Several on Joplin twister missing list turn up alive Officials hope others on list of 232 names will be cleared as well 5/26/2011 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43178191 [with comments]
A United States flag tied to a tree branch waves in the wind over a business building destroyed by a tornado in Joplin, Missouri, May 24, 2011. Credit: Reuters/Ed Zurga
By Kevin Murphy KANSAS CITY, Mo | Thu May 26, 2011 4:02pm EDT
(Reuters) - A 16-month-old boy whose fate drew national attention after he was ripped from his mother's arms during the Joplin, Missouri tornado, has been identified at a morgue, his father said on Thursday.
Skyular Logsdon, whose clothes were found wrapped around a telephone pole and his teddy bear on the ground nearby, was identified by a great aunt who knew him well, Cord Logsdon, the boy's father, told Reuters in a phone interview on Thursday.
Cord Logsdon and Skyular's grandfather John Logsdon, were in the process Thursday of going to identify the boy or look at a picture of him. Cord Logsdon, who was injured in the tornado, was released from Mt. Carmel Hospital in Pittsburg, Kansas on Wednesday.
"It's tough," an emotional Cord Logsdon said as he handed the phone over to Skyular's grandfather.
"We're going to hang in there," John Logsdon, the grandfather, said.
The search for the boy and reports of his death have drawn thousands of notes of support and sympathy on a Facebook page.
During the search, his frantic relatives carefully lifted up the wooden beams and twisted metal of what was once his home.
Searchers found the boy's dark blue teddy bear. Then they spotted his red T-shirt and pants, torn, rain-soaked and wrapped around a telephone pole about 200 yards from his house.
Skyular's mother, Carol Jo Tate, remains hospitalized in fair condition in Pittsburg, said hospital spokesman Michael Hayslip. He said a nurse was told by a relative of the boy last night that he had been found in a morgue.
Skyular's parents were both home when the tornado struck. Tate was holding the boy in her arms, said Tate's mother, Missy Burnes. The house was getting torn apart around them, she said.
"She remembers getting her arm broken and things flinging around the house," Burnes told Reuters Thursday. Tate lost hold of the baby and she was thrown unconscious from the house, Burnes said. She thought she saw the baby a few feet away before passing out but is not sure, Burnes said.
At least 125 people are confirmed dead in the Joplin storm and more than 900 were injured at last count. Search crews were still looking for victims in the miles of rubble left by the tornado, which packed winds of 200 miles an hour.
Tornado victims often lack hazard insurance The associated Press May 26, 2011 11:07 AM
(AP) ATLANTA - Many of the states hammered by what's already the deadliest year for tornadoes in more than half a century have among the nation's highest rates of homes without hazard insurance despite being among the most twister-prone, data analyzed by The Associated Press shows.
That means the regions that most need the insurance are often the exact places that don't have much of it. It also means many tornado victims may have a hard time getting compensated for their losses, putting more pressure on the federal government to help even though its assistance is limited by law.
With more than 450 deaths and billions of dollars in damage in the past month alone, regulators are calling for more education about the importance of homeowners insurance and further efforts to make it affordable and available to all. But whether to buy it is still considered a personal choice and there's no push to mandate it federally.
The fallout is on stark display in Mississippi and Arkansas, two of seven Southern states battered last month by twisters. Mississippi ranks second in the nation for the percentage of homes without insurance covering wind damage yet fourth on the list of states that have had the most tornadoes touch down in the past five years. Arkansas ranks fourth for uninsured homes and 10th for being tornado prone, according to the AP's analysis.
Missouri, site of Sunday's tornado outbreak with at least 125 dead, falls somewhere in the middle on hazard insurance despite being the fourth most tornado-prone state. Kansas and Oklahoma, the sites of deadly tornadoes Tuesday, also fall in the middle and rank No. 2 and No. 6 on the list of most tornado-prone states.
States with the highest rates of uninsured homeowners also tend to have a higher incidence of homes without mortgages, meaning owners don't have to answer to banks requiring coverage. The uninsured can turn to aid groups and the federal government for relief — but often not for full compensation.
Poverty and an abundance of older homes that can be difficult to insure contribute to high rates of no insurance. In tough economic times, the temptation to forgo insurance is real.
Tammy and Kevin Cudy of Joplin, Mo., dropped their homeowner's policy, and its $50-a-month premiums, last August after Kevin lost his construction job. They considered reinstating their policy within the past week but said they were unable to reach their insurance agent by telephone.
And then the deadliest single tornado in nearly six decades demolished their five-bedroom home Sunday.
"That's why I'm kicking myself right now," said Tammy Cudy, 47. "The fact that we were thinking about it, that we needed to work our budget around it, it just makes you kind of heart-sick at this point."
Many people don't qualify for insurance if their homes are in high-risk areas, or they have trouble affording a policy to cover wind damage because of high costs associated with home value, aging construction and building codes, Arkansas Insurance Commissioner Jay Bradford said.
"The loss ratios on those houses that are insured are generally pretty high," Bradford said. "They don't have central heat and air. They are older homes. Sometimes, the plumbing and wiring are not up to standard. The rates are higher, and the coverage is limited."
Bradford is among regulators calling for more education and strategies to make insurance more affordable. Yet he opposes a mandate, as do two lawmakers from tornado zones contacted by phone: Rep. Mike Ross, an Arkansas Democrat, and Rep. Alan Nunnelee, a Mississippi Republican.
Nancy and Homer Davis weren't protected for the worst.
Tight finances kept them from buying a policy on the 80-foot-by-14-foot trailer they purchased eight years ago for $10,000. Homer Davis is on disability and Nancy Davis works part-time at a Lowe's home improvement store. One of last month's twisters lifted their trailer off the ground near Pheba, Miss., smashed it against trees and disgorged their household belongings into a ditch.
"I'm trying to figure out, `Where does my money go?' He's on disability and I'm working part-time," said Davis, 51. "It's just trying to figure out what's the best way to spend your money. You say to yourself, `As soon as I'm ready, I'm going to get insurance on the house."'
Nationally, roughly 4 percent of owner-occupied homes lack homeowners, or hazard, insurance, according to the latest industry estimates. But the numbers vary substantially by region.
The South has the highest rate of homes without hazard insurance, at 17.4 percent, according to the AP analysis. This is followed by the Northeast at 12.2 percent, the Midwest at 8.4 percent and the West at 3.3 percent.
The highest death toll from tornadoes in the past month was in Alabama, which is at the national average for homes without insurance and ranks third for frequency of tornadoes. North Dakota tops the uninsured list and ranks 16th on the tornado-prone list.
Louisiana, another state hit by the April 27 tornado outbreak in the South, ranks 11th in both categories.
The AP analyzed data compiled by the Insurance Information Institute and the U.S. Census Bureau. AP relied on 2008 figures because those were the most recent for which comparisons could be made, and it's unlikely the numbers would have fluctuated much in the past three years, said industry expert Robert P. Hartwig.
By Mike Krumboltz | The Upshot – Fri, May 18, 2012
Almost a year after a tornado leveled large portions of Joplin, Missouri, new footage from a hospital security camera shows the devastation as it occurred.
St. John's Medical Center was among the most heavily damaged buildings in Joplin. Winds of 200 miles per hour ravaged the interior. The footage shows chairs and tables swept up and tossed against the ceiling and walls. No people appear in the 36 seconds of video.
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