It's Sunday evening and the relaxation of the weekend is beginning to slip away. The sky is dark and there's a chance for a stormy night. But it's the south, we are used to these things. There are always warnings and maybe a few funnel like clouds but nothing tragic ever happens....I'm sure these are thoughts that went through hundreds of minds that lived in and near Joplin, MO on May 22, 2011. I too thought the exact same thing. Until the next morning I woke up to find devastating pictures all over the news. We'd heard reports the night before that there was sever damage to the city of Joplin but no one was able to actually get into the city. I remember hearing reports of the local news crew who were on their way but traffic was backed up for hours and they'd already lost contact with a photographer. The number missing was in the thousands and the number of fatalities was rising. Can you imagine the state of panic that the citizens of Joplin were in? Can you imagine trying to call a loved one but all lines are busy? Forget email because no one has power. Even trying to get a text out was impossible for a time. Just as this father tells his story of how he and his wife had left ahead of their 2 daughters from a graduation ceremony.
CNN- A Father's Story
Hearing this man's story is truly heart wrenching. The part that made me cry was when he was finally able to contact his daughters and said "Can't go home. It's not there anymore." Despite the incredible pain that you know this man went through during his time away from his daughters there was one thing he was clinging onto inside- eternal families. As soon as I heard him say those words I knew he was Mormon! I don't know if any other church believes in eternal families but it's one of the many things that I love about my religion. (And no my husband doesn't have 3-6 other wives) Knowing that when I leave this earth, I will be with my loved ones (Izzy included) forever and ever is what gives me joy and comfort in being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. (Check out this page if you want to learn more about my faith- http://mormon.org/family/) Turns out this man is the Stake President in Joplin. For those that are unfamiliar, that means he is a leader for the members of Joplin and surrounding cities. The church building in Joplin was a complete loss, but all members and missionaries survived. I believe it was on that Tuesday that we got word all members and missionaries were alive and well. Thanks to the unbelievable organization of the Church, news travels fast!
Not only did the news travel fast, but so did volunteers. A request for 200 volunteers went out to the local brethren of our Church and over 400 showed up to help the citizens of Joplin begin to pick up the pieces.
Another touching story from Joplin is the article below. It is of a guy that worked in one of the Walmart that was in Joplin.
The Best Soda I Ever Had
I also heard a story about a young man that was in the same Walmart store. This young man turned a shopping cart upside down for protection. The beam that the guy talks about falling in the article above, was the same beam that landed on top of the young man that turned the shopping cart upside. Sadly a mother and her children weren't so lucky.
One of the hospitals (I think there are 2) was severely damaged from the tornado. Here's a few pictures.
Since it was the end of May, it was graduation time. I saw a story on the news about a mother that left to go get pizza and never returned...
There was family at our church that was planning to move to Bentonville once school was out. After the storm hit they were trying to reach the mother's parents who lived about a mile and half away. Their 16 year old son ended up running to his grandparents. I can only imagine that this young man felt like he was running for not only his life, but the lives of his family members. When he arrived at his grandparents home, he found it was completely destroyed. But thankful a home can be rebuilt- his grandparents were ok.
Owners letting looters know to stay away!
Since all the street signs had been blown away, they placed stakes in the ground or spray painted the street name right on the black top.
These X's were on buildings and even some cars. The X's represented whether the home (building) had been searched for survivors. At the top of the X, the date searched was written, then I believe the address in an area, then a number followed by a D or L- meaning 0 Dead; 0 Live. As Rem drove me around taking pictures, I didn't see any homes where dead bodies were found. I was relieved.
I hope this post hasn't left you feeling sad or pity for those involved. I decided to leave a couple stories out at the last moment... I wanted to be be able to share all the touching stories that I heard. Not just the tragedies but also the heroes that have helped and are still helping Joplin rebuild. If anything, I hope this post made you thankful for the many blessings you have. :)
Below is a link to all the pictures I took in Joplin.
Joplin Photos
