9 final NZealand earthquake victims declared dead (AP)

WELLINGTON, New Zealand – Nine final victims of New Zealand's devastating earthquake were declared dead Monday, ending an agonizing wait for families of people whose remains have never been identified in the wreckage.

Even DNA testing proved unable to identify nine of the 181 victims killed in parts of the city of Christchurch that were ruined in the Feb. 22 quake, so the government set up a special coroner's inquest to examine other evidence.

Chief coroner Neil MacLean made his official finding of death for nine missing people who have not been located and whose mobile phones, bank accounts and passports have not been used. He concluded they died from traumatic injuries as a result of the quake.

MacLean said their families deserved closure. The nine were six women and three men. Four were Chinese and one Filipino. Others were born in Peru and Russia.

Witnesses reported seeing all nine in the Canterbury Television Building before the earthquake, but no one had seen any of them since. A total of 115 lives were lost in the CTV building, which totally collapsed and burned.

The magnitude 6.3 earthquake is one of New Zealand's worst disasters. Some 10,000 houses and nearly 1,000 downtown commercial buildings will have to be demolished and some parts of suburban Christchurch likely will have to be abandoned altogether.

The quake is New Zealand's most expensive natural disaster, costing an estimated $15 billion.

Police earlier identified 172 victims and told the inquest they had names for another nine people but any remains of them recovered were too incomplete to be identified forensically.

Fingerprints, dental remains, pathological examinations and DNA analysis were among the methods unable to identify the nine, Detective Inspector Paul Kench said.

"To say that this is an extraordinary type of inquiry is an understatement," MacLean told the hearing.

The six women MacLean ruled dead were: Jinyan Leng, 30, Xiujuan Xu, 47, Didi Zhang, 23, and Xiaoli Zhou, 26, of China; Rhea Mae Sumalpong, 25, of the Philippines; and Elsa Torres De Frood, 53, a Peru-born New Zealand resident.

The men were: Matthew Lyle Beaumont, 31, and Shawn Lucas, 40, of Christchurch; and Valeri Volnov, 41, a Russian-born New Zealand resident.

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Iowa county declared disaster area after tornadoes

Wave of tornadoes sweeps across IowaSTORY HIGHLIGHTSNEW: Red Cross liaison: Mapleton, Iowa, is "a disaster"Red Cross sets up shelters in two towns hit by tornadoes Storm chasers record tornado heading toward MapletonIowa governor declares disaster after tornado hits Monona CountyRELATED TOPICSTornadoesIowa (CNN) -- Emergency crews early Sunday sifted through the wreckage left behind by a wave of tornadoes that swept across Iowa before midnight.

One of the twisters caused enough damage to prompt Iowa Gov. Terry E. Branstad to issue a disaster proclamation in Monona County, according to a statement released by the governor's office.

The proclamation allows officials to use state funds to help.

Authorities said the extent of the damage is unclear because the twister struck at night. Stefanie Bond, a public information officer for the state's Homeland Security & Emergency Management Division, said the National Guard is in Mapleton. Bond also said that natural gas service has temporarily been shut off in the city.

Amateur video recorded by storm chasers shows a large funnel cloud spinning across a flat terrain outside Mapleton.

In the background, a passenger can be heard exclaiming, "It's going to hit that town! ... Mapleton's in big trouble!"

Bruce Spence, a Red Cross government liaison, told CNN that as of Sunday morning there had been no reports of deaths or injuries in Mapleton. However, the damage to the town was "extensive," Spence said.

"The whole town is without power. Main Street is a disaster," Spence said. "They've shut down the town. As we speak, I'm looking down one of the residential streets. There's debris all over, trees are down."

"This isn't going to get fixed soon," Spence said.

The National Weather Service in Des Moines reported tornado sightings by storm chasers and trained spotters in as many as 11 towns and cities northern and west central Iowa over a four-hour period Saturday night.

At least three of the twisters, including the Mapleton tornado, caused significant damage, according to Frank Boksa, a National Weather Service meteorologist.

In Early, a town of 1,600 residents, a tornado ripped roofs off buildings and homes and uprooted large trees, authorities said. There were no reports of injuries in that town. In Schaller, a twister knocked down a dozen trees and felled multiple power poles, the weather service reported.

Tammie Pech, a Red Cross spokeswoman, said the agency was opening shelters in Mapleton and Early to take in storm victims. Only four people slept in the Mapleton shelter overnight Sunday, Spence said. Most displaced residents opted to stay with family and friends, he said.

However, Spence said the Red Cross was preparing to provide meals to hundreds of Mapleton residents on Sunday.

Along with Mapleton and Early, the National Weather Service also reported major damage in Nemaha, possibly from a tornado.

Boksa said the storms originated in eastern Nebraska and followed a warm front across northern Iowa.

"I think the tornadic threat is diminishing now," Boksa said early Sunday.

CNN's Greg Morrison and Leslie Tripp contributed to this report

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