Through this website, we will be sharing news reports and photos from the affected areas of the tornado that caused wide-spread destruction in the Southwest Missouri town of Joplin. ACM has newspapers in the nearby communities of Miami, Grove, and Jay, in Northeast Oklahoma, and Baxter Springs and Columbus in Southeast Kansas.
Updated with new death toll figure
Headline: SE Kansas crews respond to heavily-damaged tornado region of Joplin, Mo.
Patrick Richardson, Columbus (Kan.) Advocate Managing Editor
Cherokee County and Columbus, Kan., emergency crews responded to the devastating tornado which struck Joplin, Mo., on Sunday.
Cherokee County Emergency Management Director Jason Allison said crews from Cherokee County were on scene most of the night.
He said they sent three emergency management staff, eight fire units from all over the county and four or five ambulances as well.
"We worked over there until about 1 a.m. when Ortho-Fourstates opened for triage of non-critical patients," he said, adding they were planning to send crews back Monday once they had been notified what was needed.
National Weather Service Metorologist Doug Cramer said the twister was either an EF-4 or EF-5 but there was no way to tell just yet.
He said NWS has a three-man survey team in Joplin assessing the damage.
"We just don't know yet," he said. "It may take a couple of days."
He said NWS is particularly worried about the weather today. More severe thunderstorms are forecast and the tornado risk is described as "moderate." Moderate means there is a roughly 10 percent chance of a tornado within 25 miles of a specific point according to NWS.
Columbus Fire Department Captain and Lead Driver Steven Burton said when they first arrived there was no command structure in place.
"We just got in and started searching," he said, adding once a command center was established they reported in and got assignments.
Those included search and rescue, first aid and escorting doctors to St. John's Regional Medical Center to pick up medical supplies. St. John's took a direct hit from the twister and had to be evacuated.
According to the Associated Press, Joplin City Manager Mark Rohr said the twister cut a path nearly 6 miles long and more than a half-mile wide through the center of town. Much of the city's south side was leveled, with churches, schools, businesses and homes reduced to ruins.
As of 3 p.m., Joplin city officials said the death toll from the storm was 116 and is expected to rise as more people are pulled from the ruins.
Advocate Staff Writer Stefanie Cope lives in Joplin, and while her home was spared, she has been out assisting others who were not as fortunate.
She said on Monday the city was asking volunteers to wait to come in.
"Last I knew they were asking for volunteers not to come out right now," Cope said. "They're trying to keep people from coming in and out of the city."
Cope said the destruction was "unbelievable."
"The fire station on Maiden Lane is just gone," she said. "There's lots of people with no where to go."
Cherokee County EMS Director Doug Mogle said the local trucks returned to the station about 7 a.m. to get cleaned up and restocked. He said there are many ambulances from further away in use and the Joplin authorities wanted to let area crews get a little rest before returning to the scene.
He said the big problem for Cherokee County EMS right now is that they cannot transport patients to Joplin so they're having to take them to Pittsburg,, Kan., Coffeyville, Kan., Miami, Okla., or Parsons, Kan..
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