The latest local news, weather and high school sports in and around Columbia and Jefferson City

Update Wednesday June 1 at 10:10 a.m.:

Governor Jay Nixon says waste haulers will begin Wednesday to remove the Joplin tornado debris.

Environmental Agency officials say the debris must be handled carefully because it could contain asbestos, which was used in the construction of some older buildings.

The tornado damaged or destroyed more than 8,000 buildings in Joplin.

Governor Nixon will visit the Joplin Career Center Wednesday afternoon to announce details of the Missouri Disaster Recovery Jobs Program. That program will provide temporary clean-up and humanitarian jobs to more than 400 Missouri residents.

As of May 31, 6,842 Jasper County households have registered with FEMA. The organization approved $8,255,977.30 for Jasper County. 

In Newton County 314 households registered with the FEMA hotline. FEMA approved $305,730.66 for those applicants.

Original Story:

It’s been just more than a week since a tornado destroyed at least 30 percent of Joplin and devastated residence, but rebuilding is beginning.

The Home Depot has a temporary site where people are streaming to buy lumber, roofing and other supplies to rebuild homes. The Home Depot itself is rebuilding a temporary site after its building was destroyed.

Scott Vorhees, 35, is an attorney in Joplin who was away with his daughters when the storm hit. They returned to find their two-story home destroyed. He’s already met with a contractor and hopes to start building soon. He said it was important to see rebuilding going on and help the town get momentum to get going again.

In an update on Tuesday, officials said fewer than a dozen people remain on the missing list that once topped 230 names.

146 sets of remains were taken to a temporary morgue, but officials said some of those could be from one person. It’s not yet known how many people died, but officials have notified next of kin for 120 deaths. Identities of 19 killed were confirmed Monday.

Cleanup efforts continue in Joplin. Government officials said the rubble will be taken to three landfills – two in Kansas and one in Lamar. Gov. Jay Nixon announced Tuesday that the federal government will pick up 90 percent of the cost of debris removal and that the Missouri National Guard is leading the cleanup effort.

The tornado damaged or destroyed more than 8,000 buildings.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)