Weather, Missouri | featured news

For most of the U.S., Hurricane Isaac has come and gone, and now Southerners and Midwesterners are grappling with the good and bad it left behind. Evacuation orders eased for parts of Louisiana, and many Missouri residents saw the possible end of a long and painful drought when Isaac passed over the state Friday and Saturday, dumping much of its strength before going on to Illinois and Indiana.

A powerful system that produced multiple reports of tornadoes early Wednesday laid waste to small towns in Illinois and Kansas while also roughing up the resort town of Branson, Mo.

Only minor damage is reported after an earthquake centered in southeast Missouri shook at least nine states.

17 people have been rescued from the rubble left by Sunday's tornado, but officials say efforts will continue throughout the day: 'We hope to find more folks.' The death toll from the tornado that crushed Joplin has risen to 117, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon said on Tuesday, making it the deadliest such event in the U.S. since 1953.

Tornadoes tore through parts of the U.S. 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.

A tornado destroyed 50 to 80 houses and killed at least one person in an Arkansas town on Monday, while a warning of imminent failure for a levee on the Black River in southeast Missouri prompted the mandatory evacuation of about 1,000 people.