A Samaritan’s Purse Disaster Relief Unit is on the way to Joplin, Missouri, to help victims of the massive tornado that tore through the city on Sunday, causing severe damage and killing at last 116 people.

Our staff arrived on Monday to assess damage. Our team determined that we will be able to help, and identified a church to host our staff and volunteers. We will be based at Forest Park Baptist Church. We are asking for volunteers to help with this response, and expect to begin working in storm-damaged neighborhoods by helping storm victims salvage valuable possessions, remove fallen trees and debris, and make emergency repairs.

One of our Disaster Relief Units helping with our response in Alabama wrapped up its work in Birmingham Sunday, and is moving to Missouri.

GET INVOLVED: Click here and choose "U.S. Disaster Relief" to volunteer in Missouri.

The twister ripped through a densely populated part of the city, destroying or damaging as many as a quarter of the buildings in the southwest Missouri city of about 50,000 people. Much of the city's south side was leveled, with churches, schools, businesses and homes reduced to ruins.

City Manager Mark said the tornado cut a path nearly six miles long and more than a half-mile wide through the center of town. It hit a hospital packed with patients and a commercial area, numerous smaller businesses and restaurants, and a grocery store. Jasper County emergency management director Keith Stammer said an estimated 2,000 buildings were damaged.

Authorities warned that the death toll is likely to climb as search and rescuers continue their work.

Samaritan’s Purse has responded to two other major storms within the past month. We sent three Disaster Relief Units when a series of violent tornadoes ripped across the heart of North Carolina in April. Two units were dispatched to Alabama when devastating twister hit Alabama in late April. We are continuing to work in the Tuscaloosa area.