Violent tornado tear through Joplin, Missouri

A destroyed neighborhood is seen in Joplin, Mo. A large tornado moved through much of the city Sunday, damaging a hospital and hundreds of homes and businesses. (AP)
A destroyed neighborhood is seen in Joplin, Mo. A large tornado moved through much of the city Sunday, damaging a hospital and hundreds of homes and businesses. (AP)
A destroyed neighborhood is seen in Joplin, Mo. A large tornado moved through much of the city Sunday, damaging a hospital and hundreds of homes and businesses. (AP)
A firefighter searches the rubble of tornado ravaged Joplin, Missouri. (AFP)
Rescuers combed through overturned cars and flattened buildings Tuesday hunting for survivors after this Missouri town was struck by one of the strongest tornadoes ever recorded in the US. A massive mile-wide funnel-cloud, with winds of up to 200 miles (320 kilometers) an hour, tore with devastating force through the town of Joplin late Sunday, leaving 116 people dead and hundreds more missing. (AFP)
A large tornado moved through much of the city Sunday, damaging a hospital and hundreds of homes and businesses. (AP)
A destroyed neighborhood is seen in Joplin, Mo. A large tornado moved through much of the city Sunday, damaging a hospital and hundreds of homes and businesses. (AP)
Meghan Miller stands in the middle of a destroyed neighborhood as she checks on her sister-in-law's home, in Joplin, Mo. A large tornado moved through much of the city Sunday, damaging a hospital and hundreds of homes and businesses. (AP)
This image taken from aerial video shows damage to a school in Joplin, Mo, a day after a half-mile-wide tornado killed at least 116 people when it blasted much of this Missouri town off the map. (AP)
Nevada Missouri firefighters take a break from search and rescue work in Joplin, Mo. Fire and rescue workers from neighboring cities and states have joined the rescue effort from the tornado that struck Joplin on Sunday, May 22. (AP)
Emergency responders survey a mangled neighborhood in Joplin, Mo. A large tornado moved through much of the city Sunday, damaging a hospital and hundreds of homes and businesses and killing at least 116 people. (AP)
Rows of damaged homes are seen following a tornado, in Joplin , Mo. (AP)
This frame grab from video shows lightning inside a massive tornado, outside Joplin, Mo. The tornado tore a 6-mile path across southwestern Missouri killing at least 89 people as it slammed into the city of Joplin, ripping into a hospital, crushing cars like soda cans and leaving a forest of splintered tree trunks behind where entire neighborhoods once stood. (AP)
A destroyed helicopter lies on its side in the parking lot of the Joplin Regional Medical Center in Joplin, Mo. A large tornado moved through much of the city, damaging the hospital and hundreds of homes and businesses. (AP)
Emergency personnel walk through a neighborhood severely damaged by a tornado near the Joplin Regional Medical Center in Joplin, Mo. A large tornado moved through much of the city, damaging a hospital and hundreds of homes and businesses. (AP)
A man walks past destroyed vehicles in the parking lot of the Joplin Regional Medical Center in Joplin, Mo. A large tornado moved through much of the city, damaging the hospital and hundreds of homes and businesses. (AP)
Residents begin digging through the rubble of their home after it was destroyed by a tornado that hit Joplin, Mo. The tornado tore a path a mile wide and four miles long destroying homes and businesses. (AP)
Damaged vehicles litter the parking lot of St. John's Hospital in Joplin, Mo, after a tornado hit the southwest Missouri city. A massive tornado blasted its way across southwestern Missouri, flattening several blocks of homes and businesses in Joplin and leaving residents frantically scrambling through the wreckage. (AP)
Pepsi Cola employee Mark Johnson looks at the wreckage of the Pepsi Cola Bottling Plant that was destroyed by a tornado in Joplin, Mo. (AP)
A man carries a young boy who was rescued after being trapped in his home after a tornado hit Joplin, Mo. on Sunday evening. The tornado tore a path a mile wide and four miles long destroying homes and businesses. (AP)
An emergency worker searches a Walmart store that was severely damaged by a tornado in Joplin, Mo., Sunday. A large tornado moved through much of the city, damaging a hospital and hundreds of homes and businesses. (AP)
Residents of Joplin, Mo, help a woman who survived in her basement after a tornado hit the city on Sunday. The tornado tore a path a mile wide and four miles long destroying homes and businesses. (AP)
A man carries a young girl who was rescued after being trapped with her mother in their home after a tornado hit Joplin, Mo. on Sunday evening. The tornado tore a path a mile wide and four miles long destroying homes and businesses. (AP)
Damage is seen in Joplin, Mo. after a tornado struck the city on Sunday evening. (AP)
Volunteer firefighters William Jackson, left, and Ashley Martin, center, from Oklahoma, and Johnny Ward of Joplin look through the wreckage of a home where it was feared a pregnant woman as feared to be trapped following a tornado in Joplin, Mo. A large tornado moved through much of the city, damaging a hospital and hundreds of homes and businesses. (AP)
Vehicles and houses in the vicinity of Twenty-fourth and Main Streets are a jumble of rubble after a the tornado swept through Joplin, Mo., on Sunday evening. (AP)
A police car navigates around downed power lines, after a devastating tornado hit Joplin, Missouri. Tornadoes tore through parts of the US Midwest on Sunday, killing at least 30 people in the Missouri town of Joplin and causing one death in Minneapolis as well as causing extensive property damage. (REUTERS)
Utility workers clear downed power lines near the St. John's hospital, after a devastating tornado hit Joplin, Missouri. Tornadoes tore through parts of the US Midwest, killing at least 30 people in the Missouri town of Joplin and causing one death in Minneapolis as well as causing extensive property damage. (REUTERS)
Emergency response vehicles line a highway waiting to be dispatched, after a devastating tornado hit Joplin, Missouri. Tornadoes tore through parts of the US Midwest on Sunday, killing at least 30 people in the Missouri town of Joplin. (REUTERS)