Massive devastation and more than 90 dead in MO tornado

JOPLIN, Mo. — The death toll stood at 90 on Monday after amassive tornado — the deadliest single U.S. tornado since 1953 — tore through this city on Sunday. The six-mile path included a hospital and high school destroyed, cars crushed like soda cans and a forest of splintered tree trunks where neighborhoods once stood.

Authorities warned that the death toll could climb as search and rescue workers continued their efforts. Their task was made more miserable as a new thunderstorm with strong winds and heavy rain pelted part of the city with quarter-sized hail on Monday morning.

Fire chief Mitch Randles estimated that 25 to 30 percent of the city was damaged, and said his own home was among the buildings destroyed as the twister swept through this city of about 50,000 people some 160 miles south of Kansas City.

"It cut the city in half," Randles said.

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