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One year ago today, the devastating tornado in Joplin left 161 people dead, and hundreds more injured. Thousands of buildings were destroyed, including the town's high school, middle school and elementary school. Susan Moore plans to attend the groundbreaking ceremony or a new school. Susan is a Kindergarten teacher at Irving Elementary.

“This is a life-threatening situation. You could be killed if not underground or in a tornado shelter.” That was the explicit public warning heard in communities across five states over the weekend as a weather pattern idea for the creation of severe storms lived up to its billing by weather forecasters. More than 100 tornadoes in 24 hours hit following an extraordinarily clear and persistent series of warnings days in advance. But the warning did nothing to temper the severity of the storms. Michael Kimball is a reporter with The Oklahoman, the largest daily newspaper in Oklahoma.

Small towns across the South and Midwest continue to rebuild this week after a series of deadly tornadoes and storms swept through late last week. What happens when the destruction of a town is so severe that you can’t pick up the pieces? What happens if you can’t patch a community back together?

Marysville is a small town in southeast Indiana. It’s the type of town with only one store, a community center, a church, and a couple dozen houses, all confined to little more than a single block. Today, the town lies in ruins. A twister swept through last Friday, destroying nearly all of the homes and ripping apart the community center and church.

A powerful storm system stretching across a dozen states in the Midwest and the South brought on between 80 to 100 tornadoes over the weekend, leveling entire towns and killing 39 people.  In total, 17 million people were affected by the storms.  The town of Henryville, Indiana was among one of the hardest hit when an "EF4" level tornado with windspeeds of over 175 miles-per-hour tore through the town.

A storm system moving across the Midwest Wednesday morning caused tornadoes from Kansas to Kentucky.  At least twelve people were killed; six deaths were reported in the city of Harrisburg, Illinois alone where the most damage occurred. The severe weather also tore through country music resort city Branson, Missouri destructing the heart of the city's tourist district.

A devastating tornado struck Joplin, Missouri, on May 22 of this year. One hundred sixty people were killed, and nearly a thousand were injured. According to the National Weather Service, as much as 75 percent of the city was damaged. Three days later, Susan Moore and Regina Jones, two Joplin public school teachers, joined The Takeaway to discuss its effects on the city's schools, which were closed for the remainder of the school year. Scott Meeker, enterprise editor of the Joplin Globe, also came on the program to discuss his efforts to reconnect people over Facebook. The Takeaway speaks to them again for an update on Joplin many months after the storm.

A very rare event happened In the northeastern part of the United States yesterday. A 5.8 magnitude earthquake centered in Mineral, Virginia sent tremors outward, all the way north to New York and New England, and south to North Carolina. Limited damage was reported and some even found the event to be exciting. The earthquake follows a number of natural disasters we have witnessed this year, including Japan's massive quake and tsunami, tornadoes ravaging southern states and the Mississippi River rising to historic levels, flooding cities in its path. And now Hurricane Irene, which experts predict could turn into a category 4 storm, and may hit Florida on Friday.

A tornado warning has been issued for Westchester and Rockland counties in New York until 7:00 p.m., according to the National Weather Service.

The National Weather Service has issued a tornado watch for New York City and parts of Northern New Jersey and Connecticut through 8 p.m. tonight. 

On Sunday a deadly tornado devastated Joplin, Missouri; in its wake, a six mile path of destruction and at least 116 people dead. Today its people begin to survey the damage, as rescue efforts for those potentially trapped in the rubble continues. Brian Stelter has been reporting on the disaster for The New York Times.

At least 89 people were killed in a massive tornado that hit Joplin, Missouri. The town suffered a direct hit from the tornado and much of the city has been devastated, including the city's medical center. Joplin's hospital has been evacuated and nearby Via Christi Hospital in Pittsburg, Kansas is one of the centers looking after those injured.  Michael Hayslip, director of public relations for the hospital, describes how they're taking in tornado victims.

Devastated by last month’s tornadoes, communities across the South are working toward recovery. For one small Alabama community help is coming from an unexpected group of benefactors. With a population close to 1000 citizens, Phil Campbell, Alabama was hit hard losing 26 citizens and over 400 town structures. Phil Campbell, organizer of the “I am with Phil” campaign, which draws support from people named Phil Campbell committed to help rebuild the small Alabama community.

Federal and state emergency officials in Alabama believe that the deadly tornadoes two weeks ago left as many as 10,000 residents homeless. In Tuscaloosa, the urban area hit hardest, people are scrambling for the few remaining apartments — and for low-income residents, affordable housing is almost impossible to find. Officials are concerned that many of the poor, working class and elderly residents could be homeless for good.

This morning, survivors of the six southern states hit by Wednesday's rash of deadly tornadoes continue the hard work of surveying and cleaning the damage. The National Weather Service says it was the deadliest barrage of tornadoes since 1974. Julie Steele, news reporter for WUTC in Chattanooga, Tenn. speaks to us about what the conditions are like there, and John Deblock, warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Birmingham, Ala. gives us a broader look at what's happening in the region.

Up to one million people are without power in Alabama and over 200 are dead, following the deadly wave of 160 tornadoes that ripped through the south on Wednesday. Jeff Helms, communications director for the Alabama Farmers Federation, speaks with us.

Deadly tornadoes that ripped through the South on Wednesday claimed some 284 lives. Entire neighborhoods were flattened in the wake of the 160 tornadoes that touched down in six states. We speak with Campbell Robertson, correspondent for our partner The New York Times, who joins us from Tuscaloosa Alabama, one of the areas hardest hit by the storms.

Search and rescue teams are going through debris in six states, looking for survivors of what was the nation's worst tornado outbreak in decades. So far, the death toll is already close to 300, thousands of people are injured and homeless, and more than a million are without power.

Reports say 194 people across the southern United States are dead after tornadoes and storms ripped across the region—and that number is expected to climb. An estimated mile-wide tornado struck the town of Tuscaloosa, where there's a University of Alabama campus. Katelyn Ingram is a sophomore there; she talks with us about her experience with the storm. Harold Brooks, research meteorologist at the National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, Oklahoma, also weighs in.

The largest wave of tornadoes in nearly 40 years has killed nearly 200 people. One tornado in the city of Tuscaloosa measured as an F-5 level twister, with winds of almost 200 miles per hour. John Deblock, warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Birmingham, Ala., speaks with us about the storms. 

At least 194 people across the southern United States are dead after tornadoes and storms ripped across the region. An estimated mile-wide tornado struck the town of Tuscaloosa, Ala. At least 128 people were reported killed by storms in Alabama alone, with 32 in Mississippi, 11 in Georgia and 1 in Tennessee and Virginia. Katelyn Ingram, a sophomore at the University of Alabama, tells us about her experience with the storm. Harold Brooks, research meteorologist at the National Severe Storms Laboratory shares his expertise, and Takeaway news writer David Ingram, a Birmingham native, weighs in.