The lost generations: Dozens of young people and whole families named on list of 232 people missing after Joplin tornado
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- The Joplin tornado has already killed at least 125 people, now officials say that 232 remain unaccounted for
- Nasa release animation of satellite images showing the storms that spawned the Joplin and Oklahoma tornadoes
The names and faces of those missing after the tornado which ravaged Joplin, Missouri have emerged today amid fears the death toll will rise significantly higher.
Whole families, dozens of young people and scores of couples were on the list of names of those still not accounted for.
The total number of dead now stands at at least 125, making the storm the tornado to hit the U.S. in 64 years.
Scroll down for Nasa five day satellite images animation
Missing: Hayze and Harli Howard, five-years-old and 19-months-old, Johnna Hale, in her fifties, Charlotte Hopwood, 84, and Jose Alvares, unknown age
But officials today warned the death toll could rise much higher as they released the names of the 232 people missing.
The list of the unaccounted came as Nasa published amazing video showing the storms that caused the heartbreak and devastation from space.
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ShareThe satellite animation shows the five days of deadly Midwestern tornadoes from May 20 to 25. It was taken by the GOES-13 satellite.
Before and after aerial photos were also released, revealing the shocking extent of the damage caused by the twister in the Missouri city – with images showing a six-block path of destruction.
As the recovery work continued in Joplin, it seemed that no generation had been spared on the tragic list of people of all ages.
Unaccounted for: Toni Sawyer, 41, Charles Writer, 74, Will Norton, 18 and Tiera Whitey, 20, were all named as missing by Missouri officials on Thursday
Twenty-five young people under the age of 25 year old remain unaccounted for four days after the deadly tornado swept through the centre of Joplin.
Brother and sister Hayze and Harli Howard are both missing along with their father Russell. The 19-month old and five-year-old have not been seen since Sunday.
Allen and Brittany Merritt, and their three children, who are three, five and eight year old, were all listed as disappeared.
YouTube star Will Norton, 18, was driving home from his high school graduation when his car started to flip over.
His father tried to hold onto him, but his seatbelt snapped and he was sucked out of the sunroof of the vehicle.
Nearly 40,000 people have joined Facebook group ‘Help Find Will Norton’, but there has been no trace of him.
Twelve residents of the Greenbriar Nursing Home, which was directly in the path of the tornado, were included on the list.
Devastation: The satellite image on the left shows where the tornado ripped through Joplin and left the six-block scar across the city - and on the right was the Missouri city as it was before the tragedy
One worker said that the 10 staff tried to protect the 85 residents in the home’s central hall way, but that several people were sucked into the tornado as it tore off the building’s roof.
Pamela McBroom, 49, who lives near the nursing home, said she and her 16-year-old daughter were hiding in a closet when the tornado tore their walls and roof away.
Her walls gone, Mrs McBroom could see the mayhem at Greenbriar.
‘I could see people flying out of the nursing home by my house,’ she said. ‘I could hear them screaming. Just screaming. It was horrible.’
Officials urged any survivors on the missing list to check in as it was published on Thursday.
Ruins: Where once green land was abundant, now the terrain is pock-marked and brown, as these satellite pictures show
Who will help? This aerial image shows the destruction of the the St John's Regional Medical Centre meanwhile the high school in Joplin was also flattened by the twister
Within hours of the names being revealed the first person on the missing list was found alive and well.
Sally Adams, 75, has been rescued by neighbours on Sunday after the storm had destroyed her home, but had been unable to contact her family.
‘Our goal is to get that number to zero,’ Andrea Spillars, deputy director and general counsel of the Missouri Department of Public Safety, said of the missing.
‘We will dedicate as much state resources as needed around the clock to ensure those families who have loved ones that they cannot find are connected.’
But she said officials know some of the people on the missing list are dead. She wouldn't say how many or say when names of the deceased would be released.
Dangerous: The tornado in Joplin is thought to be the eighth most deadly in American history - at least 125 people have died
Tragic: The houses on the left are shown flattened, whereas the luckier people managed to miss the devastating tornado by mere feet in the image on the left. At least 125 people are thought to have died Joplin because of the twister - and there are reports of more twisters in the area
The death toll rose Wednesday to 125 people, not all of them identified, and officials have estimated more than 900 were injured.
Some families have complained about not being allowed into the morgue to try to identify missing relatives.
Don Bloom, the deputy commander for family assistance for the mortuary team, said ‘the process has to take its time. We have to be 100 per cent accurate’.
Search-and-rescue teams have made multiple sweeps through the destruction, using dozens of dogs and listening devices in hopes of picking up the faint sound of anyone still alive beneath the collapsed homes and businesses.
No new survivors have been pulled from the rubble since Tuesday.
What's left? Ashley Clark (left) salvages items from a family member's devastated Joplin home while Debra Younger (right) surveys her sons' levelled home
Disbelief: Resident Wylie Boatright looks through wreckage of the Elks Lodge in Joplin (left) with the damaged St. John's Regional Health Center in the background while on the right an American flag is seen over the rubble of Joplin homes destroyed by the tornado
Dark times: Storm clouds pass over the devastated Greenbriar Nursing Home in Joplin, where 11 residents lost their lives
Watch the Nasa five day satellite images animation
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