Joplin, Missouri (CNN) -- Authorities in Missouri will release Friday an updated list of people who are still missing after the tornado that devastated the region.
This list will be an update of the tally of 232 missing people the Missouri Department of Public Safety released Thursday.
This list will be an update of the tally of 232 missing people the Missouri Department of Public Safety released Thursday.
As officials worked to ensure the community was up-to-date, some residents got answers on the fate of loved ones following the massive tornado that hit the Missouri city of Joplin on Sunday.
Michelle Hare said she learned that her 16-year-old son had been confirmed dead. Lantz was ripped from a car Sunday night by winds exceeding 200 mph, and was one of the people named Thursday.
Authorities also said 126 people had died from the storm, making the tornado the single deadliest to touch down in the U.S. since modern record-keeping began in 1950.
The Hares had been among many around Joplin, still desperately searching for missing loved ones. But one of the frustrations was a holdup at the morgue. Some were told that they may have to wait for two weeks before they can visit the morgue to search for relatives.
A local coroner said that this will change for some Friday as some people will be allowed into the morgue to identify family members if they know unique characteristics such as tattoos.
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon said the sheer magnitude of the storm has made the process of identifying victims difficult and will mean that some of the bodies will have to be identified by DNA.
"This is not a series of bodies lying in a row that are easily identifiable. There are pieces of folks," Nixon told CNN's Anderson Cooper. "There are very, very difficult scenes. It's not as easy as walking down a row and being able to instantly identify."
And many of the people who survived the powerful storm had stories to tell.
Aaron Cox said after the storm, he frantically tried to find his sister.
Unlike many others in Joplin, Cox said he found his sister while frantically searching through leveled streets that were barely recognizable.
"I've lived in Joplin my entire life. But everything was so leveled. You had no idea where you were... With the street signs gone. There was no houses, no trees, no nothing," said Cox, who documented his search for his sister on video.
"It was just completely barren."
source: http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/05/27/missouri.tornado/
