Possible 'Tornado Outbreak' in Missouri Today
The confirmed death toll from Sunday's devastating tornado in Joplin, Missouri, stands at 116 as of early Tuesday. The storm at times had winds of 190 to 198 miles per hour, officials told the AP, and was three-quaretrs of a mile wide. And, the same area of Missouri could get hit again later today:
In Joplin, much of the town's landscape was changed beyond recognition. House after house was reduced to slabs, cars were crushed like soda cans and shaken residents roamed streets in search of missing family members.
The danger was by no means over. Fires from gas leaks burned across town. The smell of ammonia and propane filled the air in some damaged areas. And the forecast looked grim.
The April tornadoes that devastated the South unspooled over a three-day period starting in the Plains. The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., said a repeat could be setting up, with a possible large tornado outbreak in the Midwest on Tuesday and bad weather potentially reaching the East Coast by Friday.