I'm in Joplin, MO. tonight, and I just drove across the path of the May 22 tornado.

[A HERETIC I AM]

I had 3 cars to deliver to two different stores of the same dealership. The route took me from I 44 up US 71, or Range Line Road. The tornado crossed Range Line about a mile and a half north of I 44.

I drove into town thinking "well...doesn't look so bad, really". I'm kind of used to seeing Hurricane damage I suppose, where it is evident for miles and miles.

As I headed North on Range Line, I began to notice the trees. What few there were, anyway. They had been denuded of branches, but were already green again with new leaves on the branches that were left.

"Denuded" is a good word. It describes perfectly what unfolded as I drove further. An entire neighborhood to my left flattened. Denuded of houses. The twister took a path from the south west to the north east and as it crossed Range Line, it came upon a commercial zone. Store after store completely gone. An entire Home Depot demolished, as well as a Wal-Mart a block away. These two stores were where many of the casualties occurred, according to the few people I talked to. The young lady at the front desk of the motel I am in told me her pregnant best friend, her husband and their two-year old were INSIDE the Wal-Mart when it happened. They survived, but had to be rescued, as they were buried under debris.

A Burger King - gone. The only thing left is the plastic children's playground equipment. A short, 4 suite retail building with no glass left on the front of the stores and no doors either. Piles of wood and other debris along the roadway, waiting pickup.

The Home Depot is doing business out of a huge tent. The Wal-Mart is being rebuilt, it looks like and they have the walls already up. Much of the rest of the damaged stores and businesses are either being torn down or are boarded up.

Amazing.

Denuded. Yup. This stretch had been denuded - stripped, as if it had been raked by a massive leaf rake, scraping away everything.

It looked as if it had been through a war, I suppose.

BTW, One of the stores owned by the dealership was a COMPLETE loss. Building, and every single new car in inventory. Wiped out.

I hope the people of this town are able to recover. The loss of life was dramatic but seeing the destruction certainly brings it home to someone who is not a resident.

Here's a Wikimapia page with the crosshair centered on Range Line and East 20th Street, right where the storm crossed;

http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=37.0690809&lon=-94.4778728&z=15&l=0&m=b&v=8

[uppityperson]

1. k&r and thankyou for the report

[A HERETIC I AM]

2. You're welcome. n/t

[sylveste]

3. here are some pics

2 months later, sort of an update.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2018269/Joplin-tornado-restoration-begins-Devastated-town-cleans-2-months-after.html