Nevada firefighters answer the call

Nevada firefighters are among the many groups, agencies and volunteers assisting with emergency management in Joplin, following Sunday's tornado, which ripped a wide swath through the city, destroying homes, businesses, St. John's hospital, and Joplin High School.

Nevada Fire Chief Robert Benn said he "initially sent a pumper and crew of three down Sunday evening shortly after the tornado hit. The crew was first assigned to stage at Carthage Fire Department, and about five minutes later was dispatched to help search for survivors at the Home Depot in Joplin. Once it was determined there were no survivors in need of assistance at that location, Benn said, the crew was assigned to residential areas for more searching. The crews continued search operations throughout the night.

On Monday morning, four Nevada firefighters were sent to Joplin, to trade out with the first crew. As more help arrived and due to the severe storms in the area in which two law enforcement officers from outside the area were struck by lightning, fewer search operations were carried out by Nevada personnel. Benn said this crew was able to stay for 24 hours and was able to take rest breaks while in the rehab area. Overnight, this crew provided standbys for heavy equipment operators doing debris removal looking for victims.

The crew returned to Nevada on Tuesday morning. The situation will be reassessed later in the week to determine if more assistance will be needed; which Benn believes is likely.

At about 3:30 Tuesday afternoon, Nevada's dive team was requested to respond to the area for a search, but no further details of that call were available as of Tuesday evening.

The twister took the lives of more than 120 people. According to the National Weather Service, the Joplin tornado, now rated as and F-5 tornado, is the deadliest since modern record keeping began in 1950 and is ranked 8th among the deadliest tornadoes in U.S. history. The tornado surpassed the June 8, 1953, tornado that claimed 116 lives in Flint, Mich., as the deadliest single tornado to strike the U.S. since modern tornado record keeping began in 1950. The deadliest tornado on record in the U.S. was on March 18, 1925 .Known as "Tri-State Tornado", the monstrous 1925 storm traversed parts of Missouri, Illinois and Indiana, had a 291-mile path, was rated F-5 based on a historic assessment, and caused 695 fatalities.