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Twisters batter Midwest
AP
Photo
This aerial view shows tornado damage in Minneapolis, Sunday, May 22, 2011. At least one person died when the tornado barreled through the residential portion of Minneapolis on Sunday, damaging at least 100 homes, toppling hundreds of trees and injuring at least 29 people.
Associated Press
JOPLIN, Mo.
Tornadoes ripped through parts of the Midwest on Sunday, killing at least one person in Minneapolis and an unknown number of others in a Missouri town where a hospital was hit.
Damage was widespread across the south side of Joplin. John Campbell, operations director for the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency, confirmed fatalities have been reported, but he did not yet have an exact number or specifics.
Phone communications in and out of the city of about 50,000 people about 160 miles south of Kansas City largely were cut off.
Jasper County Emergency Management Director Keith Stammer said the St. John’s Regional Medical Center on the city’s south side took a “direct hit.” Witnesses said windows were blown out on the top floors of the hospital.
The storm was part of a series that battered the Midwest on Sunday night. Tornado warnings and watches were posted from Texas to Michigan.
Jeff Lehr, a reporter for the Joplin Globe, said he was upstairs 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 said. “Then you could hear everything go. It tore the roof off my house, everybody’s house. I came outside, and there was nothing left.”
He said people were walking around the streets outside trying to check on neighbors, but in many cases there were no homes to check.
In Minneapolis, city spokeswoman Sara Dietrich said the death 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.
In Wisconsin, a powerful storm caused significant damage in La Crosse, tearing roofs from homes and sending emergency responders to search damaged buildings for anyone trapped inside, officials said.