Joplin virtually destroyed by tornado

[tk13]

Please post any ways you can donate/give relief to the people in need in Joplin.

DONATE BY PHONE:

You can send $10 to the Red Cross relief efforts by texting "REDCROSS" to 90999

or

Send $10 to the Salvation Army Disaster relief efforts by texting the word “JOPLIN” to 80888

RED CROSS - Volunteer, donate to disaster victims, donate to a blood drive

http://www.redcross.org/

UNITED WAY - Donate to relief efforts

http://www.uwheartmo.org/

COMMUNITY BLOOD CENTER LOCATIONS - Give blood for those in need

Administration Offices & Donor Center
4040 Main Street
Kansas City, MO 64111
toll free: 1-888-647-4040
816-753-4040

Blue Springs Center
1124 W. 40 Highway
Blue Springs, MO 64015
816-224-0728

Gladstone Center
7265 N. Oak Trafficway
Gladstone, MO 64118
816-468-9813

St. Joseph Center
3122 Frederick
St. Joseph, MO 64506
toll free: 1-800-725-6791
816-232-6791

Overland Park Center
Times Square Shopping Center
10568 Metcalf Ave.
Overland Park, KS 66210
913-383-6800

Olathe Center
1463 E. 151st St.
Olathe, KS 66062
913-829-3724

Topeka Center
800 SW Lane
Topeka, KS 66606
toll free: 1-800-279-5943
785-233-0195

http://www.savealifenow.org/services...-locations.php

VOLUNTEER IN PERSON - Volunteer efforts are being coordinated through Missouri Southern State University.
Many people have contacted the City of Joplin to volunteer assistance to the victims of the storm. ALL citizen volunteers should report to the Recreation Center at Missouri Southern State University. Volunteers’ services are appreciated, but to be effective, will need to be coordinated through this centralized location. Citizens are reminded that the American Red Cross, in cooperation with the City, has set up a shelter at Missouri Southern State University in the Leggett & Platt Center.

http://www.joplinmo.org/article.cfm?AID=966

Relief coordinators Facebook page - Get the word out on fundraisers:

Joplin, MO Tornado Recovery--
If you are coordinating a fundraiser in your area, please send information to joplintornadorecovery@gmail.com so that it can be posted as an event [on the Joplin, MO Tornado Recovery page on facebook]. Remember to include date, time and location, along with any images.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/joplinmo?sk=wall

Columbia area blood donors needed:

A blood drive will be held 2-6 pm at Achieve Balance Chiropractic in Columbia at 3901 S. Providence. If you are wanting to help Joplin, this is a great way to do it.

Here's some info I got from my work e-mail

Message relay from Troop F @ 2120 hours:

In reference to the SEMA Incident the command post is currently operational in the Troop D Joplin area. Due to an overwhelming number of Volunteers, SEMA officials are not currently requesting any further outside assistance until further notice.

More relief organizations:

Missourians interested in volunteering to assist should call (800) 427-4626 or 2-1-1. Those with medical skills interested in volunteering should go to: https://www.showmeresponse.org

Missourians wishing to make donations to help with the relief effort can go to http://www.sema.dps.mo.gov/recover/donations.asp or call (800) 427-4626 or 2-1-1.

Residents affected by the tornado who wish to notify their friends and family that they are safe should go to: https://safeandwell.communityos.org/cms/index.php. Friends and family who would like to check on their loved ones in the affected area can use the same site.

Missourians who need disaster information, shelter information or referrals are urged to call 2-1-1. The United Way's 211 service number is now available for most areas in Missouri. In areas where the 211 number is not operational, citizens can call 800-427-4626.

United Way of the Ozarks in Springfield is waiting to hear plans from the American Red Cross – Greater Ozarks Chapter regarding mobilizing volunteer efforts. As soon as it has confirmation on how and where to volunteer, it will release that information.

If you would like to help with a monetary donation, please send your checks to United Way of the Ozarks, 320 N. Jefferson Ave., Springfield, MO 65806, marked JOPLIN TORNADO DISASTER RELIEF and all funds received will be distributed to the United Way of Southwest Missouri (Joplin).

Emergency blood drive this afternoon - Monday 5/23

The Greater Kansas City chapter of the American Red Cross will hold an emergency blood drive this afternoon to provide blood for those injured in the tornados over the weekend.

The blood drive will be from 2 to 7 p.m. in the Cass County Room at 211 W. Armour Blvd.

Meanwhile, the Community Blood Center is requesting area residents to donate blood this week to help support the rescue efforts in Joplin.

The blood bank has shipped 15 units of blood to the Community Blood Center of the Ozarks. Local hospitals are performing surgeries on some of the victims and the need for blood will increase as the rescue efforts continue.

To find a mobile blood drive, go to www.safealifenow.org or call 1-888-647-4040. Donors can also go to one of Community Blood Center’s seven Neighborhood Donations Centers.

http://www.kansascity.com/2011/05/23...afternoon.html

Chiefs to hold bottled water drive at Arrowhead - Tuesday 5/24 and Wednesday 5/25

In response to the tragic tornadoes that touched down in Joplin, Mo. and Reading, Kan. this weekend, the Kansas City Chiefs will contribute $35,000 to disaster-relief efforts. Additionally, they and their media partners are teaming with the Salvation Army – Midland Division to hold a bottled-water drive at Arrowhead Stadium for individuals in Kansas City to assist victims in the tornado-ravaged areas. The Chiefs will also be accepting financial donations for Heart-to-Heart International.

Bottled-water donations will be accepted in Lot C on the east side of Arrowhead Stadium Tuesday from noon until 7 p.m. and Wednesday from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. Those wishing to provide donations of bottled water may use any entrance to the stadium and may learn more from Chiefs broadcast partners KCTV5, 101 The Fox KCFX and Sports Radio 810 WHB, who have joined the Chiefs in supporting this important effort.

http://www.kcchiefs.com/news/article...9-fc840ea9fece

Springfield school district fundraiser and donation drive:

Springfield Public Schools students are finding ways to raise money and collect supplies to assist local charities with relief efforts for families in Joplin who were affected by the May 22 tornado. A Joplin school nurse has shared with SPS staff that there is an urgent need for water, toothbrushes, toothpaste and food.

http://springfieldpublicschoolsmo.or...id_Joplin.aspx

Other resources for those looking to contribute:

The following charities are accepting donations of money and relief items:

American Red Cross
United Way
Skaggs
Greater Ozarks Red Cross
Dillons
Springfield Jaycees
OTC
Springfield Public Schools
Springfield Paper Company
Edward Jones
Salvation Army
Great Southern
Area banks
Habitat Springfield
Community Blood Centers

http://www.news-leader.com/article/2...relief-efforts

Originally Posted by luv

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?not...17118671706061

Great page to go to in order to see what faundraisers and collections are going on in your area (in Missouri anyway).

Originally Posted by luv

Joplin, MO Tornado Recovery:
The City has established the following phone numbers for people interested in donating their time or items to aid in the recovery effort:
Individual volunteers wanting to donate their time should call 417-625-3543
Volunteers wanting to donate items can call 417-625-3542
Volunteer groups (churches, businesses, etc.) should call 314-623-9991

[notorious]

I hope they start building some form of basement in the Tulsa-Joplin-Fayettville area, now.


We are still missing a distant cousin......

[notorious]

25-30% of the city is gone.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110523/...midwest_storms

Missouri officials say tornado killed at least 89

JOPLIN, Mo. – A massive tornado that tore through the southwest Missouri city of Joplin killed at least 89 people, but authorities warned that the death toll could climb Monday as search and rescuers continued their work at sunrise.

City manager Mark Rohr announced the number of known dead at a pre-dawn news conference outside the wreckage of a hospital that took a direct hit from Sunday's storm. Rohr said the twister cut a path nearly six miles long and more than a half-mile wide through the center of town, adding that tornado sirens gave residents about a 20-minute warning before the tornado touched down on the city's west side.

Much of the city's south side was leveled, with churches, schools, businesses and homes reduced to ruins.

Fire chief Mitch Randles estimated that 25 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.

"It cut the city in half," Randles said.

An unknown number of people were injured in the storm, and officials said patients were scattered to any nearby hospitals that could take them.

Authorities planned to conduct a door-to-door search of the damaged area Monday morning, but were expected to move gingerly around downed power lines, jagged debris and a series of gas leaks that caused fires around the city overnight.

"We will recover and come back stronger than we are today," Rohr said defiantly of his city's future.

Early Monday, Gov. Jay Nixon said fires from gas leaks still burned across the city.

"It's a very, very precarious situation," Nixon told CNN. "It's going to be a stark view as people see dawn rise in Joplin, Missouri."

Residents said the damage was breathtaking in scope.

"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 was the worst of the day, eerily reminiscent the tornadoes that killed more than 300 people across the South last month.

Sunday's storm in Joplin 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.

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."

St. John's patients were evacuated to other hospitals in the region, said Cora Scott, a spokeswoman for the medical center's sister hospital in Springfield.

Early Monday morning, floodlights from a temporary triage facility lit what remained of the hospital that once held as many 367 patients. Police officers could be seen combing the surrounding area for bodies.

Miranda Lewis, a spokeswoman for St. John's, was at home when the tornado sirens began going off. By early Monday, she still had no details on any deaths or injuries suffered at the hospital in the tornado strike, although she had seen the damaged building.

"It's like what you see someplace else, honestly," Lewis said. "That's a terrible way to say it, but you don't recognize what's across the street.

"I had seen it on television, but until you're standing right here and see the devastation, you can't believe it."

Michael Spencer, a national Red Cross spokesman who also assisted in the aftermath of a tornado that devastated nearby Pierce City in 2003, was also stunned.

"I've been to about 75 disasters, and I've never seen anything quite like this before," Spencer said. "You don't typically see metal structures and metal frames torn apart, and that's what you see here."

Triage centers and shelters setup around the city quickly filled to capacity. At Memorial Hall, a downtown entertainment venue, nurses and other emergency workers from across the region were treating critically injured patients.

At another makeshift unit at a Lowe's home improvement store, wooden planks served as beds. Outside, ambulances and fire trucks waited for calls. During one stretch after midnight Monday, emergency vehicles were scrambling nearly every two minutes.

Winds from the storm carried debris up to 60 miles away, with medical records, X-rays, insulation and other items falling to the ground in Greene County, said Larry Woods, assistant director of the Springfield-Greene County Office of Emergency Management.

Travel through and around Joplin was difficult, with Interstate 44 shut down and streets clogged with emergency vehicles and the wreckage of buildings.

Emergency management officials rushed heavy equipment to Joplin to help lift debris and clear the way for search and recovery operations. Gov. Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency, and President Barack Obama said the Federal Emergency Management Agency was working with state and local agencies.

Jeff Lehr, a reporter for the Joplin Globe, said he was upstairs in his home when the storm hit but was able to make his way to a basement closet.

"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," he told The Associated Press. "Then you could hear everything go. It tore the roof off my house, everybody's house. I came outside and there was nothing left."

An aching helplessness settled over residents, many of whom could only wander the wreckage bereft and wondering about the fate of loved ones.

Justin Gibson, 30, huddled with three relatives outside the tangled debris field of what remained of a Home Depot. He pointed to a black pickup that had been tossed into the store's ruins and said it belonged to his roommate's brother. "He was last seen here with his two little girls," ages 4 and 5, Gibson said.

"We've been trying to get ahold of him since the tornado happened," Gibson said, adding his own house had been leveled.

"It's just gone. Everything in that neighborhood is gone. The high school, the churches, the grocery store. I can't get ahold of my ex-wife to see how my kids are," he said, referring to his three children, ranging in age from 4 months to 5 years.

"I don't know the extent of this yet," Gibson said, "but I know I'll have friends and family dead."

Minneapolis city spokeswoman Sara Dietrich said the death there was confirmed by the Hennepin County medical examiner. She had no other immediate details. Only two of the 29 people injured there were hurt critically.

Though the damage covered several blocks in Minneapolis, it appeared few houses were totally demolished. Much of the damage was to roofs, front porches that had been sheared away, or smaller items such as fences and basketball goals.

In Wisconsin, the mayor of La Crosse declared a state of emergency Sunday after a powerful storm tore roofs from homes and littered streets and lawns with downed trees and debris.

Additional storms were predicted across the southern Plains through Thursday morning.

An advisory from the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., said warm weather Monday could fuel instability in advance of another weather system. A few tornadoes, some strong, could occur — starting in Oklahoma and southern Kansas in the afternoon and in North Texas in the late afternoon.

[HonestChieffan]

Another big supercell headed into that area this morning. 40,000 foot tops and expanding. Hope it slides north and spares the folks in Joplin

[Chief Roundup]

Wow oh wow. 89 confirmed dead. 75 to 80% of Joplin is a complete loss according to the local TV.

[Bob Dole]

Originally Posted by HonestChieffan

Another big supercell headed into that area this morning. 40,000 foot tops and expanding. Hope it slides north and spares the folks in Joplin

Hope it doesn't slide too far north and hit Nevada...

[acesn8s]

Another round to hit Joplin about 8am.

[ReynardMuldrake]

Jesus Christ... I just looked up the damage zone for the tornado. The black arrow is where my mother's house is located.

I talked to her and she's fine, she said the house is pretty much OK too. The phrase 'dodged a bullet' comes to mind.

[dirk digler]

Originally Posted by Bob Dole

Hope it doesn't slide too far north and hit Nevada...

Looking at the radar and how it is tracking it is looking that way

[HonestChieffan]

Originally Posted by Bob Dole

Hope it doesn't slide too far north and hit Nevada...

Nevada will catch the north edge of this one, missed most all last night. I was in Butler when the Joplin storm hit.

[dj56dt58]

about 5-10 min away

[Reerun_KC]

So what it is? 70% gone or 20-30%?

Everyone is saying something different.

[acesn8s]

20-30

[Reerun_KC]

Thanks!

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by KingPriest2

KOAM states the Tornado took a path of almost straight down 20th st, The damage path goes as far north as 7th Street and as far south as 32nd St. So any road/street in between 7th and 32nd from the West side of joplin to Rangeline WAS Hit.

that doesn't bode well for one of my childhood homes, I think. we lived on murphy st, half a block or so off of 20th. I need to look at a map and see where it is north/south.
Posted via Mobile Device

[MOhillbilly]

Called my mom as the storm went over joplin. Told her that the city was gettin obliterated.
Prayers to my fellow Ozarkians.

My cousins down there workin for the RC (never woulda thought that in a million years). Sounded shell shocked.