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23 May 2011 09:59

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U.S.: By the numbers: The Joplin, Missouri tornado’s trail of destruction

  • 89+ people have been killed by the tornado that hit Joplin on Sunday
  • 200 the reported speed of the tornado, in miles per hour; it was a mile wide
  • 25%+ of the town of Joplin has been destroyed, authorities say source
  • » President Obama, reporting from Ireland: After the massive storm ravaged the Missouri town, the president, heading to Ireland to play diplomat, called Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon and coordinated the FEMA response from Air Force One. Nixon declared a state of emergency and activated the Missouri National Guard in response the the storm, which devastated a town of 49,000.

23 May 2011 00:33

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U.S.: Joplin, Missouri slammed by massive, devastating tornado

  • “I would say 75% of the town is virtually gone.” Those are the words of Kathy Dennis of the American Red Cross worker currently in Joplin, Missouri, a town slammed by a tornado this evening. Throughout the Midwest this evening, a number of large storms have left a huge trail of destruction, flattening buildings and leaving Twitter loaded with many scary scenes like the one above taken by Twitter user @CarmenSeda (thanks to @ProducerMatthew for that). Greatly-damaged buildings (including crushed Wal-Marts) are all around the area, and the death toll is reportedly high, but CNN won’t even list an actual number. Scary. We’re going to give you guys a few more updates as the night goes on. source