In Joplin, Mo., at least 30 people are reportedly killed and a widespread damage. Officials estimate the death toll could climb up much higher. Life-threatening weather hits other parts of the Midwest, including Minneapolis, where one person is died.
A series of riotous storms swept through the Midwest on Sunday as a herculean tornado slammed into Joplin, Mo., pulling the top off a hospital, shearing parts of the roof off a high school and twisting major retail stores into piles of junk and twisted metal.
"its total devastation," Gov. Jay Nixon said as he sent off the National Guard and emergency rescue teams in a race to find survivors.
"We are responding aggressively, quickly. We want to make sure as the night goes on that we're saving lives between now and dawn," the governor told CNN. "There are a number of injuries. It's going to be a long night and a difficult recovery."
Missouri State Highway Patrol spokesman Lt. John Hotz said the state had sent out 50 state troopers and a mobile communications unit in an effort to learn the extent of the damage and injuries. Another 19 officers would be on the way in the morning, he said.
"It's a serious situation, but I can't give you an assessment of the damage or the injuries until we get reports," he said. "Certainly, we are doing everything we can to get help to the folks in the affected areas as soon as possible."
In Minneapolis, a tornado pass through the northern end of the city Sunday afternoon, killing one person and injuring at least 30 others.
wild thunderstorms, including lighting, hail and powerful winds, were threats throughout the evening Sunday across at least six Midwestern states as a cold front moved in to present a moisture-rich, low-level air mass, the National Weather Service warned.
Triage centers and shelters were set up around Joplin. At Memorial Hall, a downtown entertainment venue, nurses and other emergency workers from area hospitals were treating critically injured citizens.
"It looks like a war zone," said Donald Davis, a chemotherapy nurse who was dining 35 miles away in Kansas when the tornado struck in Joplin, where he has spent much of his life. He said he contended with closed roads and downed power lines for nearly two hours to return home, where he found a scene of ravaging in the center of the city.
A series of riotous storms swept through the Midwest on Sunday as a herculean tornado slammed into Joplin, Mo., pulling the top off a hospital, shearing parts of the roof off a high school and twisting major retail stores into piles of junk and twisted metal."its total devastation," Gov. Jay Nixon said as he sent off the National Guard and emergency rescue teams in a race to find survivors.
"We are responding aggressively, quickly. We want to make sure as the night goes on that we're saving lives between now and dawn," the governor told CNN. "There are a number of injuries. It's going to be a long night and a difficult recovery."
Missouri State Highway Patrol spokesman Lt. John Hotz said the state had sent out 50 state troopers and a mobile communications unit in an effort to learn the extent of the damage and injuries. Another 19 officers would be on the way in the morning, he said.
"It's a serious situation, but I can't give you an assessment of the damage or the injuries until we get reports," he said. "Certainly, we are doing everything we can to get help to the folks in the affected areas as soon as possible."
In Minneapolis, a tornado pass through the northern end of the city Sunday afternoon, killing one person and injuring at least 30 others.
wild thunderstorms, including lighting, hail and powerful winds, were threats throughout the evening Sunday across at least six Midwestern states as a cold front moved in to present a moisture-rich, low-level air mass, the National Weather Service warned.
Triage centers and shelters were set up around Joplin. At Memorial Hall, a downtown entertainment venue, nurses and other emergency workers from area hospitals were treating critically injured citizens.
"It looks like a war zone," said Donald Davis, a chemotherapy nurse who was dining 35 miles away in Kansas when the tornado struck in Joplin, where he has spent much of his life. He said he contended with closed roads and downed power lines for nearly two hours to return home, where he found a scene of ravaging in the center of the city.
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