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Stamford Based AmeriCares Helping Tornado Victims In Joplin, MO

STAMFORD,CT (WCBS 880/AP) – Stamford-based AmeriCares has been sending relief to flood and tornado stricken states in the south and Midwest.

Emergency relief workers from AmeriCares are on the ground in Joplin, Missouri, which was devastated by an EF-5 tornado on Sunday. That tornado was the nation's single deadliest tornado since the National Weather Service started keeping records in 1950.

Click here to learn more about AmeriCares.

One of the critical needs of those who have lost their homes and everything in them, is medicine. Jessica Ginger, an AmeriCares relief worker in Joplin, says antibiotics and tetanus vaccines are on high demand in the hard-hit city.

WCBS 880's Fran Schneidau reports: AmeriCares Sets Up Temporary Clinics For Joplin Tornado Victims

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"On the radio, they are advertising for everybody to go get tetanus shots," Ginger told WCBS 880's Fran Schneidau. "Walking around in the rubble is a high risk."

Ginger says people are able to shower at the local university and restaurants are handing out food.

She also says high marks go to the city's disaster management team. "In my eyes, very organized," she said. "As organized as it can possibly be."

Sunday's storm killed 125 people in Joplin. On Wednesday, more storms followed a deadly outbreak of violent weather a day earlier in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Kansas that also killed at least 16 people.

What do you think about the Midwest tornadoes? Let us know in our comments section.

(TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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