Deadliest tornado now the costliest

Jefferson City, Missouri: The cost of 30 manhole covers that got sucked away: $5,800 (Dh21,303). A new concession stand at the destroyed high school: $228,600. Shelter and care for more than 1,300 homeless pets: $372,000.

The tornado that tore through Joplin a year ago already ranks as the deadliest twister in six decades. Now it carries another distinction — the costliest since at least 1950.

Insurance policies are expected to cover most of the $2.8 billion in damage. But taxpayers could supply about $500 million in the form of federal and state disaster aid, low-interest loans and local bonds backed by higher taxes, according to records obtained by The Associated Press and interviews with federal, state and local officials.

Almost one-fifth of that money was paid to contractors who hauled off debris.

Tens of millions more dollars went to individuals for temporary housing and other living expenses in the immediate aftermath of the storm.

Additional money could help subsidise construction of a new hospital to replace one that was irreparably damaged.