Joplin, Missouri was practically wiped off the face of the earth last Sunday. The tales coming out of this town are heartbreaking. I have never heard such tales of horror. Now this town braces for another round of bad weather. Surely this town won’t get hit a second time.
Of particular interest is the story of the graduate, on the way home from graduation, who was sucked out of his family car and has not been seen since. What does a tornado do with people? Are people dumped down, miles from home?
This spring has been a nightmare, between Tuscaloosa and Joplin, the two areas hardest hit. These locations are not the only areas hit and not the only areas where people have lost their lives, but their names will be synonymous with the Titanic after the dust settles. Flooding is a horrible problem for those living along the Mississippi River. Billions of dollars have been lost in crops, homes,, human life. Weather predictors say 18 hurricanes will be nameable. That’s a lot of hurricanes.
Until man can control his environment, we will always be at the mercy of Mother Nature. And yes, she is still a bitch. We can put men and women in space. We can predict hurricanes. We cannot control volcanoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, flooding (to some degree) lightning or tornadoes. We are at their their mercy and may always be.
Towns like Joplin simply make me speechless.
We have found out that everyone in our family survived but they all lost their homes. They lived only a couple of blocks from St. John’s Hospital Center, and their homes were directly in the path of the tornado as it swept down on the hospital. We haven’t gotten all the details yet, but, considering that Mrs. W’s cousin is a teacher, he and his wife were probably at the Joplin High School graduation ceremony rather than at home when the tornado struck. That could have saved their lives. The cousin was a math teacher at Joplin High School, and it is likely that the graduate who was sucked out of the sunroof of the family vehicle was one of his students. In any case, the entire family has reportedly been put up in a hotel turned shelter. Just cannot imagine it. They lost their homes, their entire neighborhood, and the school where they worked — all in a matter of minutes.
Found out watching the City Council meeting last night that City Manager Larry Hughes’ mother, sister and nephew all lost their homes and everything they own in Joplin. From the way he described it today, they are blessed to be alive. Imagine holding the door shut in an interior room and feeling the entire house around you being sucked away.
On a more positive note, another class of CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) volunteers graduated from their course work in the City. Trained CERT volunteers in your neighborhood can mean a big difference in the time after a disaster when you’re waiting for help to arrive. CERT is to emergency management like Neighborhood Watch is to the police. Thank goodness people step forward to volunteer and be trained.
Wolverine, I’m happy to hear all your family members are safe even if they’ve lost everything. I’m very sorry.
Cindy, I’ll also plug for those interested and capable the Virginia Defense Force is always looking for Virginian’s to step up and volunteer to serve the Commonwealth. If you have a skill they can put it to good use or get you trained up on something that may be of interest to you (I learned to be a radio operator). Especially with our local National Guard forces deployed it’s good to know that we have a ready reserve of volunteers ready to help.
This is not ending by any means. Just heard that there was a huge tornado, possibly EF5, passing through the northern outskirts of Oklahoma City, plus a couple of other twisters touching down in Oklahama and Kansas. No firm data on casualties or damage yet, although there are reports of cars having been tossed about on I-40 in Oklahoma. Fortunately the forecasters and the warning systems are out front on these.
The TV is down-right scary. I can’t imagine anything so horrible. Wolverine, keep us posted on Mrs. W’s family. Are you starting a fund for them? If so, we could post it here or a paypal.
@Cindy, Thanks for sharing the Hughes news. Same thing. Let us know.
I would rather contribute directly through people I know than have it watered down with administrative costs.
Honestly, I cannot stop watching the TV. It is like the unthinkable has happened.
Red Cross info:
To make a financial donation, visit http://www.redcross.org, call 1-800-RED CROSS or text the REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation. Contributions also may be sent to the local American Red Cross chapter at P.O. Box 83267,
maybe the preacher was correct – he just confused Earthquakes with Tornado’s
http://blogs.forbes.com/rickungar/2011/05/27/deadly-tornados-reveal-the-failure-of-todays-gop-ideology/
Joplin should not be depending on Eric Cantor, Majority Leader in the House. He and others of his ilk are prepared to tell Joplin to stuff it. Nothing is too good for Joplin and that apparently what conservatives are prepared to give them–nothing.