Nursing home lost at least 11 in Joplin twister - Searches continue ahead of new storms; 1,500 people unaccounted for

story by MSNBC
photo by AP
video by NBC/Today Show

JOPLIN, Mo. — As rescue crews in this city made their way through the debris of thousands of homes and concrete slabs where large stores once stood, the death toll crept higher and a nursing home operator reported that at least 11 of the fatalities were at its premises.

"What used to be a building was nothing more than a pile of rubble," said Bill Mitchell, who operated Greenbriar on the city's south side. Ten victims were residents and the 11th was a staff member, he added. One person remains unaccounted for.

"One of the little old men from the nursing home was standing in the middle of the street when we came out of the house," neighbor Sandy Conlee told the Joplin Globe in describing the aftermath. "He had blood all over his head. He was in shock."

Conlee's brother and two sons went inside to search for survivors. "They said they wished they hadn't," she added. "There were bodies and broken bones and blood."

Staff at Greenbriar and another heavily damaged facility, Meadows Care Center, had received a warning that the storm was coming and started moving people into the halls. But it hit quicker than expected, Mitchell said.

More warning, he said, "wouldn't have mattered."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43147795/ns/weather/