Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Tribute to My Hometown: Joplin, MO

For those of you who have been living in a hole, a massive tornado ripped through Joplin, MO on Sunday.  My mom and step-dad were at church.  I was in another town at the time.  They moved everyone to the basement.  Thank God the church was spared.  They came straight home, said they saw a few trees on the ground, but they had no idea of the devestation that had taken place just blocks from where they were.  The phones weren't working, so we couldn't contact anyone for the longest time.  It was a long and anxious night before we found out everyone in our family was safe.  Too bad I can't say the same for their homes.  Every single one of them had damage to their houses.

I watched it on the news and couldn't believe what I was seeing.  I couldn't even tell what street Diane Sawyer was standing on as she reported on what they think was an F-5 tornado.  The high school where my best friend graduated from is gone.  Wal-marts, where we stop to shop on our way to work almost every day, is also gone.  So are several fast food places and homes.  The hospital was ripped apart, and people had to evacuated during the storm.  They still don't know how many people are dead.  So many are still missing.

It's at times like these that you see the true hearts of people.  There are so many people out there helping to find missing people, clearing trees, taking in food and water to those effected, and repairing damage to homes.  One business in town just gave a million dollars to the Red Cross to help out.  Let's all say a prayer tonight for those who have lost homes and family to this tragic event, and remember to pray for those who have left their own homes to come here and help out strangers just because they felt the need pressed onto their hearts. 

We see the aftermath of tornadoes all the time on the news, but it's different when it happens to your hometown.  It's hard to watch the news.  You don't ever think it will happen to you or to your town... then it does.  When you go to bed tonight, be thankful that your family is safe and be grateful for your home because there are so many people out there right now with no idea of where they are going to live. 

When I remember growing up in Joplin, I think about hanging out at the mall (it wasn't hit), going to school, seeing movies at the local theater.  Once I walked from 2nd street to 32nd street with a friend of mine to visit her mom in the hospital.  I remember cruising down Main Street on Saturday night.  So many memories.  Now Joplin will never be the same again.  Very sad.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's good to hear that your family is alright. I know exactly how you feel.

I have quite a bit of family in Japan so when the earthquakes and tsunamis happened...well...I was extremely broken up. After days of trying to get into contact with everyone I discovered that 3 family members were missing but the others were safe despite loosing everything. Luckily, a week later the authorities were able to locate my 3 missing family members and they were alright but they lost a lot of co-workers and friends in the devastation. It's true that in times like these that we see where a person's heart lies.

My prayers go out to the families in Joplin.

-Mocha from A Cupcake and A Latte: YA Reads, Reviews & More!.

Kasi Blake said...

Glad your family made it through okay. They are still looking for dead bodies here, but everyone in our family is accounted for. There's only been one reported deceased person from our church. I expect there will be more because it is a huge church.

Nancy Beck said...

K.C.,

Thank goodness they're okay. :-( Sick, sick stuff; and from what I heard, Joplin was *still* getting hit with rain (talk about rubbing salt into the wound).

The foundation I currently work at has sent volunteers and others there to help with a lot of different things.

Besides helping others being the right and decent thing to do, it's good karma, and I think that karma comes back to you, good or bad.