It’s ‘heart-wrenching’ work for tornado rescuers
- Share via
Reporting from Joplin, Mo. — When the demonic twister struck Joplin, killing at least 122 people, it sheared the roof off the Home Depot and toppled its front wall -- a massive concrete slab more than 8 inches thick.
Several people were crushed beneath the slab, and the store became the focus of a complicated recovery effort.
At least one crew -- the Missouri Task Force 1 urban rescue team, based in Boone County, Mo. -- drilled 2-inch holes through concrete to drop small cameras into the space beneath to find victims.
Photos: Devastation in Joplin, Mo.
The highly trained, all-volunteer task force cut through layers of concrete and steel using diamond-bladed saws and high-powered torches normally used to cut through hulls of submarines.
The team leader, Doug Westhoff, called the work “heart-wrenching.” The crew found eight people dead, the most recent Tuesday morning.
“There was a guy who recognized his son-in-law’s truck in the parking lot,” Westhoff said, pointing to a crushed pickup nearby. “He just knew his grandkids and his son-in-law were in the store. And he was right.”
Pearce is a special correspondent.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
More From the Los Angeles Times
Podcasts
In this episode, we discuss the history here, what lessons were learned — and not — and how that can inform what we we do this time around as we attempt to rebuild Altadena and the Pacific Palisades.
Alexis Linkletter & Madison McGhee unpack the chaotic Justin Baldoni vs. Blake Lively lawsuit, separating fact from fiction, and its career impact.
Sammy Roth visits Ioneer’s proposed Rhyolite Ridge mine in Nevada with managing director Bernard Rowe, who details responsible lithium/boron extraction and Tiehm’s buckwheat protection.
