.edu/cas/trenbert.html

    • 1 year ago
  • Warren_Merrill
  • jamjaminyourmouth
  • figgdimension
  • JanforGore
  • remanns
  • JanforGore
  • IceKat
    • 0
      IceKat  
    • Image
    • JanforGore:

      Trees bebarked? Oh my, this must have been almost as 'not your average tornado' as this one reported in Popular Science - Jul 1935 - Page 108.
      Seems trees being debarked isn't as unusual as you'd like us to think.

    • 1 year ago
  • IceKat
  • JanforGore
  • JanforGore
    • +1
      JanforGore  
    • Image

    • http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/05/23/6700666-joplin-tornado-how-to-he...

      Joplin tornado: How to help:

      Several organizations and individuals are helping victims of the Joplin tornado. Here's how you can get involved and help those affected by the deadliest single U.S. tornado since 1953:

      Donations

      The American Red Cross has set up a page for Missouri tornado and flood relief.

      The Joplin Red Cross could use some donations. You can contact it at (417) 624-4411 or info@redcross-ozarks.org in order to find out what supplies are most necessary.

      The Missouri SEMA has set up a donation page.

      A list of major non-profits that operate regularly in Missouri can be found on the National Donations Management Network website. You can also call (800) 427-4626 for further information.

      The Missouri Interfaith Disaster Response Organization is taking donations for longterm recovery efforts.

      The Community Blood Center of the Ozarks is in need of blood — particularly type O. A list of donation sites can be found here.
      Volunteering

      211 Missouri is helping organize volunteers in the affected areas. More information can be found by calling (800) 427-462.

      Nurses or doctors looking to help can call (417) 832-9500 for the Greater Ozarks chapter of the Red Cross.

      Health professionals can register to volunteer through the Show-Me Response website.

      Animal rescue

      For those in the Joplin area: Emergency Pet Center of the Four States at 7th & Illinois near the Sonic is OPEN and accepting found/injured animals. Its phones are down at this time.

      The "Animals Lost & Found from the Joplin, Mo tornado" Facebook page is tracking lost and found pets.

      Safety Information

      The National Americorp Volunteers are setting up a national hotline for residents to call to check on loved ones. The number is (417) 659-5464 and should be active later today.

      The American Red Cross has set up a site on which you can check in, report on the safety of others, or look for information on loved ones.

      The "Joplin people accounted for after the storm" Facebook page is helping people track loved ones who fell out of touch during the storm.

      The St. John's Health System has been updating its Facebook page regularly with information relevant to the aftermath of the storm.

      Other efforts

      The recently organized "Joplin Volunteer & Outreach Station" Facebook page appears to be focused on aiding relief efforts.

      The "Joplin Tornado Citizen Checks (neighbors helping neighbors!)" Facebook page appears to be a gathering place for a lot of Joplin locals who are in need of aid or able to provide aid to others.

      The "Joplin, MO Tornado Recovery" Facebook page is one of the bigger ones dedicated to aid efforts and contains a great deal of up-to-the-second information on where help is necessary.

      Some words of caution

      While giving is good and your intentions are great, be aware that there are individuals who might attempt to take advantage of your kindness. Read up on the charities or organizations to which you are donating funds or supplies. You can use sites such as Charity Navigator — a service run by a non-profit organization that has information on more than 5,000 charities and evaluates the groups' financial health — to confirm that everything's on the up and up.

    • 1 year ago
  • samthesixth
  • JanforGore
  • JanforGore
    • +1
      JanforGore  
    • Image

    • http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110523/ap_on_re_us/us_midwest_storms

      A massive tornado that blasted a four-mile path across southwestern Missouri slammed into this city with cataclysmic force, ripping into a hospital, upending cars and leaving only a forest of splintered tree trunks behind where entire neighborhoods once stood.

      An unknown number were killed in Joplin on Sunday night, and officials struggling to communicate without power and cellphone service were leery of putting a hard figure on a death toll they feared would rise after daybreak.

      Asked about a report that 24 people had died, city spokeswoman Lynn Onstot said grimly that officials were "afraid it may be more. ... Our fear is that's a low number." The Missouri National Guard planned to search for the injured throughout the night.

      "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."

      The same storm system that produced the Joplin tornado spawned twisters along a broad swath of the Midwest, from Oklahoma to Wisconsin. At least one person was killed in Minneapolis. But the devastation in Missouri appeared to be the worst of the day, eerily reminiscent the tornadoes that killed more than 300 people across the South last month.

      Onstot said the twister — believed to be between one-half to three-quarters of a mile wide — was on the ground for nearly four miles. It hit a hospital packed with patients and a commercial area including a Home Depot construction store, numerous smaller businesses and restaurants and a grocery store. Jasper County emergency management director Keith Stammer said an estimated 2,000 buildings were damaged in this city of about 50,000 people some 160 miles south of Kansas City.

      Details about fatalities and injuries were difficult to obtain even for emergency management officials, because the tornado knocked out power, landline phones and some cellphone towers, said Greg Hickman, assistant emergency management director in Newton County.

      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.

      In the parking lot, a helicopter lay crushed on its side, its rotors torn apart and windows smashed. Nearby, a pile of cars lay crumpled into a single mass of twisted metal. Matt Sheffer dodged downed power lines, trees and closed streets to make it to his dental office across from the hospital. Rubble littered a flattened lot where a pharmacy, gas station and some doctor's offices once stood.

      "My office is totally gone. Probably for two to three blocks, it's just leveled," he said. "The building that my office was in was not flimsy. It was 30 years old and two layers of brick. It was very sturdy and well built."

      cont

    • 1 year ago
  • August_K
  • JanforGore
  • August_K
    • 0
      August_K  

    • Was just watching this on CNN on TV and someone said that 3/4 of Joplin was leveled.
      If that's true.......it was really a bad one.

    • 1 year ago
  • JanforGore
    • -1
      JanforGore  
    • August_K:

      People are saying this has not happened here before like this. Note all of this down, because in the future when our grandchildren ask us what we did about it, we can all say nothing because no one wanted to believe what was contributing to it.

    • 1 year ago
  • EthicalVegan
  • IceKat
    • 0
      IceKat  
    • JanforGore:

      So, if we're contributing to this, are we also responsible for all the past (and worse) tornadoes?

      "On April 14, 1886 (4PM) the deadliest tornado in Minnesota history razed parts of St. Cloud and Sauk Rapids, leaving 72 dead and 213 injured. 11 members of a wedding party were killed including the bride and groom.

      August 21, was again a tornado day, in 1918 (9:20PM), this time at Tyler, killing 36 people.

      Less than a year later, June 22, 1919, (4:45PM) 59 lives were lost when the second deadliest killer tornado in Minnesota history roared through Fergus Falls.

      More than 220 people were injured and nine killed in the Champlin area on June 18, 1939 (2PM)."

      To name just a few.

    • 1 year ago
  • Sammy2
  • letsliveinpeace
  • JanforGore
  • Emucratic
  • samthesixth
  • JanforGore
  • JanforGore
  • Schnookums
  • JanforGore
  • Warren_Merrill
  • JanforGore
  • Warren_Merrill
  • JanforGore
  • JanforGore
  • Gravity_Man
  • ArchDruid
  • Gravity_Man
    • -1
      Gravity_Man  
    • ArchDruid:

      Japan's Prime Minister is woefully uninformed then, because they should have that satellite in orbit and operational in 1 to 2 years, not any "2020". hahaha

      What a crummy thought, making starving people who need DRINKING WATER AND POWER NOW to have to wait ~quite impossible to do~ 8+ more YEARS. What kind of dream world are you living in any way?!

      Human needs have to be satisfied fast, not 8 years, not 8 months, but 8 days, or we start flaking off and our bodies shoved into a mass grave.

      Especially the Elderly and fast-metabolism babies.

      Japan's Prime Minister must be a dang Republican to even mouth such myopic filth.

    • 1 year ago
  • ArchDruid
  • Gravity_Man
    • -1
      Gravity_Man  
    • ArchDruid:

      The only problem is all on your side my friend. You're allowing the System to tell your brain what Speed to think. You're the one out in Left Field.

      I think faster than them, partly because they have an agenda & I do not. Everyone is saying SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE RIGHT NOW, and that's Correct because people flake off fast. People can't do without Power. It cleans our drinking water, runs all our machinery.

      More Mass graves are in Japan's Future.

    • 1 year ago
  • Gravity_Man
    • -1
      Gravity_Man  
    • ArchDruid:

      The world's politicians are playing what I call "long ball". They are stretching out improvements several Election Cycles away => using our Basic Human Needs like a pinch bar to leverage themselves into a longtime political win position [like Republicans are so good at].

      But now the Dems and other world leaders have learned from the Repubs and are also playing long ball. The world's peoples are royally screwed now buddy. I've been showing them new kinds of pollution-negative engine systems for 22 years and they've all successfully resisted them, cherry-picking the few inventions and new energy sources which ones keep them in power, not solves people's needs fast.

      You're so screwed around in your head you think I'm the Bad Guy and they're all the good guys. But that's what the Bible stated would happen in the days prior to Armageddon => "Woe to those who are saying that good is bad and bad is good, those who are putting darkness for light and light for darkness, those who are putting bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!"

      You my friend are being so deprived of real progress you have begun thinking Bitter is really Sweet. You think the darkness in the world's political system is really Light, but that is untrue. They are feathering their own pillows and you pillow can go to the devil.

      re: Isaiah 5 v 20 => http://concordance.biblebrowser.com/al3/isaiah/5-20.htm

    • 1 year ago
  • Gravity_Man
    • -1
      Gravity_Man  
    • Gravity_Man:

      President Barack Hussein Obama has crystallized World Leaders to have the above-explained mindset of Isaiah 5 v 20. They have huddled in a football huddle my friend, and the stands cheer them on as if they're the Home Team.

      This is the World Political Group Anti-Christ in action.

    • 1 year ago
  • ArchDruid
  • Gravity_Man
    • -1
      Gravity_Man  
    • ArchDruid:

      Turning my good comments into an insult issue solves little. It's like throwing cake dough. Japan can rise out of death's coffin overnite. My revelation of how to make a near-nuclear-level engine system MINUS ALL NUCLEAR WASTE POLLUTION is something I could explain to you in two sentences. I am only holding back because I've offered the system to Ezekiel's people Israel first.

      Which I considered the "right thing to do". But if Israel turns out to be playing President Obama's long ball game also we will find out rather soon.

      When I'm on the field, by the Grace of Jehovah God the Almighty, the other team has to get off the can and do something soon; otherwise their SINS WILL BECOME PLAIN VIEW TO THE WORLD'S CITIZENS.

      Even a football huddle is a clocked event.

    • 1 year ago
  • Warren_Merrill
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  
    • Warren_Merrill:

      It is the intensity and the frequency of storms at higher intensity, which you failed to mention.There have been fifty killer tornados this season and it isn't over yet. Again, you are trying to deflect the issue. That proves you know not about this topic and are clearly only looking at it from a politically partisan position, which already speaks volumes about your motives and your ignorance on this.

    • 1 year ago
  • Warren_Merrill
  • JanforGore
  • JanforGore
  • Gravity_Man
    • -1
      Gravity_Man  
    • JanforGore:

      Tidal energy? Shoot, there's a LOT of systems harnessing that now, all worthy systems. Perhaps people will hear you better once the tornadoes reach F7.

      The hurricane season begins soon. It sudedenly turned hot here a few days ago so I got raosted. I'm very light skinned and having had cancer a number of times... just a short time in sunlight starts my skin burning.

      Last night I heard about a really great sunblock. I think it is called Blue Frog, or something like that. I'm going to look for some soon. The lady telling about it on the radio was raving how good it works for her. She has light skin also.

      At any rate Jan if the oceans do grow in Volume the tidal energy will increase. Nuthin' wrong with that eh?

    • 1 year ago
  • Warren_Merrill
    • 0
      Warren_Merrill  
    • JanforGore:

      Let's try a little research. The strongest tornadoes are F5's or EF5's by the new rating system. implemented in 2007.

      Going back to 1953:

      50's: 20 F5's
      60's: 13 F5's
      70's: 23 F5's
      80's: 5 F5's
      90's: 10 F5's
      00-11: 6 F5's

      The data shows there were more F5 tornadoes in the 70's than the next three+ decades combined. There were almost as many F5's in the 50's as the past three+ decades. It seems stronger tornadoes were far more prevelant in the 50's and 70's the the past thirty years. It doesn't appear your claim tornadoes are stronger now has any validity. I prefer to stick with facts. I'll refrain from returning your insult.

    • 1 year ago
  • Warren_Merrill
  • JanforGore
    • +1
      JanforGore  
    • Warren_Merrill:

      Naming past statistics without even a back up has no corrolation to the present conditions. Is that what you deniers are told to do in you talking points? And then say there is no validity in anything in the present? Stop pulling my chain here with your BS deflections based on nothing. Oh, and if you are doing this because this supports your stock porfolio, choke on it. How's that for an insult?

    • 1 year ago
  • Gravity_Man
    • -1
      Gravity_Man  
    • Warren_Merrill:

      So wow, if you applied it all over your body you'd die eh? Like Sean Connery's "Girl with the Golden Gun". I probably mangled the movie name.

      I'll hafta run out and get some IMMEDIATELY. THANKS!!!

    • 1 year ago
  • Gravity_Man
    • -1
      Gravity_Man  
    • JanforGore:

      I can back him up since I lived then. There were indeed some awesome tornadoes in the 1970's and '50's, and hurricanes were tough then also.

      But what we are getting now is New, and awesome. I am not a tornado expert or anything but tornadoes get their power from a temperature difference that usually evens out and the tornado stops. But that one in Alabama wasn't it?, it went on for many miles. That alone should shake us awake, and cause lost sleep.

      I believe if DARPA was to apply their people to the task they could design a craft that would fly through a tornado, disrupt it and stop it. But killing "The Bad People" overseas is a full-time job, so there ya go! And of course since WE KEEP KILLING THEM the Bad People feel compelled to keep trying to BUILD A BIGGER FLY SWATTER TO SWAT US TO HELL.

      So there ya go #2. We make the problem. Problems. Plural.

      Our "Leaders" gulp down stupid pills every day.

    • 1 year ago
  • IceKat
  • IceKat
    • 0
      IceKat  
    • Image
    • JanforGore:

      National Climatic Data Center, U.S. Department of Commerce 2006 Climate Review. During the period 1950 to 2006, world hydrocarbon use increased 6-fold, while violent tornado frequency decreased by 43%.
      You hate real data, don't you?

    • 1 year ago
  • IceKat
  • Warren_Merrill
    • 0
      Warren_Merrill  
    • JanforGore:

      I love how people who want to deny the facts accuse others of using talking points. I would have to listen to the shows to have talking points. I went online and did the research. The data shows your statements to be false. There have been less F5's in the past thirty years than there were in the 70's alone. You couldn't refute my facts with anything other than an insult. I guess insults are all you have left when facts blow away your talking points. The only hot air is coming from the global warming movement.

      By the way. Did you hear about your hero's science grades in college?

      "For all of Gore's later fascination with science and technology, he often struggled academically in those subjects. The political champion of the natural world received that sophomore D in Natural Sciences 6 (Man's Place in Nature) and then got a C-plus in Natural Sciences 118 his senior year. The self-proclaimed inventor of the Internet avoided all courses in mathematics and logic throughout college."

      And talk about an elitist which you people detest. Gore got C's in high school, only applied to Harvard and got accepted. How many non-elites do you think get into Harvard with C's?

      You'll love this one. He did worse in college than Bush.

      "In his sophomore year at Harvard, Gore's grades were lower than any semester recorded on Bush's transcript from Yale."

      - Washington Post

    • 1 year ago
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  
    • Warren_Merrill:

      Newsflash for you. You are the elitist and therefore anything you say to me is taken just as it should be. People have died because of this and are experiencing this intensity globally. I don't need your charts from years ago to tell me what is happening NOW which you refuse to discuss and what has been substantiated by 90% of the scientific community. You know, scientists, not enablers. And of course, when you can't get anywhere here with me, bring out the Al Gore reference. So 1990s and so boring. I don't care what he did in high school, he's right about this, and I love the man for bringing it to the people. So you know where you can stick your 2000 campaign talking points.

    • 1 year ago
  • Warren_Merrill
    • 0
      Warren_Merrill  
    • JanforGore:

      Temper, temper Jan. Don't lose it because I'm refuting your feelings with facts. Facts remain facts. It's data I found yesterday on the internet. One of the other posters even provided a graphic to help you understand in pictures. They don't become talking points because they're proving you to be wrong.

      You're becoming Jan from Oz. Or is it Jan from Gore? Don't look at that fraud behind the curtain!!!!

    • 1 year ago
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