May 22, 2011...one month later

An F-5 tornado hit the center of my hometown, Joplin, MO, on May 22, 2011 causing billions of dollars in damage.  The night it happened I couldn't believe the images I was seeing online.  It was impossible to really understand what had happened and for me to even believe it as a reality.  How could something like this happen to my hometown?  How was it even possible that there was so much damage? 

[ I was never more relieved to hear that my parents were ok (which I actually heard at the same time as I heard about the tornado). I had just talked to them that afternoon to wish them a happy 35th anniversary! They were actually at Red Lobster for their anniversary dinner when the tornado came through town. The RL staff had escorted them to the cooler so they could ride out the storm. I'm thankful that Red Lobster ended up not having any damage - my parents only had a broken back window in their car. (It took them about an hour to get home that night, instead of 20 minutes.) ]

I didn't sleep much that night (it didn't help that Chris was out of town).

It was hard for any of it to process the next day, the day after that, and the day after that. I couldn't stop looking at images and watching videos that I found online. I "liked" a couple of the tornado recovery pages so I could keep up-to-date with the recovery efforts. I was trying to find a time to travel down to Joplin to hug my family and help out in some way.

Then I found a time that I could go when work was really slow. And my brother was even able to go down with me, keep me company on the drive, and volunteer with me. (I wanted to go as soon as possible because I had a feeling that I would be going to work at CAT soon.)

I am thankful for the time that I was able to spend in Joplin (got there on June 5th and left on the 9th). It was difficult to see in person how the town is hurting and trying to recover, but at the same time it was exactly what my heart and mind needed. I broke down crying in the car (while my mom and I were driving through the worst of it for the first time) when we were at the top of a hill by St. John's and were overwhelmed by a panoramic view of horrible destruction. Being in an area of such destruction is indescribable. Everything I knew of the area was turned upside down. The hospital structure was still standing but unsafe. The shelters and mature trees in Cunningham Park was just gone. Only a basketball hoop and the brick sign remained. Only the trunks of some trees remained in the nearby neighborhoods. Debris was everywhere. Street names spray painted on random pieces of material or the pavement. As we drove down 26th St...my old orthodontist office was gone. So many houses just leveled. Some walls on some houses remained but houses upon houses were destroyed to the point of being unlivable.

Then we came up on St. Mary's Church where much of the building was destroyed but the cross remained.

This is what I always turn back to when I think about the tornado...God still remains in the midst of death and destruction. His goodness is still evident. His presence can still be felt. He has never left the people of Joplin. I've heard so many miraculous stories come from this event. People that stepped into help others. People that miraculously survived even after being picked up by the tornado and landing down the street from where they started.

God's love is being shown everyday by the volunteers that showed up to help with relief efforts. This time is so impressionable on the residents that were effected. I think God uses situations like this as an opportunity for revitalization and a time to turn people towards Him. I pray that people who have lost everything realize that this world truly is temporary and that God is their only hope.

Here are only some of the pictures that my family and I have captured. Follow the links below for more.

At the entrance of my parents neighborhood

the storm was so strong that it removed bark from trees (pic near high school)

near 27th and Joplin St. - old J-town/Salvation Army/IGA building in distance

destroyed classrooms of high school in A hall

remains of Dillons grocery store

view down 26th St. near hospital

looking down W. 29th St. (neighborhood we used to live in)

childhood home (my parents moved away from there 2 years ago)

end of 29th St. (looking off to Schifferdecker)

RV on top of Teeter's old house on 29th St.

view of huge area of destruction off to the west of high school

looking east down 26th St. - you can see St. Mary's Church in the distance plus remains of Dr. Baker's old office and nursing home

tornado twisted sheet metal around trees

brick eagle still remains on the exterior of the high school

Go here to see the pictures that I posted to Picasa. My parents took these pictures.

Go here to see the pictures that I posted on Facebook (that are different from the Picasa pics).

The people of Joplin are resilient and strong but this situation wears on them financially, emotionally and physically. Please continue to pray for recovery efforts and the long road ahead of repairing and rebuilding. Only God can give the strength to continue on day after day to overcome something like this. Even those who are unharmed and have an undamaged house have been effected in some way by the aftermath of the storm.