A massive storm system dropped a tornado into the heart of Joplin on Sunday evening, carving a wide path of destruction and killing at least 24.
St. John's Regional Medical Center in Joplin suffered a “direct hit” and crews worked in the aftermath to transfer at least 100 patients to area hospitals.

Following the deadly storms, Gov. Jay Nixon activated the National Guard, dispatched Missouri's Disaster Medical Assistance Team and declared a state of emergency.
State and local law enforcement agencies are coordinating search and rescue and recovery operations in the stricken areas.
Ryan Nicholls with the Springfield-Greene County Office of Emergency Management confirmed at least 24 fatalities in the Joplin area but the extent of the damage and the number of injuries was unknown late Sunday.

There were reports that debris from Joplin was falling all over Greene County. It ranged from hospital records to insulation.
John Miller, a freelance photographer for the News-Leader, said he saw heavy damage.
“The Home Depot is leveled,” Miller said. “The Wal-Mart is destroyed. Gas stations, buildings. Everywhere I could see was either heavily damaged or completely destroyed.”
Miller said he saw search and rescue people in the Home Depot pulling people out of the wreckage. The roofs of two city fire stations collapsed.
“I saw plenty of injured people,” Miller said. “I saw at least one dead. He was covered by a blanket.”
Miller said people were taking clothing and water from Wal-Mart and giving them to storm victims.
“I saw firefighters and paramedics pull a young girl out of a car at the Home Depot,” Miller said. “Part of the building had fallen on the car.”
mergency shelters were quickly established. Displaced families were shuttled to Missouri Southern State University.

Greg Hickman, assistant director of emergency management for Newton County, said tornado victims with minor injuries were sent to Memorial Hall, and those with major injuries were transported to Freeman Hospital.
Jerry Williams, assistant vice president at Missouri Southern State University, said he heard the tornado coming in.
“I took my wife into a closet under the stairs,” Williams said. “It sounded like a huge wind.”
Williams said the tornado blew away the gazebo on his house and a shed and damaged windows.

“It's been quite horrific,” Williams said. “There are just areas that are flattened. Places are gone. It's like somebody dropped a bomb or something.”
Williams said this is the fourth tornado he's been in — but this one struck so close.
“It's just a very damaged place,” he said. “It looks like the places you see on the news that you never want to see in your own city.
Donald Davis, a Joplin resident, said he drove through Joplin shortly after the tornado hit and saw a damaged high school, churches and apartment complex.

Davis said Joplin High School had its windows broken out and part of the roof missing.
“Right across the street is a church,” said Davis, a nurse at the Freeman Cancer Center. “It’s demolished.”
Davis said a Dillon’s grocery store also appeared demolished and the Hampshire Terrace Apartments.
“They’re flattened,” Davis said. “You just can't believe it. There must have been 150 units. One lady had a bathrobe around her. Others just had blankets around them.”
Davis said trees in the area of 20th to 15th streets had their leaves and bark peeled off.
Greg Holt, 53, of Joplin said he heard about the tornado on TV and then the TV went off. He went outside.

“I could see debris,” Holt said. “I could see the top of my neighbor's tree lift up and take off. I ran in the house. I grabbed pillows off the bed and laid down on the floor and prayed. I lay there until the noise went away. Then I went outside, and the whole front yard was covered with debris and trees and metal.”
Holt, who characterized the result as “just total devastation,” said he could smell gas leaks everywhere.

Holt's son-in-law, Jeff Law, 23, said he was at a friend's house and went in the storm cellar. After the tornado passed, he went outside.
“I've lived in this neighborhood my entire life, and I didn't know where I was,” Law said. “Everything was unrecognizable. Completely unrecognizable. It's like Armageddon.”
Holt said he saw a man lying by the side of the road “all twisted up. He was just covered in blood.”

Mike Stair, city editor of the Joplin Globe, said the damage is massive and the Joplin Globe has not been able to reach some of its employees.
Mark Schiefelbein, a freelance photographer dispatched to the area, said from the damage near the hospital was nearly one mile wide.
The tornado hit the hospital directly and a residential area to the north. The houses are completely destroyed with no walls standing.
Schiefelbein said a woman was looking for her daughter, Jamie Haiar, who is nine months pregnant.

The mother said she has not been able to get into touch with her daughter, whose truck was home.
Firefighters from Baker Township, Kan.., were helping her dig through the rubble in search of her daughter.
A search dog from the Barton County Sheriff’s Department was going from car to car in the hospital parking lot nearby.
Debris and downed power lines blocked streets in the vicinity, making it difficult for emergency vehicles to get through.

A destroyed medical helicopter, which had no window and no blades, was next to the parking lot.
Power outage was widespread, as street lights were out for miles, he said.
National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Griffin said the tornado touched down near Rangeline Road and Interstate 44 — near mile markers 10 and 11.

“It went right through the center of town,” he said.
Toni Logan, a dispatcher for Triple A Taxi in Joplin, said two of the company drivers have volunteered for search and rescue duty. She said three regular customers called the cab company and asked to be taken to the police station to volunteer as well.

She said the cab company won't be taking people to areas hit by the tornado.
“Most of the city is shut down,” Logan said. “The streets are closed.”
Reporters Mike Penprase, Didi Tang, Tara Muck and Cliff Sain contributed to this story.

here's picture of Joplin after hit by a massive Tornado

A destroyed helicopter lies on its side in the parking lot of the Joplin Regional Medical Center in Joplin, Mo., Sunday, May 22, 2011. A large tornado moved through much of the city, damaging the hospital and hundreds of homes and businesses

destroyed vehicles are piled on top of one another in the parking lot of the Joplin Regional Medical Center in Joplin, Mo., Sunday, May 22, 2011. A large tornado moved through much of the city, damaging the hospital and hundreds of homes and businesses. (Mark Schiefelbein)

A man walks past destroyed vehicles in the parking lot of the Joplin Regional Medical Center in Joplin, Mo., Sunday, May 22, 2011. A large tornado moved through much of the city, damaging the hospital and hundreds of homes and businesses. ( Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Hospital workers walk away from the Joplin Regional Medical Center in Joplin, Mo., Sunday, May 22, 2011. A large tornado moved through much of the city, damaging the hospital and hundreds of homes and businesses. ( Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Vehicles and houses in the vicinity of Twenty-fourth and Main Streets are a jumble of rubble after a the tornado swept through Joplin, Mo., on Sunday evening, May 22, 2011. ( Photo/ Mari Taylor)

Volunteer firefighters William Jackson, left, and Ashley Martin, center, from Oklahoma, and Johnny Ward of Joplin look through the wreckage of a home where it was feared a pregnant woman as feared to be trapped following a tornado in Joplin, Mo., Sunday, May 22, 2011. A large tornado moved through much of the city, damaging a hospital and hundreds of homes and businesses. The three did not find anyone during their search. (Photo/Mark Schiefelbein).

A girl is rescued for a car near a Home Depot store after a wall of the store collapsed on the car she was in after a tornado ripped through Joplin.

People remove items from a Walmart store for victims of a tornado ripped through Joplin.

A woman stares at wreckage of a building that was destroyed by a tornado that ripped through Joplin.

A girl sits on a downed light pole as she waits for medical attention for her injured ankle  after a tornado ripped through Joplin.

Victims pulled for a Home Depot store wait for medical assistance as a triage center was being setup in the parking lot after a tornado ripped through Joplin.

Rescue personnel rush a person to a triage center in the back of a truck after a tornado ripped through Joplin, Mo.

People wander the streets after a tornado ripped through Joplin, Mo.

27Two rescuers try to pull free a woman from a destroyed building in Joplin, Mo. after a tornado struck the city on Sunday evening, May 22, 2011. ( Photo/Roger Nomer)

An emergency worker carries a girl to safety from the remains of Academy Sports  in Joplin, Mo. after a tornado struck the city on Sunday evening, May 22, 2011. ( Photo/, Roger Nomer)

All photo are Courtesy of Roger Nomer,Mark SchiefelbeinmMari Taylor