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Joplin, Missouri (CNN) -- At least 89 people died from a tornado that tore through Joplin, Missouri, City Manager Mark Rohr told reporters Monday morning. Residents in the southwest Missouri city braced for news of fatalities after the vicious tornado flattened buildings, tossed cars and hurled debris up to 70 miles away.

"I would say 75% of the town is virtually gone," Kathy Dennis of the American Red Cross said Sunday night. But Joplin Emergency Management Director Keith Stammer put the estimate at 10% to 20%.

"The particular area that the tornado went through is just like the central portion of the city, and it's very dense in terms of population," Stammer said on CNN's American Morning on Monday.

He said officials have a list of places where people are believed to be trapped.
We have been working all night long, and we will continue to do so until we get to everybody," he said. Stammer said more than 40 agencies from Kansas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri have responded.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon activated the Missouri National Guard and stressed urgency in rescuing survivors after the Sunday evening twister.
"It's total devastation, with a hospital down, the high school down, other areas," he said. "We just want to make sure that as the night goes on, we're saving lives between now and dawn."

Joplin city spokeswoman Lynn Ostot said about 1/2 to one mile of the city was affected, including residential and commercial districts.The city is home to about 50,000 people, according to the U.S. Census. Aerial footage from CNN affiliate KOTV showed houses reduced to lumber and smashed cars sitting atop heaps of wood. Some structures were engulfed in flames.



Amber Gonzales was driving through southwest Missouri when she heard tornado warnings on the radio. She took refuge at a gas station before getting back on the road and seeing the aftermath of what she narrowly missed.

"There were about 10 semis turned over on their sides on the highway," Gonzales told CNN. "I had to go around semis on the road."

She then stopped at a Joplin shopping center to find cars flipped over in the parking lot and rescuers extracting people from the debris.

"Bodies were being pulled from buildings," said Gonzales, who said she did not know the conditions of those yanked from the rubble. "People were pulled out of cars. People were marking cars that had been checked."

Some good Samaritans didn't wait for emergency vehicles to reach the injured.
"I saw an older woman taken on the back of a truck bed, speeding down the road," Gonzales said. "I can't get the lady out of my mind ... I don't know if she made it."

Other witnesses also reported seeing some of the wounded ferried to hospitals in the backs of pickup trucks as first responders struggled to handle the overwhelming destruction. St. John's Regional Medical Center in Joplin was hit directly by the tornado and suffered significant structural damage, city officials said. CNN affiliate KSHB said there were reports of fires throughout the hospital.

One facade of the building made of glass was completely blown out, and authorities evacuated the medical center, said Ray Foreman, a meteorologist with CNN affiliate KODE in Joplin. Makeshift triage centers were set up in tents outside, witness Bethany Scutti said.

Residents 70 miles away from Joplin in Dade County, Missouri, found X-rays from St. John's in their driveways, said Foreman, indicating the size and power of the twister.

The tornado, which touched down just before 7 p.m. ET, cut a path of destruction through the heart of the city, hitting heavily populated areas, Foreman said.
"We've had numerous vehicles picked up and thrown into houses," he said.
Parts of the city were unrecognizable, according to Steve Polley, a storm chaser from Kansas City, Missouri, who described the damage as "complete devastation."

At least seven overturned tractor-trailers were seen on one stretch of Interstate 44 west of the city, said Michael Ratliff, who has been chasing storms for eight years. Ratliff said the tornado was "rain wrapped," making it impossible to see.
Maj. Tammy Spicer of the Missouri National Guard said at least 100 troops reported for duty to help in the search-and-rescue mission.

"It's beyond belief," Spicer said of the situation in Joplin.
Mike O'Connell, spokesman for the Missouri Department of Public Safety, said Sunday night that authorities were trying to get additional search-and-rescue teams to the area.

"The priority is to get every available resource there ... as quickly as possible."
The Red Cross has established a shelter at Missouri Southern State University in Joplin and was offering shuttle service to bring people there, Ostot said.

The twister was part of a line of severe weather that swept across the Midwest on Sunday, prompting tornado watches and warnings that stretched from Wisconsin to Texas. High winds and possible tornadoes struck Minneapolis and other parts of Minnesota, leaving at least one person dead and injuring nearly two dozen others, police said.

Elsewhere, reports of tornadoes came in from Forest Lake, north of the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, and near Harmony, more than 120 miles to the south. In Minneapolis, witnesses reported numerous downed trees and neighborhoods without power.

Minneapolis police spokeswoman Sara Dietrich said the storm left one fatality, with 22 people reported hurt. LeDale Davis, who lives on the north side of Minneapolis, told CNN, "This is the first time we can remember a tornado touched down in this area. They aren't usually in the heart of the city."

Forecasters said the system that struck Minnesota was separate from another storm that struck eastern Kansas on Saturday, killing one person and damaging or destroying hundreds of homes there.

President Barack Obama issued a statement Sunday night expressing his "deepest condolences to the families of all those who lost their lives in the tornadoes and severe weather that struck Joplin, Missouri as well as communities across the Midwest today.

"We commend the heroic efforts by those who have responded and who are working to help their friends and neighbors at this very difficult time," Obama said. He said the Federal Emergency Management Agency is working with state and local officials to aid in response and recovery efforts. Meanwhile, survivors in Joplin counted their blessings.

Pastor Jim Marcum of Citywide Christian Fellowship church said he was delivering a sermon to about 100 people when a man jumped in and said, "It's coming this way."
"I didn't know which was louder, us praying or the wind outside," Marcum said late Sunday night. He said those inside the church could feel the pressure of the wind.
"We were praying to be spared. I just thank God," Marcum said.After the storm left, church members went out to help.

"Every time people would leave and go out to help as part of a search and rescue, people would return and they would be emotional," Marcum said. "We have one couple still at the church late into the night because their home was completely destroyed. They don't have a home to go to."

CNN's Greg Morrison, Holly Yan, Rick Martin, Sarah Aarthun, Ross Levitt, Stephanie Gallman, Jessica Jordan, Don Lemon, Sean Morris, Anna Gonzalez, Divina Mims and Steve Brusk contributed to this report.

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Video thanks to ABC News & Sky News