missing there s a distinction there. there s a distinction. right. some people thing they have loved ones there the cell service is spotty. hard to communicate. casey wian is there with our team in joplin, missouri, this morning. good morning, casey. yeah, good morning, ali. you know amid all this death and destruction, there are really some incredible stories of survival and peel beginning to put their lives back together. imagine surviving one of the worst tornadoes in u.s. history by holding on to a couple of dog crates while your home collapses around and on top of you. a beautiful house in a joplin, missouri, suburb, reduced to a memory. it belonged to jim and stacy richards who are just now telling a harrowing tale of survival. jim was at work when the tornado struck. i started to come home, i got a text from my wife. the first couple were gibberish. then finally it came through saying help, roof, under. reporter: then came a
desperate voice mail from stacy. jim hasn t been able to bring himself to listen to all of it until now. god, help! help! there was this kind of pressure in my ears, and the next thing i know dirt and grit and stuf was hitting me in the face. i realized that the roof was coming off. she was in between those two kennels. those two kennels, yes. she tried to have one hand on top of each, one on each. i could feel the dog s crate lifting up. i got on the floor and i was holding the dog crates and i had one other dog under my arm. things started to land on me. and i actually did get trapped. i remember thinking the next thing that lands on me, i m going to probably die. reporter: stacy was pinned for about 20 minutes unable to contact her husband or son. my son texted me and said,
a spa and gym. we ll take you inside on this american morning. good morning to you. thanks so much for being with us on this thursday, may 26th. welcome back. what a whirlwind few days it s been for you right there in the heart of what s going on joplin, missouri. it continues. and more bad weather. another night of meteorological mayhem as tornadoes wreaked through the region. from louisiana to the great lakes. oklahoma s governor declaring a state of emergency in 68 counties hit by tornadoes. this video taken by storm chasers is about as close as you can get. 16 people were killed in the latest round of storms. in memphis tornado warnings ringing out again last night, the sirens sounding. you can hear them there as the sky grows darker by the minute. an ominous sky, a funnel cloud that was in the distance. the national weather service warned people in memphis as well as nashville to take shelter and in some cases to evacuate. right there, you got it. we ve got a
between those people missing and those who haven t been able to be reached. casey wian is live for us in joplin. casey, this is as people start to find out the condition of their homes and where their loved ones are. yeah, ali. you were here. you know how bad it is. imagine surviving one of the worst tornadoes in u.s. history by hanging on to a couple of dog crates while you re home collapses around and on top of you. a beautiful house in a joplin, missouri, suburb reduced to a memory. p it belonged to jim and stacy richards who are just now telling a harrowing tale of survival. jim was at work. i started to come home. i got a text from my wife. first couple were gibberish. then finally came through saying help, roof under. then came a desperate voice mail from stacy. jim hasn t been able to bring limbs to listen to all of it until now. [ screams ]