The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

Tornado: Multimedia coverage

Discussion

May 29, 2011

AUDIO: Joplin tornado emergency service dispatch audio; 911 recording shows progression of storm

Staff Writer From staff reports

JOPLIN, Mo. — A recording of the first 36 minutes of emergency dispatch traffic shows that the Joplin Police Department apparently lost some radio transmission capability during the storm.

It also shows that police feared a riot by  victims of the EF-5 twister at St. John’s Regional Medical Center if more rescue workers did not arrive quickly to help the injured and to evacuate the heavily damaged building.

The tape starts with the broadcast of a National Weather Service tornado warning for an area 10 miles west of Carl Junction around the state line.

The first sighting near Joplin is two minutes and 20 seconds later at 20th Street and Black Cat Road.

Four minutes and seven seconds in the tape, there is the first warning that a tornado is on the ground and it is reported at 20th Street and Maiden Lane.

The remainder of the tape illustrates the progression of damage down 26th and 20th streets from Main Street to Connecticut Avenue, Range Line and beyond to Duquesne. It also shows the difficulties faced by emergency workers trying to get through the debris to respond.

Text Only
Tornado: Multimedia coverage
Facebook
Poll

Known as the “Blue Book,” Missouri’s official manual that includes information about public officials, state officials and local governments is online only now as a cost-savings measure. If the governor signs new legislation, a nonprofit could print it and distribute it to the public. Would you buy one?

Yes.
No.
     View Results
Parade
Magazine
Click HERE to read all your Parade favorites including Hollywood Wire, Celebrity interviews and photo galleries, Food recipes and cooking tips, Games and lots more.
NDN Video
Conn. Commuter Trains Collide; 60 Go to Hospital Coffee Run Leads to Hatchet Hitchhiker Arrest Fmr. IRS Head Insists No Politics in Targeting CDC: Fecal Bacteria Common in Swimming Pools $1 Million in Jewels Stolen at Cannes Film Fest NM Mom Chases Down Child Abductor Raw: Crash Sends Car Into Fla. Pool Raw: Obama Sits Down With Elementary Kids Raw: Bear Falls From Tampa Tree Ousted IRS Chief: Errors Not Caused by Politics Terror Suspect Due in Court in Idaho Friday Raw: Driver Ejected From Truck, Over Bridge Could Tobacco Be the Next Biofuel? Wash. State Releases Draft Rules for Legal Pot Dying Man's Blinks Lead to Murder Conviction Officials: Texas Tornado Likely Had 200 Mph Wind Brothers Arrested in NOLA Parade Shooting Raw: School Bus Crash Injures Five Children Quick Response Saved Baby on Phila. Train Tracks One Million Evacuated As Cyclone Hits Bangladesh