Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Video: The Missouri National Guard Assists Rescue Efforts in Joplin after the Tornado

Missouri News Horizon produced the video above: Missouri National Guard responds to Joplin tornado 2011.

JOPLIN, Mo. — PoliticMo wanted to take readers on the ground in Joplin to observe the horrific damage and reaction to an F4 tornado that killed more than 100 and destroyed 2,000 buildings.  The photos below were taken Monday, May 23.

To register for help, survirors can call 800-621-3362, and apply for relief at www.disasterassistance.gov. AT&T is working to place temporary cellular towers in the area, and insurance companies have set up claims sites.


Rescue crews dug through piles of splintered houses in a search for victims of a huge tornado that killed at least 116 people in Joplin, Missouri.

The Joplin Globe: From graduation to terror:

But just minutes after the 455 newly minted graduates of Joplin High walked across the stage Sunday afternoon at the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center on the Missouri Southern State University campus, the tornado sirens began to scream. The destruction that followed would leave the graduates and their families shaken, if not worse, and may come to define the passage of this class to adulthood.

JOPLIN, Mo. — The death toll from Sunday’s tornado climbed to 116 on Monday as first responders continued to pull bodies from a debris field that was three-quarters of a mile wide and six miles long.

Seventeen individuals found buried alive in the debris were rescued, including one at Home Depot, where several bodies have been recovered. The other survivors were found in the debris of residences and other commercial structures that were destroyed.

Seven of the rescued were found before 3 p.m. Monday. The others were found later Monday night as weary first responders pressed on in the dark, struggling against heavy rains and intense lightning.

Authorities said two emergency workers were struck by lightning while trying to assist in the effort on Monday. Details about their injuries were not available Monday night.

In addition to finding survivors, authorities said, it is likely that more bodies will be found and that the death toll will climb higher.

More than 1,150 people with injuries or medical conditions connected to the tornado were treated at hospitals in Joplin and across the Four-State Area.

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