A big tornado hit Joplin, MO....(Part II)

8:48 pm Monday Night about 27 hours since the tornado hit Joplin, MO.

Jeremiah returned late last night and cried as he told me of the massive destruction he witnessed. Buildings turned to rubble, steel beams twisted and mangled, cars piled up 3, 4, 5 high as if someone picked them up and plopped them there. They went to the hospital first to see where they could offer their help. Unfortunately, there wasn't alot of organization and it was total chaos. There were some firefighters standing outside trying to figure out a plan of action, they directed them to the command center around the other side of the building. As Jeremiah and our friends walked toward where the firemen had directed them, they were met by a nurse who instructed them to help move some patients from the upper floors of the hospital. They moved quickly to remove patients most obese, some amputees, some wheelchair bound, it was a devastating site and a difficult task. When he returned home he was overcome with emotion for the tragedies that he witnessed in Joplin.

Today was an interesting day. Waking up this morning to hear that the death toll had risen to 89 people was kind of sobering. I knew that it would wind up being pretty high. We were listening to the police scanner app on my iphone late last night and heard them order 20 body bags....I began to sob, I had to stop listening and just go to bed. This is all too much.

Aidan had an appointment at the surgery center this morning to have tubes placed in his ears. As I drove there I couldn't help but notice how quiet the streets seemed, how dark the clouds were. The procedure was quick and we were on our way home just an hour and a half later. As we left the surgery center the sky was so dark it looked like it was nearing night time not 8:30am. Thunder was booming across the sky and as I walked to my car a light rain began to fall. I looked toward the West and all I could see was this huge wall of dark clouds...I panicked. I couldn't find my keys fast enough, rain was falling and I was just so nervous that another tornado was soon to come. I can't believe how nervous I was, it was ridiculous how I was acting. Cursing my keys for being lost in the diaper bag, frantic, praying...this is how yesterday's tornado affected me...and as I drove home I had more than one thought that I should go pick my kids up and just keep them home with me the rest of the day. I had to fight the urge several times to drive over there. Even after I was home I sat there with my keys in my hand waiting for the thunder to roar and give me an excuse to scoop up my babies and cuddle them at home with me. That reason did not come. There was no huge impending storm...my imagination was just running wild with the maybes. Every cloud looked suspect, every raindrop was one step closer to disaster.

We went to Freddie's for lunch today. Usually it's so busy with people and noise, today there were still a lot of people but everyone seemed to speak in hushed tones. The news was broadcasting reports of the devastation on the TV's in the restaurant and it seemed that the tornado seemed to be on everybody's mind. Everywhere we went it just seemed like everything was going in slow motion, like everyone was just moving a lot slower and taking in everything....even Walmart, crowded as always, just seemed to be a little quieter today.

The radio stations have been taken over by the news reports still pouring in. The death toll has risen to 116 and I expect it to continue to rise. Right now Joplin is a huge mess. People we know have lost their homes. Our Stake President has lost his home.We have lost our Stake building (a "Stake" is a group of congregations in a geographical area, in our case we belong to the Joplin, MO Stake. The Stake Center is an LDS meetinghouse designated in Joplin where all the congregations can meet together for conferences and any other stake business) The High School has suffered massive, massive damage and our Stake Center was just across the street from it. Following are some photos I gathered from various sources on Facebook to showing the High school and our church. (I believe these photos were taken by Carmen McIntyre Borup, if I am wrong please correct me...)

The High School






JOPLIN LDS STAKE CENTER





The Steeple...




Interior of the Joplin LDS Stake Center












I love how the painting of the Savior washing the disciples feet was left unharmed and is still hanging. It's amazing...it's a wonderful reminder to me that I must go forth with Christ-like love and serve the people of Joplin.


I personally have not yet ventured to Joplin nor do I plan to at this time. I'm sure that in the coming weeks and months I will be there frequently helping to clean up and rebuild where ever I am needed.

If you want to help, here is a fantastic link that lists all the places you can take supplies, all the fundraising efforts, etc.

I'm sure there will be more to say in the coming days...

A big tornado hit Joplin, MO today....

At around 4:30 I was awoken from my Sunday nap by tornado sirens. My husband was gone home teaching and the little boys were napping, the other kids were quietly playing downstairs. I picked up the baby and headed downstairs. The weather appeared mostly calm, and with the exception of that blaring tornado siren at the end of our street there didn't seem to be many signs of an impending tornado or even an impending storm. We don't have a basement so the last time we heard the sirens we gathered in a storage closet under the stairs. This time I really didn't think much of it and we just gathered in the family room to watch a movie and wait it out. The sirens continued, it rained slightly, there was some wind but really it was just a rainy day like any other.

When the tornado warning was over the girls went upstairs to play in their room. They turned on the radio to listen to a cd and noticed that the news was on the radio. Ashlynne came downstairs and said something about the news saying for everyone to get inside. She was kind of panicked. I told her the storm had passed...it was nothing. Then we all started to listen and realized they were talking about Joplin.

First we heard the Home Depot was gone...then we heard the new Walgreens was gone...then there were reports of cars overturned, trees coming out of cars, neighborhoods leveled...

From there it all went so fast! I ran downstairs to get online and check to see what I could find out. We don't have a tv so the computer was all I could use. The new reports weren't coming in fast enough. I could only get the information from twitter updates that were showing up on Google when I searched for JOPLIN TORNADO. Some of those updates said that the Hospital was on fire and that it had taken a direct hit. Another twitter update directed me to Weather.com where they had live feed of the tornado aftermath.

All I can say is WOW. There are absolutely no words to describe the devastation that was unfolding before my eyes. My heart was heavy, we all gathered around the computer to watch the live feeds from Weather.com Jeremiah received a phone call from a friend from our church and they decided to mobilize and get over to Joplin and help anyway they can. He quickly got his boots on, grabbed a hard hat, some bottled water and a jacket. Then as a family we knelt in a circle to pray for the people of Joplin, to pray for their families, to pray for Jeremiah and those that would go with them. The spirit was so strong in our home at that moment I knew that Jeremiah would be guided to help those that needed help.

I've been monitoring the damage in disbelief all evening. My only sources have been the radio, weather.com and various news reports on the web.

You hear about things like this on the news and you think wow, that is so sad and your heart goes out to them but the truth is those places are just a name, a location on the map. I don't think I ever fully understood the hearbreak caused by devastation such as this until it happened in my own backyard. Joplin is where I go to shop for groceries. Joplin is where I enjoy spending time eating, shopping and chatting with my best friends. Joplin is where just a few weeks ago we celebrated my sons 10th birthday and where we took the kids to Chuck E Cheese. Joplin is where our Stake Center is and where I've gathered for Relief Soceity meetings and Stake Conferences. In a matter of about 5 minutes that Joplin changed forever.

It's 10:08pm and Jeremiah is still gone. I received a text message from him around 9:00pm saying "No Voice. Check Email" Apparently there is little to no cell service out there and he was able to just send quick email updates through his phone.
First was an email at 8:06pm which said, "At Hopsital, There is no voice service" followed by, "...we are almost to the devestation"
The third email he sent said, "Cleared last patient off of the 6th floor"

It's now 10:14 and I just received a message from him stating that they have finished at the hospital and are heading towards Range Line. I'm not sure what that means at this point but I know that Heavenly Father is with them.

We have also received some emails about a few girls on Ashlynne's cheer squad who live in Joplin. One has lost her home completely but is safe with grandparents, the others house has received extensive damage and her fathers office was flattened, but they too are safe. Please pray for them!!!

I will likely write another post to update later....