forced to dig to save a loved one. we found a path. we cleared up stuff. we just kind of pulled him out from there at 2:00 in the morning. reporter: throughout this temporary red cross shelter there are similar stories of dramatic rescues, close calls and agonizing losses. we are homeless, jobless, carless. but, believe me, i think that we are so lucky to survive this. and right now we just have to start from scratch. you can help them start from scratch. here is how. log on to cnn.com/impact and check out our special page. it has all the tools you need to make a difference for those people in joplin. well, where do the sick and
finding faith and hope at a red cross shelter. reporter: blown away. a town, a community torn apart. he lost his hospital, his home and nearly his father. i was just calling him out. i was yelling his name. dad, dad, are you there? reporter: he nearly lost his life. i thought i was going to die, truthfully. reporter: like so many trying to pick up the pieces of their lives in joplin, missouri, dr. zaidi and john ness have been ravaged by this disaster. but they have both found faith and purpose at this makeshift red cross center on a campus of missouri southern university. we have been sleeping in the
not get out of the way. well, a couple things happened. the storm developed rapidly. even though the warning was out, with 24 minutes worth of notice the storm developed five miles from just west of joplin, just over here. the storm was on the ground as an f-0, small little tornado, but in five miles it became 200 miles per hour and more. just five miles. had this storm, had this spot right here been maybe 15 miles farther to the west so the spotters were out on it saying look out, this is a huge killer tornado, get out of of the way, get out of the way, maybe the immediacy would have been more. people would have been out of their cars. ta they would have been in buildings. a lot of people died in cars. you saw what happened to those cars. those cars were destroyed. it was a giant tornado. sometimes there is just nothing you can do about it. there s not a question. that s joplin, that little word right there.
sky. i could see some of the hospital had to be gone because i knew there was another floor above us. when i saw that i said, this ain t good. this is not good at all. reporter: but johnson was okay and so was mcdaniel and his family. my grandpa has bruises and cuts on his back. my grandma has glass still embedded in her hair, but we re a lot better off than a lot of people. this is bad. oh, my gosh. this is awful. reporter: a lot of people in joplin were suddenly and severely wounded, but the biggest hospital in town was in ruins. having it destroyed turned the page on disaster plans. reporter: risko, at home on his day off, rushed to the hospital. he arrived to find a building he hardly recognized. the hospital was on fire,
nina. that is gone. la nina can bring bigger hurricanes because of the shear that it makes or the lack of it in the pacific and the atlantic and also in the gulf. i m worried about the warmer water. we are always worried about the warmer water, but 2004 was a big tornado season. didn t kill a lot of people. we had a huge number of tornadoes. remember of 2004? i do. charlie, gene, francis, ivan. i was on the speech almost the entire summer. i didn t enjoy it because i was watching hurricanes come in one after the other after the other. chad myers, thanks. two cities devastated by tornados. joplin, missouri and tuscaloosa linked by tragedy and charity. up next, the future for both cities.