UPDATE Breaking news: Early reports of 24 dead in Joplin, Missouri tornado. Hospital hit. Two fire stations lose roofs. Fire & police radio traffic. Video.
Above is a recording of a live report from The Weather Channel's Mike Bettes. Click here to watch the coverage live.
Listen live to Jasper County fire & law enforcement
Details on mutual aid to Joplin
Hospital & other storm debris scattered across Ozarks
Storm chasers in Joplin, Missouri were the first to tell STATter911.com a tornado this evening hit a hospital caused numerous injuries. The live radio link above is quite active on a signigifcant and widespread MCI. Below is the initial radio traffic from Jasper County.
Ryan Nicholls from the Springfield-Greene County Office of Emergency Management has said at least 24 people are dead after a tornado tore through Joplin, MO around 6p.m. Saturday.
National Weather Service Meteorologist Mike Griffin has said that Joplin was directly hit by a tornado that touched down in the center of the town.
Jonathan Miller, Springfield News-Leader. Click the image for the paper's coverage.
KOAM photographer Crystal Albright was at 15th and Range Line. She says the Burger King is gone. King's Palace was catching on fire at the time.
Authorities say a tornado has hit a Joplin hospital and caused the roofs of two city fire stations to collapse.
Jasper County Emergency Management Director Keith Stammer says a tornado hit the St. John's Regional Medical Center on the city's south side. He said there are multiple reports of injuries from the twister that struck around 6 p.m. Sunday.
The St. John's Regional Medical Center sustained major damage.There were reports of fires throughout the building and fears of an explosion occuring due to broken gas lines.
Portions of the top of St. John's Hospital were sheared off. There are concerns about an explosion at the medical facility.
Springfield-based ambulances and EMS workers are being sent to St. John's in Joplin, where the west tower was struck by a tornado.
Around 5:30 p.m. a multi-vortex tornado was reported near 13th and Rangeline Road with reports of damage to numerous trees and houses.
Starting at 20th and Rangeline a tornado destroyed countless buildings throughout the area.
At the 15th and Rangeline Walmart ambulances lined the street as emergency rescue officials across the Four-States have responded to rescue hundreds of residents trapped inside the building.
St. John's hospital was also hit hard by the tornado. One resident living nearly 45-miles away from the hospital says his yard is now full of debris from the hospital– medical supplies and x-rays.
