Joplin, MO tornado

[shmoov69]

Hopefully there is not anyone on here from Joplin, MO because about 1/3 of the city got destroyed last night from a monster tornado. It is about an hour west of me and after seeing the pics and video, it blows my mind! So far 90 CONFIRMED dead and I'm sure there will be alot more in the days to come. They said it was about 1/2 mile wide and 6 miles long on the ground. I have roofed a bunch of buildings down there that are hammered from what it looks like, actually I got a crew down there today tarping a building that didn't get destroyed.

Along with all that devastation, it is pouring down rain now and in middle of a STRONG thunderstorm. I can't imagine being in middle of all of it!
Prayers for all affected!

[John Wright]

The pics that I saw of that area were awful....prayers sent for those in that MO town.

[John Wright]

Here's YT vid
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[John Wright]

more pics
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif


:Edit:....something is wrong with the facebook link...sorry, it was working earlier this morning
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...12588545439089

[moreHP]

Thats just incredible. What a horrible year for tornados. Best wishes to everybody down there.

[dropit69]

WOW i seen those pics on tv and was floored .We had one go thru my area last year but only destroyed a few homes i cant believe this one..My thoughts and Prayers go out to the town of Joplin..

[Bigblue73]

Sorry to hear about your buildings Jimmy. Prayers to those trying to cope with this event. I sounds like we are in for the same types of strong storms for the next 2 or 3 days.

[MoonMan]

My best friend is from Joplin, lives in St. Louis now, but his mom, dad and sister are still there. Luckily non of them were hurt and his sisters house only sustained minimal damage.

There have been an unbelievable amount of natural disasters this year. My prayers are with all affected...the news stops covering these events after a days but for the families that lose everything they have to rebuild for months/years.

[Tony_SS]

My brother in law survived the tornado.... reports of damage are just devastating.. no power, no hospital, etc.

[shmoov69]

I got some pics from my guys today...amazing!! Just total devastation!! They said there were people just wandering around in the rain in a total daze. I can't imagine the feelings of loosing everything but the clothes on your back. No wheels, no phone, no freaking pillow to lay your head!! Then you can't even find the rest of your family and don't even know if they're alive! Then it storms ALL day on top of it all! I am on my way there to try to unload a semi trailer full of living supplies for a church.

They said the "debris cloud" was over 18,000' tall!! There was debris here on some roofs and in yards an hour away! Supposidly 120ish dead now. My guess will be over 250 when it is done. Sad.

[Tony_SS]

The news will stop reporting on this in a couple days... but families and business will take months and years to recover..

good job helping out Jimmy.

[shmoov69]

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/05/tornado-damaged-joplin-from-above/100073/

There is still a reported 1,200-1,500 MISSING. I know of a BUNCH of stories of people being sucked out of cars and houses and such while their parent/friend/family member was trying to hold on to them.
I can't imagine. Some of the pics some friends have taken look like some of the vehicles must've went a mile in the air before slamming back to the ground. One pic had a 2 1/2 ton delivery truck wrapped around a tree to where the front tire was touching the rear duals....amazing!

[shmoov69]

Well, I spent all day in Joplin cutting downed trees and dragging them to piles in front of the houses to be hauled off or burn piles behind them. But we worked in the "outskirts" of the massive damage. The areas we were today probably had 10% of the houses rebuildable. It appears that they found some more bodies from what the energy was around a few of the houses and buildings.
I must say that photos do NOTHING in explaining the TOTAL devastation of portions of the city. There is some spots that when you look to the horizon in all directions, it is practically leveled. The industrial area behind Home Depot looks like a giant construction landfill/scrapyard with piles of steel and debris EVERYWHERE. And there just has to be people in some of those piles.....just has to be!
I talked to a police officer there and he showed me a pic of a 2x4 ran thru a concrete curb that was 12" thick and about 8" tall......about 5' thru, and didn't break the top of the curb!!! Crazy!! He also said that alot of the people that are unidentified are that way because most of them are totaly unrecognizable, because of the immense road rash and missing parts. Imagine falling off a motorcycle at 200+mph, with no leathers or helmet, on concrete and in a forest...that's how he said some of them look. He said he is used to "thumping people on the head for being stupid", he didn't sign up for finding body parts and baby parts scattered.
So in saying all this, they REALLY need prayer and anything else you could do to "help". The families affected and the immense guilt that some of them are giong to experience, if they are not aleeady The volunteers for safety and blessings, and the responders for what they are finding and seeing. They will be remembering those images for many years to come.

[1968CamaroSS_Sam]

All of these disasters are sad. My prayers go out to all of the people. God bless them and hopes of peace in their hearts.

[MrQuick]

I could not believe the devastation and very heart broken by the stories of great loss. Fathers loosing entire families.

Be safe everyone. We had some nasty looking weather passing today headed east.