Mother Nature at it again

I was in Joplin yesterday doing some mundane things. Came out of the mall about 5:30 and saw the skies, so I tuned to local radio. At the time, they were guessing that the storm was going to go about 5-6 miles north of where it actually hit. That meant I would have had to drive through it to go home, so I decided to stay around until it passed.

I went to the Target at 7th and Range Line (to give you an idea of where that is in relation to the damage, most of it was between 15th and 26th). About 20 minutes later, the managers told us to go to the back of the store by the dressing rooms. We could see the front doors from there. All of a sudden it went from gray to pitch black. Then it sounded like hail was hitting the roof. It lasted about 10-15 minutes.

When it passed, we were allowed to leave but I didn't know which way the storm tracked, so I decided to stay around. The store had backup power. The 7th and Range Line are had no damage at all. We were the lucky ones. For some reason, one traffic light was still working and it was a good thing, perhaps, since 7th and Range Line is the busiest intersection in Joplin. People were blowing through the other dark lights like idiots. Had they been doing that at 7th and Range Line, there would have been a 20-car pile-up.

About 30 minutes after the storm, a family of four walked in. The kids were probably 2 and 5. They were carrying a laptop. They said that they went into the bathroom in their apartment and it was the only room remaining afterwards. That laptop is probably their only remaining possession.

A lot of the Target workers were young, high-school age. They did a remarkable job of keeping their cool. But one of them started to get agitated. But someone got a hold of her and I guess she heard her family was OK. That was one thing was that most people's cell phone still worked. I had full signal and people who knew where I was were texting me. Ironically, the reason I went to Joplin was to get a new cell phone and I didn't know everything about it yet, so I didn't know how to make the camera work.

Another family came in a Trailblazer, the back of which looked as if it had been in a rear-ender with a semi. The boy who got out with the family said that a tree hit it. You could see a branch sticking out the window.

Another guy came in and took off his shirt. He had welts all over his back.

And then people started trickling in. The managers handed out candy to the kids and let the people walking in have whatever they wanted from the Starbucks. The food was going to spoil anyway, so they figured might as well hand it out. (A Golden Corral down the road that somehow managed to avoid damage despite being in the "Danger Zone" was offering its food to any workers for the same reason ... get it to people who need it before it goes bad).

More people trickled in and managers decided to stay open all night. Since a Walmart and a Walgreens were wiped out, people were going to need supplies and they were the closest store to the stricken area that could still operate. They still told the high schoolers and anyone concerned about family to go home, though. The ones who stayed were ones who had found out their relatives and friends were OK and I saw a couple of other workers come back to work to help out.

I left about 8:15. Turned the radio back on and the group that owns most of the stations were simulcasting on all of them. They were allowing people to call in to ask for information about loved ones. One woman was looking for a 77-year-old woman who lived in the area who needed oxygen. About 20 minutes later, someone else called in to say they had found her and they'd gotten her to somewhere on the north side so she could get her oxygen machine running.

Earlier in the day, I'd been in the area that got hit worst. The images that I'm seeing remind me of Greensburg.

One lucky thing: Joplin has two hospitals and they're across the street from each other, so the patients who were in the one that got hit and needed the most care could be taken across the road. Then they started taking the ones hurt not as badly to Springfield and Pittsburg. I've been told the Pittsburg hospital got 44 patients from Joplin in the hour after it was over.

 

nvm.

 

Glad to hear you're ok ape. I'm 200 miles away and I'm still somewhat in shock, can't imagine what everybody down there is going through.

 

Thanks for giving us an insider's perspective, Ape. If there's something we can do, don't hesitate to ask.

I heard from my cousin. He lives right on the border near Pittsburg, and he's okay. I read that a high school in Joplin was demolished. Think about how that would have played out if the storm had arrived during the school day.

 

Telethon tonight on KMBC-TV, Kansas City:

http://www.kmbc.com/r/27992096/detail.html

One of my friends, who worked in Joplin for a while, is organizing something through his radio station for both Joplin and Reading, Kan.

http://www.wichitawolf.com/g/Tornado/271.html

Another line of severe thunderstorms said to be on the way.

 

I heard a while ago that Sunday was Joplin High School's graduation but they held the ceremony at Missouri Southern State University, which is about another mile north and east of where I was at the Target.

 

Apeman, glad you're alright. Thanks for posting that, must have been something to experience.

 

Sweet Tebow, ape. Great job on the account. Glad you're OK.

 

Severe thunderstorm warning for Joplin area right now. Radar looks horrific.

 

Based on where the storm chasers are, it looks like a long afternoon for Oklahomans (and perhaps a long night in Missouri and Arkansas).

http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/storm-chasers/live-tracker/live-tracker.html

 

Another bunch of red just went through Joplin. Good grief.