The one year anniversary of the Joplin, Missouri tornado will be May 21, 2012. Chuck and I volunteered some time to help in the Joplin, Missouri Tornado Relief last year but I never got around to posting the pictures. Chuck was able to spend two weekends in Joplin and I was went along for one weekend. It was around this time we discovered Chuck had cancer which is why the pictures never got posted. Like Chuck, I hear Joplin is recovering well.
You can see the hospital in the background (top left) which was frequently featured in the news. From this vantage point, the hospital is about a mile in the distance. This gives you some idea of the wide area of destruction. The tornado was on the ground for several miles.
Chuck and I high in the air in the bucket truck. This took some effort on my part since I am deathly afraid of heights.
I have no idea what this building was...there was just massive destruction everywhere.
This was Chuck's Grandma & Grandpa Hogan's house when he was a child. The tornado roared by about two blocks from the house but it appeared to sustain only minor damage.
This is the view at the end of Chuck's grandparents street, just two blocks away.
Burger King gone...playground intact. Weird.
More damage....
Our first trip to Joplin was about two months after the tornado, which occured May 21, 2011. The one year anniversary is fast approaching.
Anytime we travel and people discover we are from Kansas, the first question we always get is, "Have you ever seen a tornado?" The answer is yes, but only two small tornados and from a distance. After seeing this destruction, if I knew a massive tornado was headed in my direction, I believe I would get in my car and leave, if I could safely do so. These pictures are evidence very little survives an F5 tornado.
Joplin or Beruit? Much of the town appeared to have been leveled by a bomb.
All the trees were still full of debris. Amazingly, the trees were already sprouting and starting to grow green branches.
In lots of neighborhoods, nothing was left but foundations. You know a neighborhood existed at one time because there are streets and concrete slabs--very little else.
As you walk across any open area, it is covered with bits and pieces of people's lost lives. A teddy bear, an intact china tea cup, a patch off a high school letterman's jacket. The losses are just so very human and personal. When I saw this teddy bear it made me start crying.
This was the High School which had just performed it's Graduation a precious few hours before the tornado hit.
The only letters remaining of "JOPLIN HIGH SCHOOL" on the front of the building were "OP". Someone put an "H" and "E" in front and behind the letters so it read "HOPE".
The high school sustained lots of damage...
High School from a distance...
The stadium...
The interesting thing about this car was that it was so far from any road. It must have been picked up and carried at least a mile before comingto rest against this fence.
The goal posts...
This is why they always tell you to go to an interior room...
Former neighborhood wiped clean. Many people told us they could no longer drive without getting lost because so many of their former landmarks were gone. One man said he had to count streets in order to know when to turn to get to his home.
One man told Chuck he was in his house when the tornado hit and his roof was torn off. His next door neighbor landed on top of him after being sucked out of her house and then tossed into his. The only injuries sustained were from the woman's finger nails digging into his flesh to try and keep from being torn away again. Both survived with only minor injuries. He said it seemed the tornado seemed to last forever though it was probably only a few seconds.
This truck appeared to have either rolled several times or else been blown full of mud and debris.
Avast empty view where a neighbood once thrived...
The hospital...
This is the home we were assigned to help repair. The owner was home when the tornado hit. He saw the tornado was headed towards his home so grapped his little dog and chainsaw and crawled under his home. He was not hurt but his home was heavily damaged. His wife was at Wal-Mart when the tornado hit and neither knew if the other had survived for several hours. Wal-Mart sustained a direct hit and several were killed. Her car was gone and she had to walk home through all the debris field. Neither were seriously hurt.
The damaged houses all display the "X" with markings to indicate they have been searched--like everyone saw in Katrina.
The roof was lifted up then set back down. The entire house, inside and out was covered in splattered yellow insulation. The walls were off plumb by about three inches, making it seem like you were in an amusement park funhouse.
Everything in the house, including the rafters, had to be scrubbed or vacuumed.
The house across the street displayed this signage. Apparently, looting was a big problem. One man told us he was working as a security guard at a medical complex when the tornado hit destoying the building. He said within an hour, people were out with flashlights searching around the former site, looking for any controlled substances which might be obtainable. Unbelievable!
The entire roof had to be removed and replaced at the home where we were assigned to work.
More damage pictures...
The garage of the house we were working on had to be torn off and replaced as well. New concrete was poured to fix a previous problem...water had always ran in the garage.
Damage to garage on house we were working on.
View from just down the street from the house we were working on.
More damage around the corner from the house we worked on.
Lots of huge trees uprooted or snapped like twigs.
We had about 200 volonteers at the job site where we were assigned. It was over a hundred degrees so people were assigned to constantly bring cold drinks and cool cloths. They also enforced taking breaks to keep the workers from getting overheated. For safety reasons, you must wear a hard hat and safety glasses when working, as well as long pants and sturdy shoes. I noticed another volunteer group down the street in halter tops and flip flops--no hats or even sunscreen. Sadly, they didn't appear to accomplish much.
It looked like many roads had been bull dozed clear after the storm. In addition, debris was being pushed to the edge of the roads so hugh piles of trash line every roadway. People kept saying, "Oh, we've really cleaned up." I can't even image what it was like immediately after the tornado (we were there TWO months after the hit).
By the second weekend, this entire apartment complex had been bulldozed.
This strip mall was made into a drive through by the tornado.
After seeing the tornado damage, I have new respect for what a tornado can do. Living in Kansas, it sometimes seems like we are under constant tornado watches or warnings and it is easy to start to take the sirens for granted. I definately pay more attention to the weather since seeing the Joplin damage.
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