S&R teams from several states like texas, KS, OK and i forget where else as well as from all over the state. Got some in from the east and west coast today as well i heard.

Two tornado warnings for joplin as well as straight line wind warning(60-70mph) so far tonight. They were worried about all the debris flying around. One tornado went just north of joplin.

Upgraded to an EF5 today, which i figured they would eventualy do with the type of damage. They call em the Hand of God as they scour the earth clean. Been through an EF 3 up close n personal, want NOTHING to do with an EF5. Supposedly only the first or second MO has ever seen.
Death toll was 128 with 1150 injured(they think many of the minor injured have treated themselves with the medical facilities being overwhealmed) and 1500 missing.
On that note they put up a perimiter to keep the news crews and cameras away from the walmart and home depot today as they started 'Recovery' work. They wont comment on any possible numbers they expect to find there. Word is both places were pretty busy when the twister hit. Daughters work friend said walmart had a couple hundred people in it. His ex-wife and daughter were near an exit i guess as they got out. They DO expect the death toll to keep climbing.

The one officer struck by lightening yesterday is in springfield in critical condition. Supposedly he was the first KC officer to volunteer for rescue work after joplin got slammed.
And to top it all off we're under a tornado watch through tomorrow with 2-3 more inchs or rain called for in the area.
And the flooding continues. SW MO cant seem to catch a break lately.


We just went through ANOTHER severe T-Storm here and more comeing in an hour or so.
12B, SP, you guys are supposed to be under the gun tomorrow from about noon on. These storms are pi$$ing stuff out left n right. Keep an eye on the weather. A Sharp eye.

We got a little bit of hail but didn't last long. I was on the Savage yesterday.

12b, you up around ft wood? Their catching it right now with a T-Warning, radar rotation. T-Storm warnings all over the place right now and only going to get worse for the eastrn part this evening.

BBH, im an information sponge. Just passing it along for those interested as well.
Been MO born n raised for 50 years right here and this has got to be one of the worst springs ive seen.

Average tornadoes for this time frame so far is 500. This year we have had over 1200. Average number of killer tornadoes is 22 for the same time frame. We've had i think they said 55. Had a couple more yesterday in oklahoma and at least one in arkansas early this morning.
Had a T-warning for joplin last night, rotation on radar just north of joplin. That and the straight line wind warning had em all jittery again.
Would of been a LOT of missles in 60-70mph winds.

Seen one pic of a brick through the side of a car door, another of a metal chair with about 6 inchs of its legs imbeded in a concrete wall.
Then there was the pickup just literaly folded around a tree trunk about 20 feet off the ground.
Lot of reports of folks being sucked out of cars let alone buildings.

The four schools and 4 other buildings are going to cost over 1 billion to replace by themselves.
Their looking into rebuilding, renovateing the St Johns building.
If you didnt have a reinforced concrete or brick building in the path you got nothing but junk left. Even some of the concrete and brick buildings(lot of them) didnt make it.
Lot of pics and some video on http://www.ky3.com (local news)
Think we got reporters from every news agency in the country it seems like at Joplin

The wrecker services are going to make a killing off all the vehicles.
Most will see the crusher with very few even being good enough to salvage some parts. Their that tore up. Looks like all the cars on the south side were in a 200mph demolition derby.
Honestly, knowing how many of those cars had people in them plus the looks of the path its surpriseing the death toll isnt already much higher.
LOT of lucky people in Joplin.
Havent seen a new death toll yet or heard anything else about walmart or home depot. Their being pretty closed mouthed about it while their searching. I wouldnt of wanted to be in either place when the roofs came in.

Theres some real heart breaking stories comeing out to(as if they all arent).
One, a father was pulled from the car by the twister as they drove home from his sons graduation. Hes in serious condition at the hospital. They havent found his son or the car yet.

Lil 16 month old boy their looking for. His parents are in the hospital and dont know yet. His grandparents are looking for him. His clothes were found wrapped around a power pole.

Guy was looking for his 9 months pregnant wife. House was collapsed and nothing but boards and splinters. Her truck was still parked in the driveway.

Lot of folks looking at the walmart and home depot for loved ones who they either knew they were there or their vehicles are still in the parking lot.

The school system is trying to do a head count on the students from the graduation and those who lived in the path. Dont know how good/bad thats going. Many would of still been on the road home or just getting home from the graduation.

Weather has been a real problem on search n rescue so far. Their still calling it search n rescue but their talking like its more like recovery mode. They called it that for walmart and home depot yesterday so i dont think their holding out much hope there.

Not sure what they think people will find but their asking folks who find debris to not touch it but call it in to the sherriffs department now. Probably for a lot of the hospital debris i guess. That stuff is everywhere.

Looting dosent seem to be much of a problem as it has in so many other places. Course around here neighbors still look after neighbors and get caught looting you stand a GOOD chance of getting shot.
Then the law called.

On an up note theres a lot of folks who are with the red cross, local kitchen, local radio station(Joplin) ect that have lost everything even up to some loved ones that are putting in long hours to help everybody else. The local radio station there in joplin dropped its format and has been acting as an information center where folks can call in to try and find loved ones. Thousands of calls. And in some cases they have been able to help get people together or give loved ones some info.

On a down note this stuff is rolling through here like sherman through georgia right now from about HWY65 east. 12bravo and southpaw better keep their heads dwon and eye on the weather. Rollas been catching it for the last hour or so
Once this is through today we're supposed to have some decent weather for the next 3 or 4 days. Get to dry out some.

Flooding, which has pretty much been off the news since sunday is still bad and getting worse. White river basin is just inundated with massive amounts of water. Storms have been freight training through down there between I44 down past the arkansas border dumping water. And most of what we get runs off down there as well.
They still need prayers just like thefolks in joplin. Loss of life is minimal so far but property damage is massive as well.

I am halfway between Columbia and St Louis and halfway between Mark Twain Lake and Hermann. We had a couple of funnel clouds and 1 confirmed tornado this afternoon. Storm kind of split and went around me on both sides. I'm tired of all this bad weather.

Wolfman, thank you for all the reporting.
It is hard for us to fathom what that area
looks like as the TV only shows so much. To
have someone to give us first hand information
gives us an even clearer picture of how bad it is.
The trees they show on tv where the bark was literally
peeled off by the wind, that really amazed me.
It is very sad that their was very little warning.
It will take a long time for this area to come back, yet
with perserverance it will.
Stay safe as you continue to give us reports.. Hugs, kim

I have been watching as much as I can about it.  Mostly CNN.  I also saw the video you mention of the semi truck being ripped to bits.  I was shocked that the driver lived!  That was amazing footage.  

My husband survived a small one in Ohio many years ago, their house was spared but it totally demolished the 2 on either side of them (probably 1/2 a mile to a mile away each way).  He was telling me about it roaring in, them standing by the window watching and listening, and his dad finally pushed them into the cellar.  Videos and pictures just don't do justice to the shear power a tornado has.  But I'll stick to videos, pictures and personal accounts, thank you.  I hope I never see one in person.

And Wolfman, you can probably tell me faster than I can look it up -- I used to work for Owens Corning.  I know they have a location in Joplin, but I don't know exactly where its physically located.  Do you know it?  Or know if it was in the path of destruction?  Just curious.

BBH, it looks like on the map owens corning was over on the north side so doubt they got any damage. Monster went through the south end of town.
Course it shows a Teed Corporation there now??

Yeah you know their powerfull but you dont relise just HOW powerfull untill you've been through one. They can be kind of erie to.
Lot of times you got some wind then everything goes dead quiet and calm. Then like someone flips a switch the wind jumps to 80, 100, 150mph and chit starts flying. Night time twisters are the worst, you cant see em comeing. You just hear em...if your lucky.
Rain shrouded arent any fun either.

You always see these nice pics n videos across the plains of a funnel cloud twisting and tearing things up. Those are flatland twisters in KS and OK where you can see for miles.
Around here by the time you can see one their d@mned close. One minute your watching a cloudline and the next you got this evil monster popping over a ridgeline a 1/2 mile or a mile from you.

Ive lived here all my life and tornadoes are just a fact of life. Not a fun one but a fact of life you 'kinda' get used to liveing with.
Ive watched em in the distance from a hayfield and watched em start to form overhead several times.
Best i can liken the sound to, especialy after being within 300 feet of ground zero on an EF3 back in 08(to $%^#&^@#!%$#^ close) is sticking your head in the arse end of an F15 engine. All you hear is wind and the debris smacking into stuff. Very heavy rain(it aint always raining either) blowing sideways. Usualy a burst of hail before(if you got hail you best be watching the sky n radar) out of a green sky.
The sound of the wind is like the banshees of he!! have come to carry you off. You can feel the vibrations in the air and even the ground like a distant rumble. I always figured this is where many get the freight train.
Bad enough rideing it out in a house, try it sometime in a car with the d@mn thing bounceing you and trying to pick you up and drag you into it. Describeing the sound just dosent do it justice. Youll not forget the site either.
And the aftermath is something else. Huge trees snapped off, buildings flattened or just gone!

And what a lot of people dont relise or think about is its not the twister itself to be afraid of, its the debris. Yeah you might get picked up and tossed or you might get a roof dropped on your head. But the main danger is the debris itself. Its flying missiles. 2/4s, chairs, glass, anything it can pick up and toss at 100, 150, 200mph. Thats what does the most damage to people.
If it will stick a metal chair in a concrete wall or a shingle into a stucco wall, a brick through a car door or even a pieace of straw through a 10 inch ok, think what it would do to you.

Which reminds me of something Kim mentioned last night.
Those trees with the bark stripped. Yeah the wind will peel the bark a lil bit. But a huge part of it is the debris hitting the trees and eatting the bark off like a huge sand blaster.
Think of how the rain feels on your skin at 70mph on the bike.
Now imagine doing 150 and being behind a truck loseing tiny bits of sand, rock, bits of glass, shingles, splinters, chuncks of plywood and 2/4s. Or flying cars n trucks.

You would think the trees would feel rough. But like the one newsman said the other night its like someone took some 600 grit sandpaper and sanded on it for a couple of days. Smooth.
Thats why impalements are usualy so prominant in the injuries. Also why you see the victims with all the lil cuts all over their arms n faces.
Chit flys at 150mph and when it hits it HURTS!
Course getting picked up and tossed like a ragdoll for 200 feet or haveing a roof dropped on your head aint no good either.

The power. Youve seen people take half a day with a d9 cat bulldozer to take down a building. Couple hours anyway.
Ive seen em take a house, fairly new well built house, down to the concrete slab in less then 2 seconds.
You see the house, it disappears into the funnel, 2 seconds later all that comes out as the funnel passes is the concrete slab.
Big round bales. It picks em up and spits em out like they weigh nothing or unrolls em across the field.
Nice concrete block milk barn, good n solid. Disappears for 2 seconds and what comes out is scattered n broken blocks with maybe 4 or 5 still together in one corner.

But they do some STRANGE things to! Take a house and scatter everything. You find the frig 1/4 mile away half buried in the ground. Dig it out and find your dozen eggs still in it uncracked.
Pick a baby or a person up and leave em alive in a tree basicly unharmed.
Tears a house to splinters but picks the home owner up and sets em down in their neighbors yard.
Takes one house and barely touchs the shingles on the one 30 feet away. Or hops n skips like a kid playing hop scotch.
Or like in joplin it hugs the ground and scours it clean.
Sometimes their moveing along at a pretty good clip then they come to a house or building and seem to pause and just stop for a few seconds, like they want to make sure and pick up every lil bit of wood, nails n glass before moveing on.

Its like their pure evil. Strike terror into the bravest of men. Partly cause there aint a d@mn thing you can do about them except cower in a hole or closet like some scared lil animal. If you dont they will kill you.

And dont count on hearing the sirens unless they start em well before it gets there. The wind howls so bad you cant hear em. Learn to watch n read the radar on TV. Watch for the classic hook and debris ball.
And afterward youll hear those sirens every night for the next 3 or 4 days. But when you go to check at the door its calm and a clear starry sky.
PTSD is a major problem to. Lot of people suffer nightmare for days, weeks, months afterward. Thats a problem so many in joplin are dealing with right now to that hasnt been talked about much.
Live through one and it changes you.

Jittery, jumpy, spooked,...He11 Yeah!!


WD, i cant remember the addy but theres a site online where you can register to help with the cleanup. Its going to be a LOONNGG process when it starts. Literaly a third of the town of 50,000 is pretty much gone. 2000 buildings trashed and 8000 damaged to some degree. Your local red cross might be able to help you. Sherrifs depart probably can to. Id say heavy equipment operators will be welcome if they have enough equipment to go around.

Thanks who ever ya be...lol

Death toll is 126, over 900 injured(remember they thought a LOT of the minorly injured just treated themselves) and the missing list is down to 232 missing.
"Officials said previously they believe people who are "unaccounted for" aren't necessarily dead or trapped in debris.  They say many are probably safe and but failed to tell friends and family where they are.  Cell phone service in Joplin remains spotty.
Spillars said officials know some of the missing are dead, but she wouldn't say how many.  She also would not say when a list of names of the deceased people would be released"
List Link. http://www.ky3.com/news/kspr-joplin-mo-tornado-list-of-missing-and-unaccounte...

A memorial and prayer service is planned for 2 on Sunday at an auditorium on the Missouri Southern campus.

Something else a lot of people may not of thought about and has'nt been reported on much is the loss of pets. They have something on the order of 300 dogs missing their masters still. No mention of cats or anything else.
http://www.ky3.com/news/ky3-pets-joplin-tornado-emergency-animal-shelter-2011...

Bit about the various volunteers from around the country.
http://www.ky3.com/news/ky3-pets-joplin-tornado-emergency-animal-shelter-2011...



Just heard on the news that ignorant bunch of yahoos that call themselves a church is going to be in joplin this week.
Instead of protesting a soliders funeral their going to protest that joplin was punished by god because of the war, gays ect. The normal cl@ptrap they spout.
Also MO is being punished because god hates mo.

Them folks are going to the wrong town at the wrong time in the wrong state. I dont think theres enough law and national guard there to protect them.
After what those folks have been through, that church group shows up anywhere down there their going to WISH all they had to worry about is slashed tires.
I hope someones bright enough to stop em before they get into town.
Lot of loose 2/4s with nails to be broke over heads.
Freedom of speech aint going to cover it.
Talk about suicide by stupidity.

Theres a LOT of ex military, active military, volunteers and of course the locals who have lost everything includeing loved ones. And i know of several biker groups that will probably be there. NOT GOOD for the church group!

Supposed to have a page about god hates mo on their web site.
No idea what the web addy is and really dont care.