JOPLIN, MO (KSDK) - Authorities say at least 89 have died in the massive tornado that struck the southwest Missouri city of Joplin.
City manager Mark Rohr announced the number at a pre-dawn news conference outside the wreckage of a hospital that took a direct hit from Sunday's storm.
Rohr said the twister cut a path nearly six miles long and more than a half-mile wide through the center of town.
Much of the city's south side was leveled, with businesses, homes and restaurants reduced to ruins.
National Weather Service Meteorologist Mike Griffin has said that Joplin was directly hit by a tornado that touched down in the center of the town.
St. John's Regional Medical Center had reports of multiple injuries, and is now being evacuated due to extensive tornado damage.
"We are not sure of the safety of the building," said Cora Scott, spokeswoman for St. John's Health System in Springfield.
Scott does not yet know how many patients are being affected, and she has no information on a reported gas leak near the hospital. Scott says that St. John's Hospital in Springfield is sending ambulances and helicopters to Joplin to transport patients.
The Joplin Globe is reporting that buildings both north and west of the hospital were leveled.
The roofs of two city fire stations collapsed, and there are reports of other damaged businesses near the city.
Damage has been widespread across the south side of the city, and many telephone and power lines are down.
The Springfield News-Leader reports that Missouri Southern State University Assistant Vice President Jerry Williams heard the tornado coming.
"I took my wife into a closet under the stairs. It sounded like a huge wind," Williams said. "There are just areas that are flattened. Places are gone. It's like somebody dropped a bomb or something."
KSDK