| Submit your comments on this article |
| -Signs, Portents, and the Weather- |
| 117 Dead, 500 Injured, 1500 Missing, Joplin, Missouri |
| 2011-05-24 |
| About 1,500 people are unaccounted for in this battered city, a Fire Department official said Tuesday, as rescue workers took advantage of a few hours of sunny weather to continue searching for survivors in buildings leveled by the country’s deadliest tornado in more than 60 years. At least 117 people have died. Join the Conversation Post a Comment Your Questions, Answered: Taking readers' tornado questions (The Lede) Answer a Question: What would you take with you in a disaster? (Bucks).Multimedia Photographs Tornado Leaves Death and Destruction. Slide Show Tornado Leaves Death and Destruction. Map Tornado's Toll. Interactive Map The Deadliest Years. Interactive Feature Map of the Tornadoes Across the South, Day by Day.Social Media Resources Facebook Updates From the City of Joplin, Mo. Related A Rush to Protect Patients, Then Bloody Chaos (May 24, 2011) In TV Crew’s Hunt for Twisters, More Than They Bargained For (May 24, 2011) Enlarge This Image Joe Raedle/Getty Images Lacy Tasker salvaged what she could from her mother's house on Tuesday after it was destroyed by the tornado that struck Joplin, Mo. More Photos » Enlarge This Image Eric Thayer/Reuters A volunteer paused while looking for survivors in Joplin, Mo., late Monday. More Photos » Readers' Comments Share your thoughts. Post a Comment » Read All Comments (33) » While the number of those unaccounted for is alarmingly high in a city with only 49,000 people — and raises the specter of a far higher death count — it may merely be a reflection of the widespread breakdown of communication systems here in the wake of Sunday’s vicious storm. Many residents who fled ahead of the tornado or survived it may be unable to notify the authorities or family members who have reported them missing. Capt. Robert Daus of the Maryland Heights Fire District, who is helping to lead a team of about 100 St. Louis-area firefighters in search and rescue operations in Joplin, said that in addition to the 1,500 people who remain unaccounted for, an additional 500 had been injured by the tornado, which cut a three-quarter-mile-wide path through this southwestern Missouri city and damaged as many as 30 percent of its buildings. |
| Posted by:Cleamp Slailet2141 |