Joplin, MO Tornado Deadliest in 60 years -Death Toll at 160

[MuffyBee]

http://abcnews.go.com/US/joplin-tornado-death-toll-116-makes-deadliest-single/story?id=13662193
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Joplin Death Toll at 116 Making It Deadliest Tornado in Nearly 60 Years
May 23, 2011

The death toll from the monster tornado that ripped through Joplin, Mo., has soared to 116, making it the deadliest single tornado in nearly 60 years, according to federal records.

The lethal Joplin twister has also made 2011 the deadliest year for tornadoes since 1953, with 454 deaths in 1,000 tornadoes so far, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
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The Joplin tornado was rated as an EF-4, the second-strongest classification with winds ranging between 166 and 200 mph. The nearly mile-wide funnel touched down at 5:41 p.m. CT Sunday and blasted a six mile wide path through the city and left trapped survivors crying out for help this morning.

Rescuers shifted through rubble today looking for survivors as high winds and hail continues to plague the area.
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List of how to help in article.
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Edit to change death toll in subject line.  MB

[MuffyBee]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/05/23/eveningnews/main20065479.shtml
Joplin hospital treads on through destruction
May 23, 2011

(CBS News)

JOPLIN, Mo. - Even in the midst of miles of rubble, St. John Regional Medical Center stands out -- and not just because it's still standing. With virtually every window shattered, the top two floors taken out -- it looks like a bomb went off inside, reports CBS News correspondent Cynthia Bowers.
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Looking at this storm, it's amazing -- 180 patients made it out alive. In the panicked moments after the twister, the most critical patients were rushed to a nearby hospital in ambulances, pickups, and even carried on makeshift stretchers. Others went to triage tents set up close by.

St. Johns officials were forced to turn an auditorium into a makeshift hospital, a battlefield hospital, for all intents and purposes it is St. John's now, and will be for a while.

"We were totally deaf dumb and blind, we couldn't reach police, we couldn't reach EMS," said St. Johns ER doctor, Jim Briscoe.


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[MuffyBee]

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/US/05/23/joplin.how.to.help/
How to help Joplin, tornado victims
May 23, 2011

[MuffyBee]

http://www.kjrh.com/dpp/news/local_news/tulsa-veterinary-hospital-collecting-donations-for-joplin-humane-society
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Tulsa veterinary hospital collecting donations for Joplin Humane Society
May 23, 2011

TULSA - A local veterinary hospital is reaching out to the community to help four-legged victims of the Joplin, Mo. tornado that destroyed much of the city
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The first round of donations are being collected through Friday and sent to the Joplin Humane Society.

For those interested in making a monetary donation, visit
 http://www.joplinhumanesociety.org./

[MuffyBee]

http://www.newsok.com/joplin-tornado-miami-ok-hospital-flooded-with-tornado-patients-from-joplin-mo./article/3570581?custom_click=headlines_widget
Miami, OK, hospital flooded with tornado patients from Joplin, Mo.
May 24, 2011

Victims from the Sunday tornado in Joplin, Mo., are being treated by Oklahoma health care workers at hospitals in Miami and Grove. The Red Cross has sent professional staff to Joplin to help but is keeping volunteers in state in case severe weather breaks out in Oklahoma.
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[MuffyBee]

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110523-712933.html
Wal-Mart: Some Injuries, Fatalities At Store Damaged By Tornado
May 23, 2011

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) said it was able to account for all associates working at the company's Range Line Road store in Joplin, Mo., after a massive tornado damaged roughly a third of the city, although some fatalities were reported at the building.
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Wal-Mart also disclosed a pledge of $1 million to help with relief efforts in Joplin.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/official-fatalities-reported-as-tornado-hits-southwest-missouri/2011/05/22/AFXAiP9G_story.html
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Rescuers race to find survivors of Mo. tornado that killed at least 116; more storms possible
May 23, 2011

Photo Gallery at above link

[MuffyBee]

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/24/us-usa-weather-tornadoes-hospital-idUSTRE74N7FB20110524
Five patients who died in Joplin hospital suffocated
May 24, 2011

(Reuters) - Workers at a hospital hit by a tornado in Joplin, Missouri on Sunday describe a storm so terrible that every window blew out and the building lost power, causing the deaths of five patients on ventilators.
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The storm sucked a power generator out of the hospital, leaving the building without power and without oxygen for patients, said registered nurse Sandy Woods. A back-up generator did not work, Woods said.
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[MuffyBee]

http://abcnews.go.com/US/tornadoes-headed-joplin-missouri-tonight/story?id=13672034
1,500 Unaccounted for as More Tornadoes Head for Joplin, Missouri Tonight
May 24, 2011

As many as 1,500 people are still unaccounted for in the tornado ravaged city of Joplin, Mo., and the search for survivors gained new urgency with the forecast of another storm bearing down on the city with the threat of more tornadoes.

The city is still staggering from the EF-4 tornado that tore through the city on Sunday, killing 117 people, the worst death toll on record for a single tornado.
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[MuffyBee]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/24/us-usa-weather-tornadoes-idUSTRE74M08L20110524
Video
Joplin tornado deaths up to 122, eighth deadliest on record
May 24, 2011

Reuters) - A monster tornado that ripped through the small southwest Missouri city of Joplin on Sunday killed at least 122 people and injured around 750. authorities said on Tuesday

The revised death toll was up from 118 fatalities given earlier on Tuesday, and makes the giant twister the eighth deadliest in U.S. history, according to officials speaking at a news conference.

Authorities also said the Joplin tornado was upgraded to an EF-5, or the highest rating possible on the Enhanced Fujita scale of tornado power and intensity. The Joplin tornado had previously been rated as an EF-4.
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[MuffyBee]

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=13693938
Names of 232 Missing After Joplin Tornado Released
May 26, 2011

More than 230 people remain unaccounted for four days after the deadliest single tornado in more than six decades tore through the middle of Joplin, Missouri officials said Thursday.

Officials released a list of names, and Andrea Spillars, deputy director and general counsel for the Missouri Department of Public Safety, urged any survivors on the list to check in.

Officials said previously they believe people who are unaccounted for aren't necessarily dead or trapped in debris. They say many are probably safe and but failed to tell friends and family where they are. Cell phone service in Joplin remains spotty.
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The death toll rose Wednesday to 125 people, not all of them identified, and officials have estimated more than 900 were injured.

Some families have complained about not being allowed into the morgue to try to identify missing relatives. Asked about that Thursday, Don Bloom, the deputy commander for family assistance for the mortuary team, said "the process has to take it's time. We have to be 100 percent accurate."

Search-and-rescue teams have made multiple sweeps through the destruction, using dozens of dogs and listening devices in hopes of picking up the faint sound of anyone still alive beneath the collapsed homes and businesses. No new survivors have been pulled from the rubble since Tuesday.
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[MuffyBee]

http://206.16.224.203/Operating_Status_Schedules/fedhol/2011.asp
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Obama to visit tornado-ravaged Joplin as dozens remain missing
May 29, 2011

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Early Sunday morning, Joplin City Manager Mark Rohr told CNN the death toll was 142. State authorities have released the names of 73 victims. More than 90 people are missing.

The list includes 1-year-old Hayze Howard, the youngest identified victim, and Nancy E. Douthitt, 94, the oldest, according to the Missouri Department of Public Safety.



The list also includes Will Norton, an 18-year-old whose disappearance during the storm attracted national attention. The May 22 twister swept Norton out of the arms of his father as the two drove home from the son's high school graduation.
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At 5:41 p.m. Sunday, exactly one week after the EF-5 tornado touched down in Joplin, the city will observe a moment of silence for the victims, including those who have yet to be identified and others that may yet be found.
"We're still in search-and-rescue mode," Rohr said Saturday, adding that more than 500 search-and-rescue volunteers were in Joplin on Saturday working.
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[KCJackie]

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/gossip/2011/06/brad-pitt-and-angelina-jolie-donate-500000-to-joplin-tornado-victims.html?dlvrit=23648

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie donate $500,000 to Joplin tornado victims
June 11, 2011 |  6:14 pm

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie to the rescue: The generous pair is at it again, this time donating $500,000 to help Joplin tornado victims in Missouri.

The big give makes sense, considering Pitt grew up in nearby Springfield, Mo. In fact he spent much of his childhood in the Joplin area, sharing in a statement, “I know these people to be hardworking, humble and especially resilient.”

The destructive May 22 twister brought 200 mph winds and destroyed more than 8,000 homes and 400 businesses. Adding to the city’s woes, several residents have contracted a rare, yet lethal fungus in the aftermath of the disaster.  The death toll so far has reached 151.

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[KCJackie]

Fungal infection strikes Joplin tornado victims

(AP) JOPLIN, Mo. - An aggressive fungus is striking Joplin tornado victims, contributing to a handful of deaths.


Doctors told the Springfield News-Leader that at least nine survivors may have contracted blood-vessel invading zygomycosis infections.


Overall numbers weren't available. The Springfield-Greene County Health Department declined to release them, citing patient privacy concerns.

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Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/06/10/national/main20070463.shtml#ixzz1P1TpnPhY

[MuffyBee]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/30/us-tornado-deaths-idUSTRE76T1DT20110730
Five deaths from Joplin tornado linked to fungal infection
July 30, 2011

(Reuters) - Injuries sustained from wood splinters or other materials triggered a rare fungal infection that may have contributed to the deaths of five people in the May 22 tornado in Joplin, Mo., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has determined.

In all, 13 people contracted the mucormycetes-born illness, the CDC said in a report released Friday. The CDC said it has seen multiple fungal infections of that type after other natural disasters such as hurricanes but never after a tornado.
The May 22 twister killed 160 people in Joplin and destroyed about 30 percent of the city. Jasper County Coroner Rob Chappel and physicians had reported the fungal infections, but the CDC is the first official confirmation of the numbers of victims.

"It's about what we expected," Chappel said Saturday. He said he was glad to learn from the report that none of the fungal infection victims sustained their injuries while cleaning up debris.
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