Joplin races to find survivors after Missouri city hit by tornado

St. John's Hospital in Joplin, Missouri, suffered such severe damage from Sunday's tornado that all patients had to be evacuated and sent to other hospitals in the region.

Cora Scott, a spokeswoman for the hospital, said officials decided the hospital was unsafe after it took a direct hit from the tornado. They are still trying to determine how many patients were affected and where they were sent. Many of them, she said, were taken to St. John's Hospital in Springfield, Mo., about 75 miles away. Both hospitals are part of a multi-state health system.

Many of those injured in Joplin are currently being treated at a field hospital set up in the city's Memorial Hall.

Medical personnel had to decide on the best places to send hospital patients after the tornado hit. They were in the hospital for all sorts of different conditions before the storm struck.

"We had to determine the best course of action for everyone," Scott said. "We had to get them to facilities that could handle different medical conditions."

Right now, hospital personnel are reporting to the field hospital for work, she said.

"We can redeploy them where they are needed, and we are deploying additional staff as well, including hospital-owned ambulances," said Scott.

Scott also said there are plenty of medical supplies on hand in Springfield, and the entire health system is working together to make sure all the hospitals get what they need quickly.

President Obama expressed his condolences in a telephone call to Nixon from Ireland, where Obama is visiting, the White House said. Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate will head to Joplin to coordinate federal disaster relief, said White House spokesman Nick Shapiro.

Speaking on television, Nixon said it was good to speak directly with the president and that Missouri would welcome all of the help available.

More than 40 agencies were involved in the search-and-rescue effort, which was racing against the arrival of the next storm. Nixon said communications equipment was crucial in coordinating the rescue and relief efforts, which are being complicated by transportation difficulties. Interstate 44 was shut down, and streets were clogged with emergency vehicles and the wreckage of buildings.

"This is a developing situation," the governor said, "but we believe that there is a significant potential for saving lives."

The number of deaths stood at 89, but Mayor Pro Tem Melodee Colbert-Kean told reporters that the toll was likely to rise.

"While we haven't heard, it is expected to rise drastically," she said. "We don't know how high it can go. We're praying it wouldn't climb too high."

The weather was worsening, with severe thunderstorms expected, she said. "We're waiting to see if the siren goes off again."

It was the piercing keen of sirens that shook the city of 50,000 at about 6 p.m. Sunday. Most agreed that the weather warning system worked, going off about half an hour before the brunt of the storm hit.

But the tornado was traveling so fast, Colbert-Kean said, that the danger was on the city before most had a chance to deal with the threat.

More than 2,000 structures were damaged, including a major hospital, St. John's Regional Medical Center. Perhaps 30% of the city, about 160 miles from Kansas City, was damaged. An unknown number of people were injured, and many were treated in makeshift shelters in churches, Colbert-Kean said.