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rubble, ripping buildings apart and killing at least 89 people.
Disaster struck on Sunday evening when, with little warning, the monster twister tore a strip of 9,5km long and more than a 0,8km wide through the centre of the town.
Rescuers worked through the night to try to find people trapped in their homes, relying on torchlight as they listened for terrified cries from survivors piercing through the blackness. Heavy winds and strong rain forced teams to halt the effort yesterday morning and some rescuers took advantage of the brief respite to catch a bit of much-needed sleep inside one badly damaged bank. Missouri governor Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency late on Sunday and activated the National Guard to help out after one of the worst disasters in the state’s history.
President Barack Obama called Nixon and offered his condolences to those affected, assuring the governor that the Federal Emergency Management Agency would provide whatever assistance was needed.
“The president has directed FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate to travel to Missouri to ensure the state has all the support it needs,” a White House statement said, adding a FEMA team had already been dispatched. Caring for the injured was made more difficult because the main hospital, Saint John’s Regional Medical Centre, had to be evacuated after suffering a direct hit – the tornado ripped off its roof and smashed all its windows.
US media reported that cries could still be heard early yesterday from survivors trapped in the wreckage, with the latest tragedy coming less than a month after a horrific tornado outbreak left 354 dead across seven US states.
Authorities estimated that up to 30 percent of Joplin, which lies near the border with Oklahoma and Kansas, had been damaged by the tornado, which experts said carried winds of up to 320km per hour. It was the deadliest of 46 tornadoes reported to the National Weather Service in seven states on Sunday. “It’s a war zone,” Scott Meeker of the Joplin Globe newspaper told AFP. We’ve got hundreds of wounded being treated at Memorial Hall (hospital), but they were quickly overwhelmed and ran out of supplies, so they’ve opened up a local school as a triage centre.” – AFP.