Devastation Wasnt Enough News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Daughter. can you tell us how you escaped? >> well, we happen getting messages from friends in i watch ka at that where we're from, that there was a terrible storm coming. they told us to seek shelter. we found an overoverhang on a medical office building from where i'm standing now. we parked and got out of the car. and we huddled together. myself, my friend, denise, and her daughter, alexis. we huddled together against a wall. and i think about two hours -- two hours -- it felt like two hours, but it was two minutes probably, two minutes later we were okay. and the storm had passed. we were ...

That rubble. the city manager says that at least 89 people are confirmed dead. and that numbers is likely to go much higher. our cnn's brian todd, he is at a hospital that took a direct hit from that tornado, and he joins us by phone. on the phone, brian, if you could, just describe for us what you are seeing. >> we're seeing the scene of total devastation here at the hospital in the center of town. the tornado took dead aim moving west to east through downtown joplin, starting at about 5:30 p.m. local time here. residents say that they saw the tell-tale sign, the swirling clouds, dark sky, an...

89 people were killed. it leveled homes, severely damaged a hospital and a high school. one storm chaser described the scene as complete devastation. he says parts of the city of joplin are unrecognizablunrecog. we'll take you there live just moments away. thing under the gas cap, thing... do you even have a name? well, it doesn't matter. because it's about to change. there's a cheaper, cleaner way to fuel up now. the volt plugs into any socket, and fuels up at home. sure it could use gas, but for most commutes you won't need much, if any. so from now on, fuel tube... we'll just call you...pla...

>> we want to go live to joplin, missouri for the latest on the destruction, the search and rescue efforts, all of that, our cnn's brian todd is there. brian, just paint a picture for us, the kind of damage you're seeing and what kind of efforts are being made now to find people alive. >> suzanne, as if the devastation wasn't enough, now rescuers have to deal with very severe weather. thunderstorms have just rolled through here, lightning. you probably still see it flashing in the sky on occasion. they've got to comb through these neighborhoods, whole city blocks at a time that have been flatt...

Watch. >> look at the trees -- the trees are debarked. >> hear one stormchaser drive tlug joplin right after the tornado -- driving through joplin right after the tornado hit. there's not much to see for miles. to check out the tornado from the air, knbc had a helicopter tracking. it as you see how big this is. at least a half a mile wide. now before it formed, other tornadoes took aim at the twin cities. one person was killed in the minneapolis area. almost two dozen others hurt, trees, power lines down in one neighborhood after another. now more visual images of the devastation. jaime gree...