Joe Biden commemorated those who died in the tragic Joplin, Mo., tornado during a recent speech. He expressed his sympathy for the "161,000 brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, grandparents lost."
Trouble is, that's 160,839 more fatalities than previously reported, according to The Weekly Standard. The entire population of Joplin was reported as 50,789 in 2013.
Reuters reported that far fewer were thought to be victims of the storm until the vice president released his estimate.
The death toll from the May 22 tornado in Joplin, Mo., has been revised down to 161 with the discovery that one assumed victim died of other causes.
The city said in a statement that Kenneth J. Henson, a resident of Ottawa County, Oklahoma, did not die in the tornado. Jasper County Coroner Rob Chappel discovered the error while he was helping other officials compile a list of tornado victims for a six-month memorial service, the city said.
"Through this recent review, we are confident that the current list of 161 is accurate," the city said. The city gave no explanation for the Henson mix-up, and Chappel could not be immediately reached for comment Saturday.
The vice president did not reveal the information that lead him to revise the death toll upward. In 2013, the population of Joplin was reported as 50,789.