{"id":432108,"date":"2011-05-29T19:31:27","date_gmt":"2011-05-29T19:31:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/05\/29\/us-tornado-a-national-tragedy\/"},"modified":"2011-05-29T19:31:27","modified_gmt":"2011-05-29T19:31:27","slug":"us-tornado-a-national-tragedy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/29\/us-tornado-a-national-tragedy\/","title":{"rendered":"US tornado ‘a national tragedy’"},"content":{"rendered":"

29 May 2011<\/span> Last updated at<\/span> 15:31 ET<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

US President Barack Obama has described last week’s devastating tornado in the city of Joplin, Missouri, where 142 people are now known to have died, as a “national tragedy”.<\/p>\n

Visiting the city, Mr Obama said the disaster required a national response.<\/p>\n

He is taking part in a memorial service and will observe a minute of silence at 1741 local time (2141 GMT) – exactly a week after the tornado struck.<\/p>\n

The tornado was one of the most destructive in US history.<\/p>\n

With winds of 200mph (322km\/h), it carved a swathe of destruction through the city, injuring more than 900 people.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, a list of 156 missing fell to 105 after more were accounted for.<\/p>\n

Honouring victims<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr Obama has been driving through the hardest-hit areas with Missouri Governor Jay Nixon, stopping to talk to residents.<\/p>\n

He asked Americans to give money to the Red Cross or other organisations to help the relief effort. He also had a message for the city’s inhabitants.<\/p>\n

“This is not just your tragedy, it is a national tragedy and there will be a national response,” he said.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"Wreckage<\/p>\n

Please turn on JavaScript.<\/strong> Media requires JavaScript to play.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n

Emergency services and volunteers are still searching for survivors<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

“We’re going to be here long after the cameras are gone. We’re not going to stop until Joplin jumps back on its feet.”<\/p>\n

The BBC’s Paul Adams in Washington says this is the third time this year – after the Tuscaloosa tornadoes and Mississippi floods – that Mr Obama has felt the need to be at the scene of natural disasters to reassure the population they will not have to fend for themselves.<\/p>\n

Governor Nixon has declared Sunday an official State Day of Prayer and Remembrance.<\/p>\n

“I invite all Missourians to pause and remember their neighbours and draw upon the resources of their faith in support of their fellow Missourians,” the governor said in a statement.<\/p>\n

US and Missouri flags will fly at half-mast over all government buildings in the state throughout the day.<\/p>\n

President Obama is attending a community memorial service at the Taylor Performing Arts Center on the campus of Missouri Southern State University.<\/p>\n

The whole city is expected to fall silent for a minute to honour the victims of the single tornado that devastated Joplin.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, city manager Mark Rohr said Mr Obama’s visit would be an opportunity to convey the scope of the damage to the federal government.<\/p>\n

Mr Rohr also said the death toll now stood at 142 – an increase of three from the previous total.<\/p>\n

Among the newly confirmed victims was teenager Will Norton, who was sucked from his father’s car as they drove home from his high school graduation.<\/p>\n

More than 600 volunteers and 50 dog teams are still scouring the shattered remains of homes and offices for survivors or victims.<\/p>\n

“We’re going to be in a search and rescue mode until we remove the last piece of debris,” Mr Rohr said.<\/p>\n

Joplin police say they have made 17 arrests for looting.<\/p>\n

Funerals<\/span><\/p>\n

The US National Weather Service says that 2011 is already the deadliest year for tornadoes since 1950, when precise figures were first kept.<\/p>\n

The death toll so far this year stands at 520. The previous highest recorded death toll in a single year was 519 in 1953.<\/p>\n

The first funeral of a confirmed victim from the Joplin tornado was held on Friday.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of mourners gathered at a church in Galena, just over the Kansas border, for the funeral of Adam Dewayne Darnaby, 27.<\/p>\n

So far at least 19 bodies have been released to families, but many are yet to be formally identified.<\/p>\n

Officials say that, wherever possible, they prefer to base identifications on DNA, medical records and also distinguishing features such as tattoos and piercings.<\/p>\n

However, some families of victims say the delays are adding to their distress.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read more:
\nUS tornado ‘a national tragedy’<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

29 May 2011 Last updated at 15:31 ET US President Barack Obama has described last week’s devastating tornado in the city of Joplin, Missouri, where 142 people are now known to have died, as a “national tragedy”. Visiting the city, Mr Obama said the disaster required a national response<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-432108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nUS tornado 'a national tragedy' - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/29\/us-tornado-a-national-tragedy\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"US tornado 'a national tragedy' - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"29 May 2011 Last updated at 15:31 ET US President Barack Obama has described last week's devastating tornado in the city of Joplin, Missouri, where 142 people are now known to have died, as a "national tragedy". Visiting the city, Mr Obama said the disaster required a national response\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"http:\/\/news.bbcimg.co.uk\/media\/images\/53051000\/jpg\/_53051309_53051308.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/29\/us-tornado-a-national-tragedy\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/29\/us-tornado-a-national-tragedy\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"US tornado ‘a national tragedy’\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-05-29T19:31:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/29\/us-tornado-a-national-tragedy\/\"},\"wordCount\":651,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/29\/us-tornado-a-national-tragedy\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/news.bbcimg.co.uk\/media\/images\/53051000\/jpg\/_53051309_53051308.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/29\/us-tornado-a-national-tragedy\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/29\/us-tornado-a-national-tragedy\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/29\/us-tornado-a-national-tragedy\/\",\"name\":\"US tornado 'a national tragedy' - Ghanamma.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/29\/us-tornado-a-national-tragedy\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/29\/us-tornado-a-national-tragedy\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/news.bbcimg.co.uk\/media\/images\/53051000\/jpg\/_53051309_53051308.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-05-29T19:31:27+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/29\/us-tornado-a-national-tragedy\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/29\/us-tornado-a-national-tragedy\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/news.bbcimg.co.uk\/media\/images\/53051000\/jpg\/_53051309_53051308.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/news.bbcimg.co.uk\/media\/images\/53051000\/jpg\/_53051309_53051308.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/\",\"name\":\"Ghanamma.com\",\"description\":\"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"US tornado 'a national tragedy' - Ghanamma.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/29\/us-tornado-a-national-tragedy\/","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"US tornado 'a national tragedy' - Ghanamma.com","twitter_description":"29 May 2011 Last updated at 15:31 ET US President Barack Obama has described last week's devastating tornado in the city of Joplin, Missouri, where 142 people are now known to have died, as a \"national tragedy\". Visiting the city, Mr Obama said the disaster required a national response","twitter_image":"http:\/\/news.bbcimg.co.uk\/media\/images\/53051000\/jpg\/_53051309_53051308.jpg","twitter_creator":"@ghanamma","twitter_site":"@ghanamma","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/29\/us-tornado-a-national-tragedy\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/29\/us-tornado-a-national-tragedy\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"US tornado ‘a national tragedy’","datePublished":"2011-05-29T19:31:27+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/29\/us-tornado-a-national-tragedy\/"},"wordCount":651,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/29\/us-tornado-a-national-tragedy\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/news.bbcimg.co.uk\/media\/images\/53051000\/jpg\/_53051309_53051308.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/29\/us-tornado-a-national-tragedy\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/29\/us-tornado-a-national-tragedy\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/29\/us-tornado-a-national-tragedy\/","name":"US tornado 'a national tragedy' - Ghanamma.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/29\/us-tornado-a-national-tragedy\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/29\/us-tornado-a-national-tragedy\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/news.bbcimg.co.uk\/media\/images\/53051000\/jpg\/_53051309_53051308.jpg","datePublished":"2011-05-29T19:31:27+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/29\/us-tornado-a-national-tragedy\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/29\/us-tornado-a-national-tragedy\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/news.bbcimg.co.uk\/media\/images\/53051000\/jpg\/_53051309_53051308.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/news.bbcimg.co.uk\/media\/images\/53051000\/jpg\/_53051309_53051308.jpg"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/","name":"Ghanamma.com","description":"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=432108"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432108\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=432108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=432108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=432108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}