Monarch Firefighters, Chesterfield Charity Respond to Joplin Tornado

Emergency personnel from and volunteers from Chesterfield-based Service International are on the ground in Joplin, MO, doing what they can to help in the aftermath of one of deadliest tornados in the U.S.

At least 122 people have died in the Joplin tornado, which struck Sunday night. Hundreds have been injured. The tornado hit St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Joplin and a major commercial area, causing significant destruction. On Tuesday, the National Weather Service upgraded the tornado's classification to the most severe level, with winds reaching up to 200 mph.

Gov. Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency in Joplin and deployed the National Guard. Missouri’s State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) is coordinating state and local responders through regional mutual aid agreements and requests filed with the agency.

Local firefighters, paramedics and rescue technicians gathered at Monday night to make the long trek to Joplin to assist in search and rescue operations in the tornado ravaged city.

Greg Brown, chief of the Eureka Fire Protection District and the coordinator for Region C mutual aid group, said there were 100 specially-trained technicians and 18 vehicles (ambulances and rescue vehicles) sent to Joplin from the St. Louis area Monday night, including six heavy rescue technicians and four K-9 units from Eureka alone.

"It really is a regional effort," Brown said. "About 25 agencies have provided assistance. We've sent 14 ambulances from the region alone."

Brown said a variety of departments are participating in the strike team deployment including Eureka, Monarch, Metro West, High Ridge, Mehlville, Affton and others.

Monarch sent seven firefighters to Joplin on Monday. Chief Clifford Biele said the district sent an Emergency Medical Services task force, including a heavy duty rescue truck. They arrived on the scene late Monday night and are currently working on search and rescue operations. Biele said the firefighters are on a two- or three-day deployment. After that, the equipment might stay in Joplin and new crews might come in.

Chesterfield-based Service International already has two people on the scene, working to identify how more volunteers could help. The charity frequently responds to natural disasters.

Lindsay Keim, a receptionist at the charity, said two Service International employees are in Joplin. When the search and rescue is complete, Keim said, Pastor Trey Perry and Mike Boeckman will call for more volunteers to aid in clean up.

It’s been a busy severe weather year for the St. Louis area.

On April 22, tornadoes hit Maryland Heights, Bridgeton and other North St. Louis counties, forced  and caused significant damage to the surrounding region. No one died in that tornado.

On New Year’s Eve, and caused major damage to area homes, businesses and churches. A she received during that tornado after winds lifted her car off the ground and threw it into a concrete median in Fenton.

NWS meteorologist Ben Miller said Missouri's tornado season is from March through June.

“But we can and do have tornadoes at other times of the year like we did on New Year’s Eve, and storms typically tend to be a lot stronger during the colder months,” he said.

Pat Guinan, a climatologist at the University of Missouri Extension’s Commercial Agriculture Program, said Missouri averages 32 tornadoes a year. He said the state’s deadliest tornado occurred in St. Louis on May 27, 1896 when 137 people were killed and 800 injured.

Listed below are Missouri tornado statistics for the last five years from the National Weather Service.

* There was one death that occured in 2011 from the New Year's Eve tornado that hit Fenton in 2010.

Patch editors Rachel Heaton and Dan Barger contributed to this report.