there s lightning dancing in every direction across the sky. the kind of rain tonight that you get in a hurricane. you are getting in this town. the kind of rain that they just don t need after what appears to have been an ef-4 tornado. one rare, 1% of tornadoes ever recorded. that kind of strength pops into this town about three-quarter of a mile wide and runs for three miles and some are estimated six on the ground. this doesn t skirt the edge of town. it runs through the middle of town wiping out the southern section of the town turning it into bare trees and a bunch of shattered timber and cars that are balled up. not cars that are blown across a parking lot but turned into balls of steel. it s just an incredible scene here in joplin, missouri. we re hearing stories of hail stones bigger than golf balls raining down on joplin. aside from all of the other stuff that was going with the
into a wheat field or corn field over into oklahoma, we never would have heard about this storm or we certainly wouldn t be covering it. these storms have been hitting in populated places where people live and where people work and it s just so incredible and so devastating. i ve covered a lot of tornadoes and i ve seen a lot of devastation but i don t ever think i ve seen something this extreme, this severe covering such a large area. this tornado that moved through just ripped everything to shreds in its path. it s appalling. thank you very much indeed. coming up, more live from the scene of the deadly twister in joplin and we ll tell you how you can help.
joplin, missouri, yesterday killing 116 people. the death toll is feared to be on the conservative side and will raise quite significantly in the next few days. the tornado hit just after graduation at joplin high school wiping it out almost completely. the senior class was spared and terrible tragedy averted because of a scheduling quirk. joplin holds its graduation at missouri southern state university a few miles away from the school. c.j. huff is superintendent of schools and joins me now. this was an extraordinary escape. all of the people from joplin high school happened to be at a graduation ceremony away from the main school. had they been in the building, i dread to think what may have happened. we would have been looking at many, many fatalities. i m having trouble there hearing the superintendent. i think we may have to come back to him.
even just be bad luck, piers. this was one supercell that produced a tornado that touched down for about somewhere between three and six miles is what we re hearing and that entire pathway happened to be where people live. if this tornado had touched down maybe 40, 50 miles west of here into a wheat field or corn field over into oklahoma, we never would have heard about this storm or we certainly wouldn t be covering it. these storms have been hitting in populated places where people live and where people work and it s just so incredible and so devastating. i ve covered a lot of tornadoes and i ve seen a lot of devastation but i don t ever think i ve seen something this extreme, this severe covering such a large area. this tornado that moved through just ripped everything to shreds in its path. it s appalling. thank you very much indeed. coming up, more live from the scene of the deadly twister in joplin and we ll tell you how you can help.
wanting to hear from the superintendent who oversees all of the schools in joplin, missouri, where we have seen this twister take the lives of 116 people. the fears tonight are of a second tornado sweeping into joplin and other areas of the south including dallas and kansas. tomorrow is now feared to be a distinct possibility. i ll be joined by t.j. holmes from cnn. you used to work for an nbc affiliate in joplin. you re now back there tonight. have you in your darkest nightmares you could never have imagined this kind of scene, could you? reporter: no. i m coming in parts of a town that i know so well are unrecognizable right now. you have a tough time. i have a tough time getting my bearings in certain places even though i should know exactly where i am. i am from the south, from arkansas, worked in arkansas, been covering tornadoes a long time. it seems cliche but you never