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.

Over a hundred are dead in the wake of a tornado that ripped through Joplin, Mo.Sunday evening. Hundreds more are still missing, and families and friends are desperately trying to find their loved ones. Scott Meeker, enterprise editor for the Joplin Globe, set up a Facebook page to help people find missing loved ones. He shares some of the heart wrenching stories.

The tornado that churned through Joplin Missouri on Sunday left three schools in rubble. School was out at the time the twister hit, but District officials estimate that 3,000 of Joplin's 7,800 students were in the path of destruction, and many teachers are still trying to account for their students — reaching out, says Kindergarten teacher Susan Moore, "through facebook, phone banks, texting... any way we can." Rich Oppel has been reporting on the search for our partner 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.

The Army Corps of Engineers blew up a section of a Mississippi River levee to try to protect an Illinois town from rising flood waters. As a result, nearly 130-thousand acres of Missouri farmland were flooded. Amanda Jones lives in Dexter, MO. She says that her main concern is the explosives that are being used in order to wipe out the levee.

Republicans are implementing different strategies in different states to challenge key parts of health care reform, specifically the part says, if you don't have insurance, you must buy it by 2014. In Missouri, there will be a ballot in the primaries today, and in Virginia, a judge has allowed the state's attorney general to file suit in court.