per hour. everywhere in joplin there were stories of desperate searches for the missing. for a little boy separated from his family. last seen in a bathtub. we have not been able to locate the bathtub. so we are out here trying to see if we can find out any information on where he might be at or see if we can find him in the debris. reporter: the one story being heard most often, neighbors helping neighbors. it come in on us, blowing the windows in on us, the boards. everything else, ceiling come in, pinned us down. i went to hollering for help and finally three men come by here and finally got the stuff off my back. reporter: the city of joplin has a plan in place for its emergency workers here in the field. the city has its own meteorologists on staff and they think they can give the workers advanced notice of up to an hour to get to designated shelters. rob and peggy? on top of all that the tiny rural town of canton, oklahoma, was hit by a large wedge twister about mid aft
built into your house. you can t do that everyone. it s not economically feasible. i can t imagine how much money it would cost for everyone in the midwest and southeast to get that done in their homes. the past advice was if a big tornado comes you go to your bathtub, if you have a basement go to the basement. when we had the storm like in joplin, people in their basements they were killed. when you get these really, really strong tornados and this is what s kind of changing this year, i heard it out of oklahoma city today was leave town. get in your car and get out of the way. they don t tell you to do that with big tornados, i would get in the car and get away. the problem is you can get caught on the road if anyone does that. it s a predictment. something that will be studied in the days and weeks ahead. bill thanks for helping us understand this tonight. i really appreciate it.รง
small town, as the storm system moves east as t.j. winick reports, the rough weather overnight added to the misery in joplin, missouri. reporter: an ominous sight in the skies in oklahoma where at least three twisters have been spotted. tornado watches and warnings in effect in several states. everything is gone. it is all gone. everything. you try to think. i remember last night laying in bed, i keep thinking about that. and now and now you visualize where you are. now it is all gone. reporter: the city of joplin was decimated by a massive tornado sunday, that has been upgraded from an ef-4 to an ef-5, with winds over 200 miles per hour. at least 122 people were killed making it the deadliest twister in the u.s. in nearly 60 years. two more survivors were pulled from the debris in the last 24 hours. the search continues for some 1,500 residents still missing. rescue teams are canvassing neighborhoods. a family looks for a 12-year-old boy. his parents are in the hospital. las
their apartments ended up on the ground. people with lacerations all over their bodies because of the flying debris, people who had quite serious injuries, who had lost everything, mick canned now just saying they are very happy they did not lose everything, which includes their life. we have also seen the other side of the story, families searching desperately for a young son and families looking for grandfathers. this search has to go on for some time. behind me, as you can see, there are buildings just gone. nbc s kevin tibbles in joplin. thank you. the pictures are staggering. it is. everyone you talk to, you see the wreckage behind kevin. in oklahoma and arkansas today, more storms expected in
so we are out here trying to see if we can find out any information on where he might be at or see if we can find him in the debris. reporter: natalie gonzalez put her son in the bathtub and made him wear his bicycle helmet. at one point, the toilet flew up out of the ground and hit my son in the head and then hit me in the back. the bicycle helmet saved his life. reporter: the city of joplin has a plan in place for emergency workers here in the field and the city has meteorologists on staff and think they can give the workers advance notice up to an hour to get to designated shelters. rob, peggy. in the town of chickasaw, oklahoma, a powerful tornado destroyed ten mobile homes before skipping to an apartment complex and then tearing the roof off of a church. at least two people were killed and rescue crews are searching the rubble now for any survivors. severe storms also menaced north texas, funnel clouds and