Tornado kills least 30 people in Missouri

PanARMENIAN.Net - Tornadoes tore through parts of the U.S. Midwest on Sunday, May 22, killing at least 30 people in the Missouri town of Joplin and causing one death in Minneapolis as well as causing extensive property damage.

The storms continued to build on the violent weather this spring in the United States, which saw more than 330 deaths last month as tornadoes swept seven states. That included 238 deaths in Alabama alone on April 27 as twisters battered Tuscaloosa and other towns.

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon earlier on Sunday said on CNN that an unknown number of people had perished, saying, "We don't have any numbers, but we have had confirmation that there have been deaths."

Nixon declared a state of emergency and announced he was ordering Missouri National Guard troops be deployed to help state troopers and other agencies respond to storms that he said "have caused extensive damage across Missouri." Reuters reported.