And, you know, when the sirens go off, they're not actually designed to be heard indoors. I was an hour up the road in Springfield, where I live. SHELTON: Well, there are discrepancies, and it's unclear what happened. But a lot of residents, including the hospital spokesman where so much damage occurred, said they only got about a five minutes warning. As I understand in Joplin there, officials say the sirens rang out about 20 minutes before the tornado hit. On the other hand, of course, where they think there might be people alive, or bodies, they're being very delicate and very careful not to move things too hastily.ĬONAN: And we're asking people today what they do, how they get the message of a tornado warning and what they do when they do. There were massive backhoes and heavy machinery as they're trying to just plow through and remove as much of this as they can. They hadn't - I didn't see them taking them over to the site yet. In the case of the Home Depot, there were a couple of dogs with this urban search and rescue team that were standing around. SHELTON: You know, earlier, I didn't witness any of this, but the fire chief in Joplin said that there are reports of noises coming from piles of rubble, and of course the rescue workers immediately respond to those reports. And patients have been sent out to different hospitals, so there's still sort of an effort to sort that out and find out where family members are, who are in the hospital.ĬONAN: And as you watched the search and rescue effort under way, how is it being conducted? Were they using dogs? Were they just shouting out: make a noise, make a noise? You know, it's also hard because the - one of the main hospitals in Joplin was hit, as everyone knows. So there are just different efforts afoot to try to connect people. I talked to a man yesterday whose sister and brother-in-law were still missing. There are, of course, lots of different ways people are trying to track down loved ones. SHELTON: No one is giving a number that I've talked to. So they were trying to find out what may have happened to those poor people who were huddled up against that wall as the tornado came through.ĬONAN: And do we have any idea, any realistic number of the people who are still considered missing? The roof was ripped off by the tornado, and then that front wall, concrete, fell. They understand that, as the tornado came toward that store, people ran from the parking lot inside to seek shelter, huddled down against the front wall, which is a big slab of concrete. And he was telling me that, you know, they're not very optimistic. That's what was happening out at the Home Depot today. SHELTON: Well, of course, you know, people are really still thinking search and rescue at this point. It's really difficult to tell what that store was.ĬONAN: And talking to people there, what are they saying? What's the reaction? And, you know, the remarkable thing is you wouldn't even know it was a Home Depot if you couldn't see part of one wall and the big orange swath of Home Depot paint across that wall, because other than that, it's just a pile of twisted metal and broken up concrete. I am on Rangeline Drive at the Best Western Hotel, and I'm just south of the most significant area of devastation, just south of some of the big-box stores that got flattened by the tornado.ĬONAN: And I understand you spent much of the time today at one of those big-box stores, Home Depot. Thanks for taking the time.ĬONAN: And where are you right now and tell us what can you see there. Missy Shelton is a reporter at member station KSMU in Springfield, Missouri. That's at npr.org, click on TALK OF THE NATION.
Email us: You can also join the conversation on our website. How do you get tornado warnings in your town, and what do you do? 80. Tornado warnings and sirens rang out about 20 minutes before the twister touched down, but still that was not enough time for many to escape.
The number of people killed by the tornado that flattened parts of Joplin, Missouri is now at 117, which makes it the deadliest to hit the United States in almost six decades.
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