Tornado single deadliest in US since 1950

2011-05-25 08:02

Joplin - A tornado that killed at least 117 people in Missouri was the single deadliest twister in the past 60 years, according to National Weather Service.

Governor Jay Nixon's spokesperson, Sam Murphey, said on Tuesday that the death toll in Joplin had risen to 117.

Until this week, the single deadliest tornado on record with the National Weather Service in the past six decades was a twister that killed 116 people in Flint, Michigan, in 1953.

More deaths have resulted from outbreaks of multiple tornadoes. On April 27, a pack of twisters roared across six Southern states, killing 314 people, more than two-thirds of them in Alabama.

That was the single deadliest day for tornadoes since the National Weather Service began keeping such records in 1950.

The agency has done research that shows deadlier outbreaks before 1950. It says the single deadliest day that it is aware of was March 18 1925, when tornadoes killed 747 people.

- AP