Did anyone die in the Joplin tornado?
2011 Joplin tornado
Overall, the tornado killed 158 people (with an additional three indirect deaths), injured some 1,150 others, and caused damages amounting to a total of $2.8 billion. It was the deadliest tornado to strike the United States since the 1947 Glazier–Higgins–Woodward tornadoes, and the seventh-deadliest overall.
Joplin High School
On May 22, 2011, a tornado that killed 161 people in Joplin extensively damaged the high school and Franklin Tech. The high school's graduation ceremonies had just taken place about three miles away on the Missouri Southern State University campus shortly before the tornado struck.
According to principal Kerry Sachetta, "You see pictures of World War II, the devastation and all that with the bombing. That's really what it looked like. I couldn't even make out the side of the building. It was total devastation in my view. I just couldn't believe what I saw." In the weeks after the tornado, it was determined that the campus was irreparable and would need to be completely rebuilt. 
Planning for a temporary school began four days after the May 22 tornado. School officials announced in June 2011 that juniors and seniors in the 2011-12 class (and possibly later) would attend classes in a section of Northpark Mall. Classes began in the renovated former Shopko location as scheduled on August 17, 2011. 