JOPLIN, Mo (Reuters) – President Barack Obama said on Sunday afternoon that the tornado that hit this city of 50,000 people a week ago was a tragedy that will require a national and long-term response.
"We're going to be here long after the cameras leave," he said, referring to federal support for rebuilding efforts that he predicted would be "a tough, long slog."
Obama toured a disaster scene where crushed cars, piles of wood, clothing and a broken dishwasher lay helter-skelter amid the rubble on lots where houses once stood.
Later he spoke at a memorial service at Missouri Southern State University.
The city also planned a moment of silence on Sunday, precisely one week after the deadly tornado struck, killing at least 139 people and destroying parts of the town.
Missouri state officials said on Sunday they had 146 sets of human remains from the tornado, up from 142 on Saturday, but they did not change the death toll from Saturday's 139. There is a chance that remains of one person are in more than one set, state officials say.
An official list of 87 names was released of victims who have been positively identified and whose relatives have been notified.
Forty-three people were listed as unaccounted for, although officials said that number included four persons reported as deceased by their families but for whose deaths official confirmation was still underway.
The tornado was rated an EF-5, or the strongest possible, and the deadliest single twister in the United States since 1947.
Standing amid the wreckage, Obama told reporters after meeting survivors on Sunday that he had heard some "harrowing stories" but also some "miraculous ones."
He said he had spoken with an 85-year-old man who had just taken a chicken pot pie out of the oven when the storm was approaching.
"He went into the closet and came out without a scratch," Obama said.
Some had criticized today's presidential visit as a distraction from more important work on the ground.
But Darrin Pitts, a 31-year-old student at West Governor's University in Joplin, disagreed.
"After everything that's happened, that I've been living in all week, it was only right to do something," Pitts said.
"It shows national support to the people who've lost everything."
TOLL MAY RISE
There is a good chance the death toll will rise because of the number known to be still missing, and as more bodies are found in the clearing of rubble from areas flattened by the storm.
Some families have expressed frustration at the slow pace of identifying the victims and releasing the remains. Families have not been allowed to enter the morgue to view and identify the remains.
Authorities have defended that policy as necessary to be sure that no mistakes are made.
"A year from now, two years from now, those loved ones will want to be sure that the person they buried is truly their mother, their father, their daughter, their son," Andrea Spillars, Missouri Deputy Director of Public Safety, has said.
Speaking on CBS TV's "Face the Nation" on Sunday morning, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon said he was sure the city would be rebuilt despite efforts to cut government budgets in the face of deficits.
"I'm confident we'll find the resources to get this done from whatever method it takes. We've had an unbelievable outpouring of private donations already, and I have a great deal of experience with our federal partners," Nixon said
"When you come to priorities, when God chooses your town and takes it away from you, then the people of Missouri and the people of America are going to do everything within our power to make sure we help rebuild."
On his Sunday visit, Obama vowed to cut through any federal red tape to help with rebuilding Joplin.
Mary Gillis, a 40-year-old high school teacher from Rolla, Missouri whose son lost his apartment in last week's tornado, said Obama's visit provided "a sense of closure to those who were affected and help to reunite the community."
Ashlee Wheeler, a 22-year-old telemarketing worker from Seneca, Missouri who has been in town to help sort through the donations pouring into the city, said she hopes the country will continue paying attention long after Obama's gone.
"The people of Joplin need us right now," she said, "they need our help."
(Additional reporting by Elliott Blackburn and Megan Gates; Writing by Jerry Norton; Editing by James B. Kelleher)
