JOPLIN, Mo. — Rescue crews are searching for people trapped in rubble left after a powerful tornado hit Joplin, Mo., Sunday afternoon. The devastation has been indescribable, said Adam Winkler, Ottawa University graduate lives in Joplin and works as a news director for a Neosho, Mo., radio station. Winkler lives near Missouri Southern, an area that many OU students may be familiar with, and he said the area along Rangeline Road has been destroyed and is unrecognizable. A continuing series of severe thunderstorms are making the rescue effort difficult, causing flooding and wet conditions that hampers rescuers, he said. More severe storms are predicted for the area tonight. The death toll has climbed to at least 118 people, the worst single-day tornado death toll since the National Weather Service started keeping records more than 60 years ago. A tornado that hit Flint, Mich., in 1953 killed 116 people.
Tuesday, May 24, 1:30 p.m.
