Photos: Joplin Tornado death toll increases to 125 [PHOTOS]
May 25, 2011 10:56 PM EDT
The death toll from the F5 tornado that tore through Joplin on Sunday has increased to 125, with at least 900 hurt.
It was the highest possible strength on the Enhanced Fujita scale of tornado strength and intensity, with winds of at least 200 miles per hour (320 kph).
This year there are an extraordinary high number of tornadoes, with 1,168 as of May 22, compared to an average of about 671 by this time, according to Joshua Wurman, president of the Center for Severe Weather Research in Boulder, Colorado.
No new survivors were discovered in the third day of search and rescue work.
An estimated 8,000 buildings, including commercial, residential and recreational sites, were destroyed by the tornado in the southwestern region of Missouri, according to city officials.
It's the deadliest tornado season since 1953, when 519 people died.
Residents recover possessions from a destroyed apartment building in Joplin, Missouri May 25, 2011.
Source: Reuters / Eric Thayer
An overturned car is seen near St. John's hospital after a devastating tornado hit Joplin, Missouri, May 23, 2011. A monster tornado killed at least 116 people in Joplin when it tore through the heart of the small Midwestern city, ripping the roof off a hospital and destroying thousands of homes and businesses.
Source: REUTERS
Members of the St. Louis Metro Urban Search & Rescue Strike Team 3 conduct a secondary search for victims of a tornado after it struck Joplin, Missouri, May 24, 2011. Search teams accompanied by cadaver dogs on Tuesday picked their way through the rubble of thousands of homes and businesses laid to waste by the massive tornado that killed at least 116 people in Joplin, Missouri.
Source: REUTERS
An entire neighborhood lay in ruin after a devastating tornado hit Joplin, Missouri
Source: Reuters
A couple walk near a building destroyed by a tornado that hit Joplin, Missouri, May 23, 2011. A monster tornado killed at least 116 people in Joplin when it tore through the heart of the small Midwestern city, ripping the roof off a hospital and destroying thousands of homes and businesses.
Source: REUTERS
Cheryl Parker looks out from her destroyed home to her leveled neighborhood after a devastating tornado hit Joplin, Missouri May 24, 2011.
Source: Reuters
Scattered debris surrounds a damaged home in a neighborhood hard hit by a devastating tornado in Joplin, Missouri May 23, 2011.
Source: REUTERS
