JOPLIN, Mo. -- Isaac Duncan was in Carl Junction, Mo., when he heard reports that a tornado was literally around the corner. So he and a friend ran into the closest place they could find, a Fastrip convenience store in Joplin, reported CNN. Video taken inside the store's freezer where he and about 20 people took shelter detailed the terror they experienced as the tornado hit the store.
The tornado that tore through the southwest Missouri city of Joplin killed at least 89 people, said the Associated Press; authorities warned Monday that the death toll could climb as search [image-nocss] and rescuers continued their work.
"When we went in the electricity was already out there and were about 20 people huddled down," Duncan told CNN. "Everyone was just deciding what to do."
Video shot inside the freezer shows little--it is dark and hard to see--but the screams, prayers and pleas for help can be heard, as can the tornado as it hits the store.
(To watch the video, click here.)
Duncan said the glass in the front of the store looked as though it shattered and was sucked out into the streets. So he and the others huddled inside the cooler.
"Basically the only thing left standing was the cooler that we were in," Duncan said. "Everything around it was gone. [The tornado] actually tore a few holes in the refrigerator. That's what we crawled out of."
Apparently no one in the store was killed or seriously injured.
Fastrip is owned by Grace Energy Fastrip Corp., Carthage, Mo., which has more than 40 Fastrip and Snak-Atak convenience stores in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. The company did not respond to CSP Daily News inquiries by press time.
Also, the Flying J truckstop on Interstate 44 at exit 11 near Joplin was directly hit by the twister, suffering heavy damage and losing its roof, according to Truckinginfo.com. Nobody at the truckstop was injured, the company said, but several tractor-trailers were destroyed. The truckstop is open and a team was being dispatched to fully assess the damage and get repairs under way. It is unclear when it will begin dispensing diesel fuel again.
Truckstops at exit 4 to the south, including Joplin 44 and a Pilot location, were undamaged, the report said; however, several trucks were turned over, at least one in the highway median that was loaded with hazmat cleaners and soaps.
City manager Mark Rohr announced the number of known dead at a pre-dawn news conference Monday outside the wreckage of a hospital that took a direct hit from Sunday's storm, reported AP. Rohr said the twister cut a path nearly six miles long and more than a half-mile wide through the center of town, adding that tornado sirens gave residents about a 20-minute warning before the tornado touched down on the city's west side.
Much of the city's south side was leveled, with churches, schools, businesses and homes reduced to ruins. A hospital was also hit.
Fire chief Mitch Randles estimated that 25 to 30% of the city was damaged. "It cut the city in half," he said.
Early Monday, Governor Jay Nixon said fires from gas leaks still burned across the city.
The same storm system that produced the Joplin tornado spawned twisters along a broad swath of the Midwest, from Oklahoma to Wisconsin. At least one person was killed in Minneapolis.
In Wisconsin, the mayor of La Crosse declared a state of emergency Sunday after a powerful storm tore roofs from homes and littered streets and lawns with downed trees and debris.
Additional storms were predicted across the southern Plains through Thursday morning.
Click herefor additional video.
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