Tornado death toll now 117
Source: Agencies |
May 25, 2011, Wednesday
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SEARCH teams accompanied by dogs trained to find bodies yesterday picked their way through the rubble of thousands of homes and businesses laid to waste by a tornado that killed at least 117 people in Joplin, Missouri.
Authorities stepped up search efforts, racing against forecasts of more bad weather in the hope of finding survivors even as they brace for more death. Rescue efforts were hampered by heavy rains that followed Sunday's twister.
Some 1,500 people have been reported missing, and hat tally could include many who simply have not yet been able to let relatives know they are fine, authorities said.
Among those missing was an 18-month-old boy who was separated from his parents when the twister hit. Hope was fading as the hours passed, said Chris Moreno, who was overseeing triage efforts outside St John's Hospital, which was evacuated after suffering significant damage. The boy was in a nearby home and Moreno said searchers feared his body was buried in the debris.
"We don't want a bulldozer to find the boy four months from now," Moreno said.
US President Barack Obama said he would visit Joplin insouthwestern Missouri on Sunday, the day after he returns from a weeklong, four-nation tour in Europe.
"All we can do is let them know that all of America cares deeply about them and that we are going to do absolutely everything we can to make sure that they recover," Obama said yesterday.
"Like all Americans, we have been monitoring what's been taking place very closely and have been heartbroken by the images we've seen," Obama told reporters in London.
Roaring along a path nearly 9.5 kilometers long and up to a kilometer wide, the tornado flattened whole neighborhoods, splintered trees and flipped over cars and trucks. Some 2,000 homes and many other businesses, schools and other buildings were destroyed.
"Pretty much everybody in town knows somebody they've lost," Missouri Governor Jay Nixon said. He said two law enforcement officials were struck by lightning, one hurt very seriously, during violent thunderstorms on Monday.
Nixon said 17 people were found alive on Monday, although officials confirmed only seven.
The Joplin tornado was the latest in a string of powerful twisters and storms this spring that have killed more than 300 people and caused more than US$2 billion in property damage across Southern US states.
Survivors in Joplin told harrowing stories of seeking shelter from winds of nearly 322kph in walk-in coolers in restaurants and convenience stores, hiding in bathtubs and closets, and of running for their lives as the tornado neared.
"We were getting hit by rocks, and I don't even know what hit me," said Leslie Swatosh, 22, who huddled on the floor of a liquor store with several others clutching one another as they prayed. When the tornado passed, the store was destroyed but those inside were all alive.
"Everyone in that store was blessed. There was nothing of that store left," she said.
At St John's Hospital, 180 patients cowered as fierce winds pulled off the roof.
Authorities stepped up search efforts, racing against forecasts of more bad weather in the hope of finding survivors even as they brace for more death. Rescue efforts were hampered by heavy rains that followed Sunday's twister.
Some 1,500 people have been reported missing, and hat tally could include many who simply have not yet been able to let relatives know they are fine, authorities said.
Among those missing was an 18-month-old boy who was separated from his parents when the twister hit. Hope was fading as the hours passed, said Chris Moreno, who was overseeing triage efforts outside St John's Hospital, which was evacuated after suffering significant damage. The boy was in a nearby home and Moreno said searchers feared his body was buried in the debris.
"We don't want a bulldozer to find the boy four months from now," Moreno said.
US President Barack Obama said he would visit Joplin insouthwestern Missouri on Sunday, the day after he returns from a weeklong, four-nation tour in Europe.
"All we can do is let them know that all of America cares deeply about them and that we are going to do absolutely everything we can to make sure that they recover," Obama said yesterday.
"Like all Americans, we have been monitoring what's been taking place very closely and have been heartbroken by the images we've seen," Obama told reporters in London.
Roaring along a path nearly 9.5 kilometers long and up to a kilometer wide, the tornado flattened whole neighborhoods, splintered trees and flipped over cars and trucks. Some 2,000 homes and many other businesses, schools and other buildings were destroyed.
"Pretty much everybody in town knows somebody they've lost," Missouri Governor Jay Nixon said. He said two law enforcement officials were struck by lightning, one hurt very seriously, during violent thunderstorms on Monday.
Nixon said 17 people were found alive on Monday, although officials confirmed only seven.
The Joplin tornado was the latest in a string of powerful twisters and storms this spring that have killed more than 300 people and caused more than US$2 billion in property damage across Southern US states.
Survivors in Joplin told harrowing stories of seeking shelter from winds of nearly 322kph in walk-in coolers in restaurants and convenience stores, hiding in bathtubs and closets, and of running for their lives as the tornado neared.
"We were getting hit by rocks, and I don't even know what hit me," said Leslie Swatosh, 22, who huddled on the floor of a liquor store with several others clutching one another as they prayed. When the tornado passed, the store was destroyed but those inside were all alive.
"Everyone in that store was blessed. There was nothing of that store left," she said.
At St John's Hospital, 180 patients cowered as fierce winds pulled off the roof.
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