The updated number of Joplin, Missouri, residents killed by last Sunday’s massive tornado is 132; 156 people are still unaccounted for. Joplin authorities say the bulldozers will not come out until every missing person is found.
Irish Weather Online has satellite footage showing the moment when the tornado hit Joplin.
The ASPCA is helping to rescue — and asking for help to rescue — family pets trapped in the rubble of houses.
Seventy dogs and cats (as of today) who lost their human families are available for adoption at the Humane Society of Southwest Missouri. The Humane Society shelter also is holding hundreds of animals whose families are still missing, and/or who are injured to varying degrees. As always when these natural disasters occur, poignant stories of animal and owner reunions abound.
A ferret is rescued by a woman helping a friend to find belongings in the remains of her home.
The worst brings out the best.
The death and destruction wreaked by the Joplin tornado are tragic. But this is truly sad. I use the word “sad” with intention, because sometimes understatement does more to convey the truest meaning than more obvious words like, oh, say, “depravity.”
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