Tornado Final Straw For Residents Of Picher, Oklahoma

What's next? Swarms of locusts?

Lead pollution and the threat of cave-ins

"The culprits of Picher's demise are the same lead and zinc mines that brought the town its prosperity and boosted its population to a high of 16,000 before World War II. But the mines were shut down in the 1970s, and all that is left in and around Picher are about 1,000 people and giant gray piles of mining waste, known locally as "chat," some hundreds of feet tall and acres wide, that loom over abandoned storefronts and empty lots.
The piles are loaded with heavy metals that have contaminated the air and the groundwater and placed the northeastern Oklahoma town in the middle of the Tar Creek Superfund Site, the largest and one of the most polluted in the country. To add to Picher's misery, a federal study released in January determined that the abandoned mines beneath the city could cause cave-ins without warning."

Tornado-ravaged Oklahoma town might not rebuild

"The tornado — spawned by storms that also killed at least 16 people in Missouri and Georgia — 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.
"I think people probably have had enough," he said. "There's just nothing to build back to any more."