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Tornado in Joplin, MO

post #1 of 25
5/23/11 at 9:42am
Thread Starter 
I'm sure many of you have seen/read in the news about the deadly tornado that ripped apart Joplin on Sunday. Last I heard the death toll was 89 people. My boyfriend's company has a shop there, and the news is not good. One of the engineers there who he's close to lost his house, and another guy's mother in law was killed. He didn't hear a whole lot more about anyone else there because most phones and power are down, but.. not good.

So I'm asking for some of the famous TCS vibes for all the people there who may have lost loved ones and/or their homes...

Mother Nature sure is brutal this year. Vibes for all..
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post #2 of 25
5/23/11 at 9:49am
I have friends in my hot rod club in that area, too.

In addition, one of my favorite web comics is from the north side of Joplin.

Faux Pas
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post #3 of 25
5/23/11 at 9:55am
When I was in college, I lived in Joplin with cousins and did an internship at St John's Medical Ctr there. It was shocking to see the devastation as it was quite a bustling little city even back in the early 80's.

So sad.
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post #4 of 25
5/23/11 at 1:09pm
I have family that lives there / very close to there. All are accounted for and well, thank the Lord!!
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post #5 of 25
5/23/11 at 1:32pm
It's terrible,I am so sorry to everyone who has lost loved ones.xx
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post #6 of 25
5/23/11 at 2:01pm
for the folks in Joplin. and for everyone else who has been affected by the weather this spring.
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post #7 of 25
5/23/11 at 2:28pm
for everyone in Joplin it looks nasty over there
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post #8 of 25
5/23/11 at 2:34pm
mega TCS prayers and vibes for all those affected by the devastating tornadoes and floods
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post #9 of 25
5/23/11 at 2:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DarkMavis View Post

Mother Nature sure is brutal this year. Vibes for all..

Minneapolis got hit, too. This has been a horrible year for severe weather - not just tornado wise. Remember all the brutal blizzards this past winter?

I'm worried about hurricane season, which is right around the corner.

May God be with all those who were affected.
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post #10 of 25
5/23/11 at 4:20pm
The devestation from these storms is just heartbreaking. Each one seems to be a little worse than the last one. My prayers go out to everyone who has been in the path of these monstrous storms.
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post #11 of 25
5/23/11 at 6:49pm
I live very close to Joplin. Its where we do all our mall shopping, etc. and have several friends there. Have been unable to contact them yet because cell towers are all down. I just can't believe all the photo and video on television. Its completely devastating.

My mom and I were just there on Thursday, shopping at many of the stores that were destroyed, driving by St. John's hospital, and all the other areas that are just unrecognizable now.

We had a tornado touch down briefly here as well, with damage just 100 yards from my mom's house. Her power may be out for days and there are more severe storms expected for tomorrow as well as flooding from non stop rain since yesterday.

Me, Riley and Xander spent our evening yesterday in the bathtub
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post #12 of 25
5/23/11 at 7:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by AlleyGirl View Post
I live very close to Joplin. Its where we do all our mall shopping, etc. and have several friends there. Have been unable to contact them yet because cell towers are all down. I just can't believe all the photo and video on television. Its completely devastating.

My mom and I were just there on Thursday, shopping at many of the stores that were destroyed, driving by St. John's hospital, and all the other areas that are just unrecognizable now.

We had a tornado touch down briefly here as well, with damage just 100 yards from my mom's house. Her power may be out for days and there are more severe storms expected for tomorrow as well as flooding from non stop rain since yesterday.

Me, Riley and Xander spent our evening yesterday in the bathtub
so scary. to all affected
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post #13 of 25
5/23/11 at 7:14pm
Many going out to all affected. This year has just been unreal weather-wise.
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post #14 of 25
5/24/11 at 5:35am
I can't get over the bad weather, first over the winter and now all the tornadoes and bad storms. We're getting warnings in PA, too, now. Sending lots of to everybody in the tornadoes' paths.

Tiff, you mentioned hurricane season. It's really scary because a lot of areas that tend to be in the paths of many hurricanes have already had an unbelievable amount of rain. It's not just the wind now; it's all that moisture that a hurricane brings, too. It's so scary with threats of even more flooding once the season begins.
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post #15 of 25
5/24/11 at 5:37am
You know, I always complain about our winters, but really I should be thankful that we don't have too much extreme weather here at all. Thinking of those affected and their families.
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post #16 of 25
5/24/11 at 2:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by KittKatt View Post

Minneapolis got hit, too. This has been a horrible year for severe weather - not just tornado wise. Remember all the brutal blizzards this past winter?

I'm worried about hurricane season, which is right around the corner.

May God be with all those who were affected.
I have seen the devastation on Fox News and it is shocking and I feel so, so sad for the people and the losses they are going through. I also heard that this year they are predicting 18 hurricanes instead of 11. How can they know . Many prayers I will say for those poor people
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post #17 of 25
5/24/11 at 3:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Feralvr View Post
I have seen the devastation on Fox News and it is shocking and I feel so, so sad for the people and the losses they are going through. I also heard that this year they are predicting 18 hurricanes instead of 11. How can they know . Many prayers I will say for those poor people
I don't know how they know, Lauren, but they're usually pretty accurate with the hurricane predictions. I'm prepared for it this year: I got all stocked up on the necessities, and applied for a Lowe's charge card so I could get a generator. I'm have no desire to be without one again after having gone thru Hurricanes Rita & Ike without one.
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post #18 of 25
5/24/11 at 4:00pm
Paula - I was thinking about you yesterday when the pictures started coming out of Joplin. I know you aren't all that far from there. I'm watching the news and I see tornadoes across Oklahoma right now. Please stay safe!!

I live about 2 hours north of Joplin and we're the largest city closest to Joplin. They're transporting people up here to our hospitals, and just about every TV and radio station is collecting donations to transport down there. The local animal rescue groups are also trying to get in touch with the shelters down there to see what help we can offer to them. I'll make a transportation trip if they need me to do that.

I work for Home Depot right now. The Home Depot in Joplin was leveled and a few of the employees killed during the storm. Our store is trying to get more specifics on what the employees and their families need but is already starting to collect things for them. I hear that some of the things they are asking for most often are the bare necessities: toothbrushes and toothpaste, clothing, water.

I hate when tragedy strikes, but it gives me hope in humanity when I see so many acts of giving after it happens.
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post #19 of 25
5/24/11 at 5:16pm
I can't believe this many people are near the affected area. I also grew up in Joplin. One friend lost their car and part of their house and the other lost a son. He was in a group home for developmentally disabled adults.

Still 1500 on record as unaccounted for according to fire officials. Hopefully a lot of those were people not even in town when it hit and have not come back yet or have not been allowed back into the city....

This is by far the absolute worst Spring ever.
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post #20 of 25
5/27/11 at 9:12am
i live in st. louis and i know alot of people are doing everything they can to get any type of donation to the people in joplin. we were looking at the pictures here at work on all the news stations and couldnt help but cry a little. and then 2 days later we were under warning for about 3 hours if not more with at least 5 funnels spotted in surrounding cities.
i personally am sick of this spring and cant wait for this to be over.

and i guess ill say it since no one else has...end of the world, maybe? insane to think about, i know, but since new years eve weird things have been going on..makes me worry.
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post #21 of 25
5/27/11 at 7:55pm
Just to give it some perspective, here is a map of the tornado path through the city. It literally went right down the middle and flattened everything along the way.

http://www.joplinmo.org/pdf/tornado_divisions_full.pdf

and another, interactive google map.

http://www.news-leader.com/interacti...Tornado-Damage
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post #22 of 25
5/28/11 at 8:49am
The company that I work for (Home Depot) is donating $1M to the city, and has set up a special fund for their employees to donate to where they will match their donations dollar for dollar. Those donations go directly to the people that work for my company that were affected by the tornado. Our store had a pancake breakfast yesterday where all proceeds go to those employees (I ate lots of pancakes ). They are also looking at setting up a temporary store so that people have immediate access to building materials so they can rebuild. They've committed to rebuilding a permanent store down there rather than walking away as some companies would do.

I also heard that Walmart is donating $1M to the city.

It's good to hear that they are getting some support down there.
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post #23 of 25
5/28/11 at 4:02pm
Thread Starter 
My BF's company set up a non-profit account thing where people could put in money tax-free from their paychecks which would also be matched by the company, to be donated to the employees who were affected in Joplin. That's pretty nice of them. All in all, all the employees were acounted for but about 13 or so lost their homes, and more had bad damage done.
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post #24 of 25
6/2/11 at 10:25am
Spent the day in Joplin yesterday. First volunteering at the temp animal shelter. Last count on Tuesday was: 791 displaced pets and 248 reunions, with more animals coming in daily. They are still searching and setting traps in the disaster area. Many animals also lost their lives.

Then I spent the afternoon helping my best friend's mom pack up some of the things in her house. Her house is partially collapsed and off the foundation so must be torn down and rebuilt. She was one of the lucky ones though and did not lose everything.

I really don't have any words to describe what I saw driving through Joplin. The only word that comes to mind is horrifying. All my old hangouts, the old neighborhoods, everything. Just gone. I did not take pictures as many have been doing. There was no need. I will never forget what I saw in my hometown.
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post #25 of 25
6/3/11 at 10:19am
DH brought home some pics of the Aldi store in Joplin; the only recognizable items were a couple of pieces of shelving and the baler. You always hear that if you're in a store when a tornado hits you should get into the cooler or freezer. For some reason, the manager of the Alid got himself, his cashier, and the 12 customers who were in the store INTO THE BALER! The freezer and cooler are gone; the baler made it thru.
I'm going to try to post a pic here:

For those unfamiliar with a baler, it's that great hunk of metal with the yellow gate in the center of the pic. It's probably 10 feet long and 6 feet deep. The manager saved the lives of all those people.
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