Scenes from Joplin
2011 September 15
I grew up 18 miles from Joplin. This was my first time to see it since the tornado attacked. Most of the devastation can’t be represented well in pictures because, well, there’s nothing left. But here are a few shots I snapped today:
Joplin High School:
Across the street from the high school:
Further west:
All that survived of one church building
The foundation (foreground) where a nursing home stood—where eleven died instantly and from which many others who suffered injuries (including my relative Alice Cope) later died:
St. John’s Regional Hospital:
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So, so sad. You’ve known Joplin longer and better than I have, but it still makes me hurt to see these (and ever more thankful that my Neosho family are all OK).
A reminder that when the TV crews move on, devastation continues.
Thanks for the reminder Mike. A heart-warming follow-up story was the opening day of high school, which was moved to a vacant shopping center that somehow survived. One student was back at school for his senior year, but he lost both parents in the tornado.
Do you have any input on the best way to offer support Mike? Our outreach coordinator tried to make in-roads for a crew to go up and help this past summer, but it really got nowhere.
Kent, our congregation here in Arkansas has sent crews up several times, and it was coordinated through http://www.churchesofchristdrt.org.
Thanks Lisa – I appreciate it. Looks like they know what they are doing.
Oh, Mike – my heart is broken for all those who were lost in that ravaging, destructive tornado. My love and prayers go out for all, especially for you and your family for the loss of Alice Cope. Being a survivor of one of natures angry destruction, I know the strange juxtaposition of malaise to anger that survivors experience. Also, being a survivor I know how faithful God is to comfort us, to make His presence actually felt during those darkest first days. My heart’s prayers are for all who survived and ask ‘why me?’ and for their loved ones who sigh a prayer of relief and thanksgiving that their loved ones DID survive. May Joplin and all it’s extended family step onto the road to recovery quickly and may the city itself be healed as well.
Love you in Him and His love!!!
Sorry, Mike for the devastation around your home town. I sometimes feel sad at the changes I see in Abilene when I return, I can imagine what you are feeling now. We just need to remember that it is all a part of living in a fallen world and just yearn for our real home to come soon.
Mike, my current pursuit of higher education has kept me away from all the blogs I usually read, so I just now saw this. My mother’s family lived in Joplin and Neosho for decades. One of the things we had planned to do after she and my dad moved to Ark. in 2009 was make a road trip to Joplin to see some of the houses her relatives had lived in. We never made the trip, and she’s devastated to know those houses are probably gone now.