Tornado in Joplin, MO

[alleygirl]

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

 

[momofmany]

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.

 

[darkmavis]

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.

 

[alleygirl]

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.

 

[libby74]

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.