More on Joplin, MO Tornado of 5-22-11

***Please note:  this is the "original" post that I wrote concerning the Joplin, MO tornado.  It was first posted within an hour of the event, and then updated over a subsequent week to 10 day period as new information came in.  Rather than replacing it after a time, I thought it would be better to keep it relatively intact so as to preserve the "historical record" here on the blog.

For later information, including more detailed summaries of the damage survey, photos, videos, radar data, personal interviews, etc., please go here for a "summary post" which contains links to all of my posts on the Joplin event.***

-----------------------------------Original post below:

A large, damaging tornado struck Joplin, MO beginning at about 5:40 PM on Sunday evening, May 22, 2011.  National Weather Service storm survey information has confirmed numerous cases of EF-5 damage (winds in excess of 200 mph), and widespread EF-4 damage (winds in excess of 166 mph) throughout the damage path in Joplin.  The survey is not 100% complete, but at this time the path length appears to be about 7 miles (almost all of which occurred in south Joplin) and the maximum damage width was 3/4 of a mile.

As of 6pm CDT on May 24th, over 120 people have reportedly lost their lives, with over 750 injured.  Unfortunately, many others are still missing.  Additional severe storms and heavy rains have occurred in Joplin daily since the event, which has slown rescue/recovery efforts each day.

The following picture of the tornado was just posted on Twitter (taken from an unknown location in or near Joplin):

The following video (pretty choppy at times) shows the tornado as it reportedly entered the far west or southwest side of Joplin.  It appears to quickly evolve from a multi-vortex to large wedge tornado:

The hospital took a direct hit, and video that I've seen of adjacent neighborhoods has damage that looks very similar to the Tuscaloosa/Birmingham, AL tornado damage of last month.

Most of a Wal-Mart store has been leveled (as shown in the image below):

Per emergency scanner reports, significant damage (described as homes completely gone or mostly destroyed) is off of Schifferdecker Road between 26th and 32nd streets in Joplin.  This is just to the West of the hospital that took a direct hit.  If you do some extrapolating from other damage reports, the bulk of the damage seems to be along and South of 20th Street in Joplin, with the worst from 26th through 32nd.

Taking the above as very preliminary information, here is a rough sketch of where the worst of the damage (EF-4 and EF-5) was done on the map below, just to give you an idea of where we are talking about:

Below is a preliminary track and intensity map produced by the NWS in Springfield.  The numbers inside of the triangles along the path indicate the preliminary EF-Intensity rating along that portion of the track.  Please note (5/25/11):  This map has not been updated by the NWS since they upgraded the damage classification to EF-5 yesterday.  I would pay less attention to the EF ratings on the map, and more attention to the path at this time.

The following are screen captures of recent damage video from Joplin.  The large structure that you'll see in the 4th image down is the hospital.  Most of the windows appear to be blown out. The last image, I'm afraid to say, was a neighborhood that for all practical purposes is now gone...

Go to this link for a panoramic view of the damage taken by someone near the hospital parking lot.

Here is a link to a raw damage video (appears to be from NBC / WeatherChannel).

Another video of WeatherChannel Meteorologist Mike Bettes is found below:

Areal video of the damage is also emerging now:

Please keep the people of Joplin, their family & friends, in your prayers as the true extent of this devastation continues to be realized.

If you live in the area and need help, or if you live outside the area and need information on a loved one or would like to offer your assistance in some way, please visit the following resources:

Find a Red Cross Shelter
http://www.redcross.org/nss/

Southwest Missouri Red Cross
http://redcross-ozarks.org/joplin/
On Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ozarksredcross

Volunteer Ozarks Red Cross
http://www.redcross-ozarks.org/volunteer/

Safe and Well from the Red Cross
https://safeandwell.communityos.org/cms/index.php

Missouri state government assistance, shelter information
http://1.usa.gov/lk992f

Joplin, Missouri Tornado Recovery Facebook page
http://www.facebook.com/joplinmo

City of Joplin on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/CityofJoplin

FEMA
800-621-3362

The United Way
http://www.uwheartmo.org/

For more on the Joplin tornado event, click here to return to the table of contents post, which contains a chronological listing of all related posts, and will be updated with new links as additional posts are made.

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