Joplin, Missouri Tornado Video: 'The Trees Are Debarked'

An amateur video has captured the massive, deadly tornado that tore through Joplin, Missouri on Sunday.

Posted by The Guardian, credited to TornadoVideos.net Base Hunters, the video shows the massive twister from a safe distance as it tears through the town. The person filming then goes on to capture the tragic path of destruction, showing buildings completely leveled, as one person off screen exclaims, "The trees are debarked!"

Another video from Joplin, Missouri captured the horrors from inside the storm.

WATCH (Warning -- explicit language):

Comments

[satin dragon]

03:17 PM on 05/24/2011

There is a personal responsibility to this?.. I have lived in tornado alley most of my life.. Nebraska, Kansas, and Colorado.. I have been threw many tornado's... including one that went threw Windsor CO. a few years ago and passed my home in less than a 1/4 mile... we have learned more about tornado's from storm chasers than the lab scientists have ever learned, give them their due.... in any tornado I have been threw, I did not need tv, radio, or tornado sirens to tell me I was in a serious situation.. all you need is one look at the sky, and you know instinctually you are in dire circumstances..that kind of sky or storm tells a tale, a very distinct one.. and every human is wired for the flight or fight response.. if you dont heed those instincts, you have put yourself at risk... i dont like it when people pass their personal responsibility's on to someone elses shoulders..be thankful there is at least some warning? because no one is obligated to provide you that information at all... you are responsible for your own safety!.. because while your waiting for the broadcast from the weather service or town siren?... my butt will be already in the basement waiting ..

[Melinda Brunner]

11:06 AM on 05/30/2011

How many homes have basements or root cellars?

[Ana Odem]

11:14 PM on 06/03/2011

I grew up in tornado alley without a basement. Yes, there is some personal responsibility to protect one's self but without a basement, anything over a EF3 will cause great physical damage to any building that might offer protection. I currently live in a building that has no way to find protection, so if I get enough time to run across the street, I can hide in my sister's basement. But if I don't have enough time, I am left to try to hide in a small room, there is no other place to seek safety. I don't need any lectures, this is the only home I could afford and I cannot afford to make a safe place to hide in my home...I am a storm spotter for the NWS and know all the safe ways to protect myself and my family. Most people don't have any training and just don't pay any attention to safety advice from the TV and radio. Only with more training will they "average" person learn what to do when a tornado warning occurs.

[jenna2929]

02:21 PM on 05/24/2011

Climate change.

[kemcha]

12:06 PM on 05/24/2011

Huffington Post.com cannot even get its facts straight. The 1953 Tornados, which saw 3 F5 Tornadoes touch down, caused 253 deaths. Check it out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint–Worcester_tornado_outbreak_sequence

Huffington Post cannot even get its facts straight. I should know, I've lived in Flint all my life and its common knowledge down here.

[f8doggie]

01:57 PM on 05/24/2011

It only just happened. History can only be seen when all the facts come in.

[kemcha]

02:29 PM on 05/24/2011

I hate to disappoint you but the 1953 Flint Tornado disaster did not JUST happen ... here's a clue, it happened in 1953, this is 2011. It would be nice if HP.com would get its facts straight. The 1953 tornado spawned over 40 smaller tornadoes but the 3 1953 F5 tornadoes killed 253 people.

[Kuuuks]

02:23 PM on 05/24/2011

The fact that HP is talking about is that these deaths came from one tornado...not several.

[kemcha]

03:02 PM on 05/24/2011

The media is always exaggerating the deaths in any incident to make the most current incident seem like it's worse than previous disasters.

While the Wikipedia page of the Flint, Michigan disaster doesn't specify if the deaths were attributed to talk three F5 tornadoes, it lists the deaths as one event. Oh, and the Huff Post article is reporting the deaths over multiple days ... you don't attribute the deaths to a single tornado but rather the whole event.

I just love how the media continues to misrepresent the news of deaths attributed to natural disasters. For years after the Vietnam War, Veterans of that war attributed long delayed side effects from Agent Orange. Does this mean that Agent Orange shouldn't be attributed to something that happened years ago? Course not, because it's all part of the same symptom.

[wforvendetta]

12:05 PM on 05/24/2011

Instead of CHASING storms, shouldn't these people be out AHEAD of the storms, warning people to take shelter?

[MzTexas]

01:07 PM on 05/24/2011

Warnings were issued. BTW, I live in tornado alley. Warnings have gotten much better, but there is no adequate warning for a tornado. They come up so quickly and are so erratic, there is no way to be completely prepared.

[dimplasm]

03:05 PM on 05/24/2011

True. One minute just a storm, then the next--Tornado.

[wforvendetta]

12:03 PM on 05/24/2011

What's next? WAR chasers who tag along while an army is ravaging a village and videoape the results?

[antipodal2u]

10:33 AM on 05/24/2011

(Global warming)

[msllsa1]

09:22 AM on 05/24/2011

Our weather system goes in cycles. Some cycles are even in hundreds and even thousands of years. Nothing has changed except human ability to capture the moments. The Earth is the same as always. Just because we are now technologically advanced doesn't make it any worse or better, just more aware.

[bridge to somewhere]

10:42 AM on 05/24/2011

"Nothing has changed except human ability to capture the moments"

And several trillion tons of sequestered 65 to 200 million year old CO2 released by our actions in about 200 years...a geological blink of an eye.

[grainysmith]

01:03 PM on 05/24/2011

F&F...The earth always changes but species will not be able to adapt when these changes are sped up.

[MamasLittleBoy]

11:02 AM on 05/24/2011

Thank you Professor... sorry, I didn't catch your name or where you received your PhD in climate science?

[lneunz]

11:59 AM on 05/24/2011

Not that I agree or disagree with bridge to somewhere, but you don't need a PhD in climate science to research and learn. All you need are to read studies from legitimate sources.

[nherent]

09:08 AM on 05/24/2011

The flatland is not the place for me.

[KC-CAJUN]

08:52 AM on 05/24/2011

Just me, but it I get sick to my stomach when I listen to these storm chasers cheer like they captured Big Foot on video, even knowing that there may be people and pets dying at that very moment. I can also imagine what's really on their minds....how quick they can get to a computer to upload it on YouTube.

[ikswoliw]

11:03 AM on 05/24/2011

Storm chasers call authorities to report their sightings, thus providing warnings that save lives

[dimplasm]

03:06 PM on 05/24/2011

They do. They also provide a lot of scientific data on storms.

[boyoboy]

03:30 PM on 05/24/2011

I don't know much about storm chasers, but I would assume they are able to provide valuable footage and testimony, also.

[Michaela Collins]

11:04 AM on 05/24/2011

These people aren't doing it to get their jollys (tho I am sure there are some people out there who would). Many of these storm chasers do it as a way to study the patterns and the way in which these storms occur, and with that information they are able to develop new ways of tracking tornadoes before they hit so that people can be warned in advance.

[Widespread Panic]

07:38 AM on 05/24/2011

Very frightening. Every time I see this video it gives me the chills.

[Bianca Patzelt]

07:25 AM on 05/24/2011

I love how they enter town to film instead of getting out to help people. Gotta give it to those tonado hunter types, they know their priorities.

[theshortladders]

09:43 AM on 05/24/2011

You'd trust fat pastey film editors to be first responders to anything? Let them keep filming, they'd do more harm than good.

[ikswoliw]

11:05 AM on 05/24/2011

So we don't need people to document these events? Do you watch their videos?

[unclecrackre]

02:06 AM on 05/24/2011

I've seen tornadoes do some pretty incredible stuff. One hit a chicken farm outside of Oolagah, Ok. about 15 yrs. ago, it killed many chicken, but some it simply plucked clean of feathers, while others were untouched. They can drive 2x4s through brick and concrete and twist steel ibar, like the kind they use to make highway advertising signs, like a pretzel. They have been known to pick up fish from passing over lakes and ponds, and deposit them miles away, on dry land. I've seen it literally rain fish.

[unclecrackre]

02:02 AM on 05/24/2011

It seems these storms are getting worse every year. I come from the middle of tornado alley (Oklahoma) and saw many tornadoes while I lived there. Most people in Ok. had storm shelters in their back yards. They are pre-made and buried in the ground. We called them "fraidy holes". Since it seems this weather trend will only get worse as time passes, perhaps people should think of investing is such shelters. We always had ours stocked with the essentials, in case of a prolonged stay. Water, food, flashlights, Coleman lantern, and blankets.

[boyoboy]

03:32 PM on 05/24/2011

Several years ago, you had a nasty tornado.  My MIL's friend's son-in-law was killed in it -- and his wife (my MIL's friend's daughter) was pregnant.  So sad.

[Natalie Ehperez]

01:58 AM on 05/24/2011

In other cases, such as the Tri-State Tornado, you have newspaper reports and Red Cross records that give a much more accurate death toll http://bit.ly/ltSP4x

[kcwranglrz]

01:35 AM on 05/24/2011

Our thoughts are with all those who suffered loss in this storm. I am shocked many times at how many people never watch the weather. More so those that have warning a day or two ahead of a storm system. That alone could saves lives much like the tornado that hit Moore Okla years ago. Oklahoma does have very good weather coverage and we are alerted well in advanced. I just everyone that watches this will be more sensitive to the weather and pay closer attention when watches and warnings are posted.