May 25, 2011

Damaged Joplin hospital almost the only building left standing in area


CNN: It probably was a typical Sunday night at St. John's Regional Medical Center in Joplin, Missouri -- patients watching television, perhaps, or eating their dinners.But the evening wound up as anything but typical, as the nine-story building took what officials said was a direct hit from a tornado. The twister turned a place where the injured typically would seek treatment and refuge into a scene of chaos and devastation.Windows were blown out, gurneys tossed up to five blocks away, and 183 patients and about 200 staffers were evacuated. X-rays from St. John's reportedly were found in driveways in Dade County, Missouri, about 70 miles away.