Joplin Tornado Aftermath: Helicopter Surveys The Damage In Missouri (VIDEO)

The damage resulting from the Joplin, Missouri tornado is still being assessed, but so far it is said to have been the deadliest tornado in the U.S. since 1950.

The storm, which cut a six-mile swath of destruction across the area, reduced homes and businesses to rubble. It's almost hard to imagine the incredible destruction.

The video below puts some perspective on the power of the storm. It's the first aerial video of the town following the tornado, and, as can be seen, the destruction is pretty comprehensively surveyed. It shows just how Sunday's tornado destroyed a town of 50,000, leaving very little standing.

WATCH:

Comments

[hwteenstars]

05:02 PM on 05/25/2011

I couldn't beleive it! The swath of destruction just kept going and going and going. The camera couldn't even get the complete width of the tornado's path into the the frame. This and all the flooding in the Mississippi river valley in time when the government is being told to tighten spending! How will these people recover now?

[Max Headroom]

12:03 AM on 05/25/2011

Some one paid a lot of money for a helicopter ride to shoot such poor quality video.

[dktshb]

09:52 PM on 05/24/2011

I think it is time to stop the tax breaks for big oil and help these people in the south who have suffered through tornados and floods. Then maybe big oil will quit pumping money into the anti global warming campaign.

Please all my fellow Americans in the South find representatives that will look out for your interests and not those of corporations and hate.

[dogspeed]

09:41 PM on 05/24/2011

Man is small.

[dktshb]

09:34 PM on 05/24/2011

Massive! That was a huge tornado. All those poor people in its path. It looks like a school was right in the path of this one so I am glad it didn't happen when kids were in school. Living here in Los Angeles I am wondering when our time is coming with our big quake. It seems like we cannot handle another natural disaster.

[aquarius2]

09:21 PM on 05/24/2011

I have been in Joplin on several occasions, Never, ever would I guess that this is Joplin today. What horrible and complete destruction. My heart goes out to the people of Joplin.

[Philosopher-king]

09:20 PM on 05/24/2011

That was a long way for that tornado to have gone, and looking at the damage, that monster was WIDE. If there is any way a could help, I will. That must have been scary to have happened at night, it gives me the chills!

[luckyone77]

09:04 PM on 05/24/2011

Is there anybody left who does not believe in climate change?

[jimspy]

02:18 PM on 05/25/2011

That discussion needs to start taking place in earnest. I am a reformed global warming skeptic, and am thinking of starting a Facebook group for others like me. I want to see from other individuals what took them so long, what finally convinced them, and how that can be used to convince the rest. We're probably so far down the road that it's too late, the ship has sailed...but a last-ditch effort is called for.

[whochi]

11:13 AM on 05/27/2011

Majority of people around the globe do not believe in this hoax.
"Global Warming" is now a punch line for any joke and should be used to explain an unintended faux pas, i.e. "I thought it was supposed to be sunny today? (But it starts to rain), or farting in a crowded elevator ("Sorry. It's global warming)., etc. etc.

[jimspy]

01:34 PM on 05/27/2011

"Majority of people around the globe do not believe in this hoax."
False.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/147242/worldwide-blame-climate-change-falls-humans.aspx
The rest of your message is, therefore, safely ignorable. But the "farting" part was funny.

[Norma Briggs]

08:47 PM on 05/24/2011

Horrid.

[StrawHat]

07:58 PM on 05/24/2011

Heartbreaking.

[MarkInEugene]

07:49 PM on 05/24/2011

Wow....I've never seen tornado damage this bad and this extensive. We need to take maybe 3 days of the Afghan War money and send it to Joplin. I figure that's around $1 billion dollars to rebuild this devastated city.

Seriously, that would the logical thing to do, don't you think America? You know, take 1 measly week of funding from the billion-dollar-a-week wars and nation building we're doing in the Middle East and re-build this city for our own people! And I mean, take care of it! Get them temporary housing and get the funds to the area NOW so that contractors can start rebuilding new tornado proof buildings.

[Greybeard53]

08:08 PM on 05/24/2011

How about we raise taxes on the rich and the corporations for a week. Joplin would be brand-spanking new from end to end.

BTW: there may be a tornado-proof building somewhere, but it hasn't been published as far as I know. Rooms, yes. A town full of tornado-proof buildings would mean taxing the rich for THREE weeks. I doubt Rush would stand for that.

[Roadrun]

08:01 AM on 05/25/2011

The rich are MUCH richer than before the redistribution of wealth. You are talking some very nice houses, furniture and cars - state of the art and top of the line.

[Roadrun]

07:38 PM on 05/24/2011

Okay so part of my taxes will go to give these people a leg up as they cope with this disaster. My money. What I earned with the sweat of my brow as they are so fond of saying. I want it that way too. It is my privilege as a member of a civilized society and something I am proud to be a part of. It who I am and who a good part of my fellow citizens are to have things be this way.

There is a saying "there but for the grace of God go I" and it means that we are better people then those who have a saying "I got mine, get your own" or as the con said earlier this week "When do I take care of me?". Hey dude, if that's who and what you are I don't want to hear your apologies.

They say it would be good to get rid of FEMA. Really? I would be a lesser individual if that happened and it's not who I am. Talk up your Somalia Freedom Fighter talk until you turn purple but I ain't buying it. But I will warn you to watch what you wish for because you just might get it.

I'll pay for FEMA. If you really need to cut something come talk to me and I'll tell you what.

[luckyone77]

09:06 PM on 05/24/2011

Take it out of homeland security though. Global warming is a bigger threat to national security than terrrorism ever was

[Roadrun]

07:56 AM on 05/25/2011

On so many levels you ain't just a woofin. That agency is the biggest and most expensive loss of personal rights in the history of the world. I hold that no budget talks would even be happening if it weren't for the HomeBoys Security.

[impatient]

06:47 PM on 05/24/2011

Holy Cow! This is so hard not to anthropomorphize. You just keep thinking, "Oh it turned here," or "It seems to foolow the freeway and the river---I wonder why. When of course, it's the randomness of a storm...... A huge vicious global warming storm.

[StopCensoringMe]

05:30 PM on 05/24/2011

Okay, harsh assessment here. Go ahead and flame away. My heart hurts for the grieving people of Joplin who have clearly lost nearly everything. That said, the notion that relief money will come into Joplin to "rebuild" simply doesn't seem to make sense in the face of this rather total destruction. Given the large number of empty residences that I am sure Missouri has (all of the states have them), it would seem that a better solution is to assist with relocation. Allow Joplin to downsize to what remains and help those displaced to relocate, not rebuild. Sentimental attachment to the place where you live is not enough reason, in my mind, to spend money reconstructing when there is already plenty of pre-existing construction sitting empty in other parts of the state and nation.

[imtruthmonger]

06:11 PM on 05/24/2011

A practical solution. After this, I believe many Joplin survivors would happily live with that.

[trying2help]

06:40 PM on 05/24/2011

Well we can dream up what is best but I for one would like to hear what the people affected think- rather than deciding what is best for them. And they may not know just yet. Chill.

[impatient]

06:50 PM on 05/24/2011

Well that's fine, I guess, but what if you just aren't free to do that? what if your job is there? what if your parents are there and you moved to Joplin to take care of them? What if your house and farm have been in the family for generations? Sometimes, it is not possible to just move away...

[Devontate]

05:09 PM on 05/24/2011

If that's what an EF4 tornado does, I can't imagine what an EF5 can do. Jeez.

[Radarman]

06:10 PM on 05/24/2011

I think an EF5 will strip the asphalt off the road bed.

[Devontate]

07:11 PM on 05/24/2011

I just read that it was upgraded to an EF5.