Tornado survivors got down to the grim business of cleaning up what little was left of their communities after storms smashed through the American plains and south, killing at least 22 people in three states. At least 15 people died in southwestern Missouri. In the fading mining town of Picher, Oklahoma, at least six people were killed, and at least one person died in storms in Georgia. A sense of inevitability appeared to grip residents as they picked through the remnants of their homes. The lead and zinc mines that made Picher a booming town of about 20,000 in the mid-20th century closed decades ago; leftover waste has turned the area into an environmental disaster and a superfund site. Many families have moved away to escape the lead pollution, taking advantage of state and federal buyouts in recent years. Piles of mine waste, or chat, have long towered over the town across a highway from the devastated neighbourhood; they're now peppered with debris from homes flattened by the tornado. The tornado could be the ultimate incentive for those 800 or so residents who have been reluctant to leave, said John Sparkman, head of the local housing authority.