Joplin City Manager Mark Rohr announced Tuesday evening the death toll from Sunday’s tornado has increased to 124, making it the deadliest single twister in nearly six decades. Rohr says 750 people were injured Sunday. Nine more people have been recovered from the debris and an intensive search and rescue effort was expected to continue into the night. More than 1,500 people are still missing.
Severe weather bore down on Joplin again Tuesday evening, including a tornado warning for northern Joplin, after a storm system produced at least a dozen tornadoes in Oklahoma, Kansas and Arkansas, killing at least nine people. We have no new damage reports from Joplin, but will post them as they’re released.
At least two people were killed in Arkansas early Wednesday when a tornado estimated to be up to a mile wide touched down just after midnight local time in Franklin County. On Tuesday, tornadoes killed at least five people near Oklahoma City and at least two people near St. John, Kansas. Dozens of suspected twisters left dozens of injuries in their wake in Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas and Texas.
In Kansas. A tree, propelled by high winds, tore through their van on US-281 highway near St John in Stafford County.
Widespread damage is reported across Kansas, including downed trees and power lines. An apartment complex near Great Bend burst into flames after being hit by lightning.
Tornadoes caused extensive damage and deaths in separate incidents north and southwest of Oklahoma City. Two people were killed near El Reno, Oklahoma. The state’s Medical Examiner’s Officer reports two more fatalities in the OKC suburbs.
The Weather Channel reported the presence on radar of “debris balls,” masses of debris large enough to be seen via radar. Witnesses reported shingles and tree leaves falling from the sky in Stillwater, Oklahoma, detritus from earlier storms from the southwest.
Personnel at the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma evacuated when Norman came under a tornado warning.
Aerial views in Oklahoma show a sea of property damage and vehicles strewn all over the place, having been blown off highways or ripped from their parking spots. The tornadoes have also taken down power lines. A number of other people are reported injured from the storm systems.