Severe Weather and Tornadoes Hit Missouri...Again

Storms capable of producing tornadoes pounded parts of the state Wednesday afternoon.

In Sedalia, Mo., a tornado destroyed dozens of mobile homes and heavily damaged several businesses along one of the city's main highways. No one was killed and only 15-to-25 minor injuries were reported.

Acting Police Chief Larry Ward says despite all the damage, it feels like Sedalia dodged a bullet.

The two state Senators who represent the bulk of St. Louis city are continuing to express concerns about a proposed state legislative district map that splits the city into a northern and southern half.

The city is currently divided along a line that travels roughly along Grand Avenue. That, says Democratic state Senator Robin Wright-Jones, makes both the districts very diverse.

The proposed map, she says, resets 40 years of battling racial divisions.

This morning as the National Weather Service upgraded the tornado risk to "high" for the St. Louis area this afternoon, meteorologist and severe weather expert Mike Smith joined us for St. Louis on the Air.  Smith called this the "worst tornado season" since the 1950's and cautioned that complacency about risk can be one of the deadliest factors during any storm. 

Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill calls comments by the number two Republican in the House about the disaster relief funds for Joplin "wildly inappropriate."

House Major Leader Eric Cantor, a Republican from Virginia, said Monday that if Congress passes an emergency spending bill to help the tornado victims, money will have to be cut from somewhere else.

McCaskill says disaster relief is an important federal function.

Updated at 5:36 p.m.:

The latest number of confirmed dead has risen to 125. (via the Associated Press)

Updated with latest information from SEMA:

• 123 people are now confirmed dead. 503 are in shelters across the region.
• Primary and secondary search and rescue mission have been completed. 18 cadaver dog teams are now searching the area.
• Joplin law enforcement has requested additional assistance, and Jasper County 911 has indicated the need for more 911 operators.
• All of the arterial and collector streets in Joplin have been cleared of debris.

The massive tornado that tore through Joplin, Mo. is now officially the deadliest single twister in the U.S. in nearly six decades with a death toll of at least 122. The National Weather Service says the tornado was a highest-rated EF5 storm, with winds greater than 200 mph.

City Manager Mark Rohr said Tuesday that more than 750 people were injured. Nine people also have been recovered from debris and authorities say the search and rescue is continuing.

The twister that hit Joplin on Sunday is the deadliest single tornado since the National Weather Service began keeping official records in 1950. It's the 8th-deadliest single twister in U.S. history.

Federal officials estimate about 8,000 structures were damaged.

More updates from the Tuesday evening press conference and into the evening of May 24:

• A curfew will be put in place in Joplin, beginning tonight, from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. Permits will be issued to residents who reside within the tornado's footprint.
• Search and rescue teams today (Tuesday) pulled two more people from the wreckage alive  - one from the basement of a house, another from a business.
• Search and rescue teams have completed two complete sweeps of the area and were working on a third as of 5 p.m. today (Tuesday). They expect to do as many as five searches.
• 1,500 people are listed as missing, but that number includes residents who may have traveled outside the area. The City Manager is asking Joplin residents who left the area  to call 417-659-5464 to check in, let people know where they are - they could currently be listed as missing.
• City officials say 400 firefighters and other emergency personnel from across the state are assisting in the search and rescue operation, as well as 200 trained civilian volunteers.

• Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has signed an executive order designed to allow physicians from outside Missouri to treat patients and to permit pharmacists to provide medication for people whose medical records are missing. Nixon says the order would allow people living in Joplin to continue receiving medical treatment.

Will be updated with more information.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is considering a plan to replace the earthen levee at the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway with mechanical gates.

The corps intentionally breached the levee May 2 to reduce the threat of major flooding from the Mississippi and Ohio rivers in nearby Cairo, Ill. The breach flooded 130,000 acres of prime Missouri farmland and damaged or destroyed as many as 100 homes.

Corps spokesman Jim Pogue told The Southeast Missourian that the corps will "look at all the alternatives" after it temporarily repairs the levee by March 1.

Joplin City Leaders Not Giving Up Hope

Officials in Joplin refuse to abandon hope of finding more survivors in the wreckage from Sunday night's tornado that killed at least 122 people and injured 750 more.

Rescuers are preparing to go over ground searched as many as three times already. The search has been described as "methodical" with rescuers going house-to-house searching for those trapped in the rubble.

More violent weather could be headed to the St. Louis metropolitan area.

Although as of 7 a.m. this morning, no severe weather warnings have been issued, the National Weather Service is expecting a significant severe weather outbreak today.

Meteorologist Melissa Byrd with the National Weather Service, says the weather will effect most of Mo. and Ill., especially over the eastern half of Mo. and the southern half of Ill.

A 48-year-old north St. Louis man faces five felony counts for his role in a shooting just southwest of downtown that left a seven-year-old girl in critical condition.