JoMo

Greg Forbes ranks the Joplin tornado the 3rd worst in US History. http://www.joplinglobe.com/local/x229375934/Expert-ranks-tornado-possibly-as-third-worst-in-U-S-history JOPLIN, Mo. — Greg Forbes, the severe-weather expert with The Weather Channel, has crunched the numbers to offer a convincing argument that the May 22 tornado in Joplin was the third worst on record in U.S. history. *Forbes then combined the number of deaths and the amount of damage to come up with a ranking of worst tornadoes. The worst was the Tri-State Tornado on March 18, 1925. It killed 695 along a 219-mile path in Missouri, Illinois and Indiana, the longest on record. The second worst was the St. Louis tornado of 1896, which killed 255 people. The third worst was the Joplin tornado.

Around 1,200 people attended the 6 month memorial this evening at Cunningham Park in frigid conditions. (ok so it was like 40-45) This fountain was dedicated. It has 5 jets on the top, 22 on the 2nd level, 11 on the bottom. A plaque with the names of those that died: The first of 161 trees that will be planted in Cunningham Park in honor of the dead. The Thank You cards that were mailed out to volunteers look like this:

Today is the day............ It's been six months since the tornado wiped out 1/3rd of Joplin. Six months since it changed the landscape and took 160 lives. (+1 police officer due to lightning strike the next day) It seems like it was just yesterday that everything changed. It's nice to see reconstruction going on all over the area though, we still lack trees in a lot of areas though until that construction is complete. I expect to see massive tree plantings next Spring. This thread covers everything from right after the tornado and the confusion of what happened, to the 'search for JoMo', to the cleanup and rebuilding of Joplin. We can't stop tornadoes from hitting populated areas and destroying lives but we can learn from them. This thread provides a large amount of information of the entire process of recovering from a disaster such as this. I'd like to thank the volunteers, people that donated, and even the people following this thread, as it's somewhat therapeutic for me. ------------------ If the weather is nice, there will be one tree dedicated today for the 161 trees that are to be planted at Cunningham Park in honor of the people that were lost to the winds. A community memorial will take place at Cunningham Park to reflect on what happened 6 months ago. There will be bands, choirs, speakers, and If it rains, then it will be held at MSSU. http://www.joplinglo...nstrous-tornado ------------------- Bricks from Joplin High School (with an imprint of "Hope High School") are going to be sold for $50 + shipping in a fundraiser for the schools tornado fund. You can also get a mug for $20, the announcement on that comes Dec 1st .http://www.joplinglo...ding-fundraiser ------------------- FEMA has released a 6 month progress report detailing how much they have spent on Joplin's recovery. The total comes to $174 million dollars. http://www.joplinglo...s-after-tornado Here's a breakdown: • Debris: President Barack Obama approved a removal operation to clear loose tornado debris from public rights of way and residential property in the hardest hit areas at a 90 percent federal cost share until Aug. 7. Gov. Jay Nixon appointed the Missouri National Guard to provide state oversight and coordination. The Army Corps of Engineers managed the debris operation. More than 1.2 million cubic yards of debris were removed from rights of way and 1,505 residential properties. The Environmental Protection Agency and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources disposed of 103,707 items requiring special disposal. An additional 303,425 cubic yards of debris were removed from public properties outside the heaviest hit area. • Housing: FEMA identified rental properties within a reasonable commute of Joplin. It quickly became apparent that temporary housing units and community group sites would be required for displaced families. FEMA identified 586 households as eligible for and needing temporary housing. Currently, 559 households occupy temporary housing units. A total of 598 mobile home pads are available for placement of FEMA units. • Critical structures: FEMA focused on building temporary modular structures to replace two fire stations, and nine temporary structures, including a mobile hospital, for St. John’s Mercy Hospital. Public assistance grants for $4,054,329 (federal share) have been obligated for 78 projects for emergency services, and repair or replacement of public property damaged or destroyed by the tornado. • Schools: The initial focus was on reopening Joplin’s public schools by Aug. 17. FEMA paid for the installation of 129 modular classrooms, including special classrooms for chemistry, science, horticulture, music, art and an industrial laboratory. It also provided 67 safe rooms and support quarters, including three full kitchens, dry goods storage and walk-in freezers. Five new athletic fields were built to replace unusable fields at Joplin High School. FEMA’s Individual and Households Program has two sub-programs: a housing program and an other-needs assistance program. Now, $20.2 million has been approved under IHP. The housing assistance program approved $7,614,216 for 2,975 households, according to the FEMA report.The other-needs program provided assistance with disaster-related essential needs not provided by other assistance programs, including medical assistance, dental assistance, funeral expenses, household items, tools required for a job, and necessary education materials to replace those lost in the disaster. The program approved $12,582,961 for 2,636 households. FEMA specialists assisted with the formation of the Citizens Advisory Recovery Team, which encouraged residents’ participation in planning and rebuilding. The team is composed of city officials, business leaders, community leaders and residents. Through the summer, the panel was the host for several public meetings to gather residents’ views and suggestions. From those sessions, the team developed recovery and rebuilding priorities. On Nov. 7, the team presented its report to the Joplin City Council. It was unanimously accepted. Livewire's "Miracle of the Human Spirit" that will be unveiled today at the ceremony: I probably forgot to include this earlier. This is a song Kenny Foster wrote for Joplin. Kenny is from Joplin and his parents still live here. They lived over by the high school on the east side of it and were trapped in their basement. His story can be found here:http://wecreatemusic...-Joplin-MO.aspx PS: The 'formatting' on this forum seriously sucks.

"Ten for Joplin" Habitat for Humanity project is not complete. The families got the keys to their houses today in a ceremony that announced that MSSU has given scholarships to all the kids in the families. The project raised over $1 million dollars, it had initially had a goal of $800,000. The remaining money will go to Joplin Habitat for Humanity so they can build more houses. *A St. Louis family is bringing "Joy to Joplin". The Monschein family had fundraisers and they gathered up a lot of Christmas decorations, ornaments, lights, etc.. http://www.joplinglo...s-Joy-to-Joplin *Residents were urged to gather as many flower bulbs as they wanted. The organzation "America Responds with Love" donated 200,000 flower bulbs to Joplin residents. http://www.joplinglo...at-parks-office *Some 60,000+ "Thank You" cards that are going to be sent out to the volunteers who came to Joplin. Americorps is in charge of compiling a database of people that signed up to help in Joplin after the tornado. People that only left their email address and not their address will get e-cards. Residents can sign the cards at various locations. http://www.joplinglo...u-to-volunteers The cards feature a photo of two girls in front of a chalkboard that says “Thank you for loving us without even knowing us.”

Joplin Police officer Gabe Allen got a Christmas Makeover tonight courtesy of The Weather Channel and their Epic Christmas contest. He's in the top 3 finalists. http://www.weather.c...abe-allen-22192 Joplin Globe story: http://www.joplinglobe.com/local/x1295771765/Joplin-police-officer-recognized-for-heroic-efforts-on-May-22 Also, Joplin is reporting that nearly half (48%) of the housing affected by the tornado has filed to be rebuilt, repaired, or newly constructed so far.

Couple of stories the Joplin Globe has had recently. You all probably remember the Hope High School sign: The Superintendent wants to basically rename Irving Elementary (which was destroyed in the tornado) to Hope Elementary when it gets rebuilt on the land that St. Johns hospital currently occupies. The article mentions who put the duct tape on there and why they did it. http://www.joplinglobe.com/local/x811211715/Superintendent-wants-to-name-school-after-iconic-HOPE-sign And who could forget the cross at St. Marys church? The cross is going to be taken up so they can secure it back down again in the same spot. They are going to level out the area, plant grass and then place benches so people can go there to pray if they want to but the church and school will likely be built bigger and on different land. Empire District Electric has acquired some of the churches previous land to extend their substation. http://www.joplinglobe.com/local/x185148236/St-Mary-s-cross-to-be-preserved

Dude's Daylight Donuts is hopefully going to reopen next week. This is what it looked like after the tornado...Love the caption: "Well, this is a minor setback" The 10 for Joplin Habitat for Humanity got the volunteers they were looking for and the houses are expected to be finished by Nov 19th. Also, building permits are up, and 440 apartments are under permit. 800 units were left uninhabitable after the tornado. There has been some controversy with MHDC (missouri low income/affordable housing) and outside developers wanting to build affordable housing in neighborhoods that are building expensive houses. People don't want those kind of houses built where the property value will be lowered. The somewhat strange advertisement for the 6 month ceremony/memorial at Cunningham Park.92,314 registered volunteers have worked 528,242 hours. It is estimated that overall volunteers both registered and unregistered is pushing 250,000 people. EDIT: Death toll revised down to 161.

Yeah the temporary 60,000 sq ft store opened June 20th I believe. There's still some of areas that look like crap, or haven't been repaired or torn down in some of the really old neighborhoods. ----------------------------------------------------- People are still reuniting tornado pets with their families as well. Mostly cats, they have survived 5 months on their own. Whirley http://www.lifewithc...t-with-his-dad/ And Cranberry was just reunited with her family. Cranberry is special because she somehow survived 5 months and she has no teeth. ----------------------------------------------------------- EDIT: And I also forgot to mention, St. Johns will start deconstructing the hospital in January. No implosion due to possible mine shafts. The new hospital just got the zoning changes needed to build. They want to build an 8 story hospital and a 5 story clinic complete with doctors offices inside. They also hope to build a behavioral health center and rehab center. They may give some of the old land to Joplin schools to rebuild Irving Elementary. They also may give some to Stained Glass theater and some to the City of Joplin to build a memorial.

Yes sir, I think Wendy's, Slumberland, and Macadoodles have all opened as well. It really helps that Joplin is the shopping hub for many of the areas around here. When you have 200-300,000 people that come to shop then it gives businesses incentive to rebuild back. One thing I forgot to include in my update was the Joplin High School lip dub that was filmed by a hollywood cameraman. The media students did the casting, setting it up etc. This is the 11th-12th grade campus at the mall. They basically give you a tour of the school including the storm shelters outside. They are planning to do one for the 9th and 10th graders as well.

The most important thing in Joplin's recovery happened this morning.... Wal-Mart reopened. 82% of the businesses are reopening. The foundation has been poured at the new Academy Sports store. Home Depot will reopen in January. This is a cake:

I don't think anyone was really expecting that except Jeff Pitrowski (spelling incorrect; I'll never learn how to spell his name) and he wasn't expecting an EF5. If you watch Storm Chasers the TV show, they were all concentrated farther south on that day as well. The best dynamics and everything were located farther to the north though as outlines by SPC. I have looked at the radar data from 5:14 through the event and I'm pretty sure a tornado could have happened anywhere from Waco, MO to south of Galena, KS in any number of those couplets. It was a Sunday night so it was the CNN skeleton crew on duty. I just found this as well... In the Pitrowski video, there is scanner audio from the officers who Jeff told to 'get the sirens going' and from officers who were in the tornado. http://www.koamtv.com/story/15926974/joplin-storm-heroes

Couple of really interesting videos from a TV news documentary . Doug Heady (Joplinmet) is interviewed on these. http://www.komu.com/...ategories=2%2C5 http://www.komu.com/...=5&categories=5 It brings up the warning times and something I brought up earlier: An incorrect report from the NWS. This would have placed the tornado out of the actual tornado path: AT 538 PM CDT...TRAINED WEATHER SPOTTERS REPORTED A TORNADO NEAR JOPLIN...OR 6 MILES NORTHEAST OF GALENA...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH .Also, National Geographic is looking for: - Traditional b-roll and raw footage shot by local news crews and videographers<br style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left; "> -Rescue crew radio transmissions and video footage -911 calls -Surveillance camera footage -Amateur videos shot by first responders and local residents -Cell phone footage -Podcasts -Webcams Emmy award-winning documentary production team is looking for amateur footage to be used in an upcoming special about the 2011 Joplin tornado. Unlike traditional documentaries, Witness: Joplin will be constructed entirely from original video and audio sources. The goal is to create a lasting historical document, to help communicate what it was like to live through the storm, and to shed light on the emotions that arose from its aftermath. The production team is gathering video and audio archive (professional and amateur) recorded between May 22nd and May 27th, 2011. If you have material to share, or simply want to learn more about this project, please contact Sarah at [email protected] or 773-936-7067.

Cunningham Park Post-EMHE rebuild (there used to be so many trees). Drury University designed a lot of this stuff, as well as some other companies. I forgot that the kids got out at 11:45 or something that day, I thought I'd have the park to myself. The city was planting smaller trees on this day in a landscaping way. I'm told there will be a memorial and tree planting going on Nov 22nd at Cunningham. On the west side of the park by 26th and Maiden Lane. They put up these bleachers and basketball court. It was empty when I got there, but pretty full as I was leaving. Just north of the basketball court, this is the Real Wood Playset that they spent a lot of time and detail on. Just behind that, where the angry looking man with the bright yellow T-shirt is, is a bench with a wooden fence behind it that has messages written from the volunteers that volunteered at EMHE. To the east of this, we have this little covered picnic area: And to the east of that, we have this little playset. It has swings on the other side, and appeared to be quite popular because it was packed with kids. The city has bought the properties behind this area, up to the houses that have been rebuilt back in order to expand the park. Directly in the middle of the Park. The Lowe's Heroes were building a bridge over the fountain and pond area. The fountain and pond area was not there before the tornado so I'm assuming either Lowe's or EMHE put it in. All the way on the northeast side of the park is the Memorial to the Volunteers. There are various brass items laying around the memorial such as a helmet and gloves and a sledgehammer. There's a plaque, some benches. Pretty sure the memorial itself is lighted blue at night. There's a bracelet looking thing that says "Miracle of the Human Spirit". There are 4 things with items gathered from the tornado concreted in them around the plaque. You can see the blue handle of a coffee cup sticking out, there's broken plates, a cigarette lighter from a car, etc. I was standing in the Memorial to the Volunteers looking back west across the park. Edit: National Geographic is seeking video so they can make a "Witness: Joplin".

Here's some pics I took on Halloween: This is going to be the Elk's lodge it looks like. This is on the former site of the Elks lodge where at least 4 people died, just in front of the previous building next to the bent flag pole that has been pictured. They have been digging this out for days now. It's kind of cool to watch them since they are using 2 dump trucks and moving the dirt to the back of the property so it's moving along pretty fast. AT&T and the gas company are also replacing all the lines underground in the areas that don't have houses, and even some that do. Back view of 4 of the EMHE houses. St. Johns with crane. I guess they are going to take it down via crane?

Greensburg was wider. Could have meant the actual EF5 damage area was wider or something? The actual track through the city was about 6 miles so maybe he meant that. It was on the ground outside of the city though like you said. The picture probably wasn't of the Joplin tornado as it became a wedge pretty quickly. There was an issue where people have been forwarding a picture of a supercell taken by Dick McGowan 2 years ago and they removed the copyright symbol and have been calling that the Joplin tornado. Extreme Makeover Home Edition even forwarded it.

Must be this one: http://www.usatoday....64/1?csp=34news The Joplin report should not be construed that the fatalities from the storm were the result of people ignoring warnings, stressed Greg Carbin, warning coordination meteorologist at the NWS' Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla. "There were people who took shelter in basements, but they died," he said. "When a building receives a direct hit from a (EF) 4 or an EF5, there's nothing much you can do." ---------------------- If you've watched Jeff Piotrowski's video, EMS help never comes to Iowa street in the hour that he's there pulling people out of the rubble. He actually goes and finds a fire truck from the Carthage fire department at Hampshire Terrace Apts. and leads them back to Iowa street where they start searching for people. Also, on the video, the Joplin Emergency Manager mentions that they sounded the sirens the second time due to police reports from 7th and Blackcat road. Jeff was the one that told them to 'get the sirens going' and that report was relayed back to the emergency center. He also calls the Tulsa, NWS and requests they send as much help as possible to Joplin. I saw a youtube video of a group of people right across from the METS (Joplin ambulance service) barn and as soon as the tornado had went through (and it was still raining heavily), every ambulance was headed out of that barn. I'll always remember the sound of constant sirens later that night and the next day though. It's just amazing how stretched thin everything is during a disaster such as this. I saw police cars and ambulances days after the tornado from places I've never heard of. I'm assuming they were small towns up near St. Louis or something.

Thank you for your donation. (it's a hand up not a hand out. Habitat Homeowners pay a monthly mortgage ($400-$450/month) but pay no interest on that, they must also complete 200 hours of community service either building the house or doing other things. I think they must also get friends and family to do 100 hours) I think they just scrambled around through the trash to find a bunch of cans and painted or taped over them or something. Here's some pics of Ten for Joplin as of Oct 31st courtesy KZRG:

Not that I'm aware of. There probably will be local news coverage. Cracks me up, lol

From dust to neighborhood in 7 days.. EMHE build complete. It may air Jan 20th 2012. Next up.... 10 (houses) for Joplin from the Tulsa and Joplin Habitat for Humanity. http://www.tenforjoplin.org/ http://www.joplinglo...-building-blitz Barry Manilow stopped by the Joplin School District this morning and donated $300,000 worth of instruments: Cunningham Park dedication tonight at 6 PM. Pictures to be posted later possibly. EDIT: And I nearly forgot........ NIST has been conducting interviews with tornado survivors. http://www.joplinglo...nado-interviews

The amazing thing was how quickly it was removed with the Army of Volunteers who arrived in Joplin. There were at least 80,000 registered volunteers who came to Joplin from all over the US and many countries. Army Corps of Engineers was instrumental in removing all the debris. There are still volunteer teams coming here and raking yards, cutting down trees, etc. For those that missed this mornings GMA reveal of the Extreme Makeover Home Edition house #1, you can find it here: http://abcnews.go.co...keover-14816520 All 7 families have been shown their houses. Cunningham Park dedication ceremony is tomorrow. As soon as the trees are planted it will look better than it did before the tornado with at least 3 playsets for kids to play on, and a memorial to all the volunteers. All of the EMHE houses have Kevlar safe rooms built inside. There were at least 13,000-14,000 people that volunteered from all over the country for the build. Tulsa and Joplin's Habitat for Humanity 10 houses for 10 families in 10 days build starts on Oct 29th.

Don't forget, Extreme Makeover Home Edition reveal Live on Good Morning America (ABC) tomorrow morning!!!! Just took some new pics: Every house you see in the background is a new house that has sprung up. Blocked off due to Extreme Makeover. St. Johns won't be standing much longer. Cunningham Park, which was destroyed, (west side) gets a little love from EMHE. The Playset says "Boomtown" which is Joplin's theme or something. Completely rebuilt house from the ground up, there was nothing but dirt here a few months ago. They were installing a storm shelter under the garage. Completely finished house. This house was rebuilt on top of the basement. And Ty Pennington's special project. Each strand of yarn represents where a volunteer who came to Joplin was from.

Taken on 20th street. About a minute after this photo was taken, this area will be destroyed by the tornado. Hampshire Terrace apartments on the left. As for Extreme Makeover Home Edition: Good Morning America will have the reveal of the Howard family house Wednesday morning live. The other houses will be revealed at around 2 PM but you have to watch the show to see those. The date it's supposed to air is Jan 20th 2012. There are 7 different styled houses and the designers are releasing the designs so anyone in Joplin can have a house using their designs and they don't have to pay the permit fees, etc. Beautiful picture of one of the houses taken this evening: A couple of the other houses: Cunningham Park is also having work done. All Wood playset (like we're excited to see wood after seeing destroyed trees and splinters of houses lol) Picnic area: Basketball goals: Some kind of memorial maybe? I know the city plans to plant 162 trees and plaques of the dead will be going up as well on Nov 22nd. I think this will take place at Cunningham Park.

Barry Manilow will be in Joplin Oct 27th to distribute over $300,000 in instruments to the school. The Extreme Makeover Build is progressing really well. Day 3 and there are thousands of volunteers here from all over helping with the build. It was reported that there was at least 8,000 volunteers who signed up, but they could only use 4,000. The date the show will air is currently scheduled to be Jan 20th. A streaming webcam showing the build was just added to the local ABC affiliate website: http://fourstateshom.../?nxd_id=228407 (Bottom left is the Senior center at 22nd and Jackson, Middle and all white is St. Johns new modular building, to the left of that on the screen is Mercy Village, an apartment complex) Pictures of the individual houses being built (all a different style) can be seen on the Joplin Extreme Makeover Facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/JoplinEMHE

And here are the families for the Extreme Makeover build and their stories. Some stories have been posted here before. Crystal Whitely/Cogdill lost children in the tornado. The Gonzalez family is interesting because they left their house when they were in the 'eye' of the tornado and took shelter in a ditch and survived. http://fourstateshomepage.com/fulltext-extreme-makeover-home-edition-joplin/?nxd_id=228117 The Howard Family Kyle, the father and a Joplin fireman, was at work at the fire station during the storm and spent the first two hours after the tornado not knowing if his wife and kids had made it out alive. He made many stops along the way home, through the rubble, rescuing trapped victims and tending to injured members of the community. Meanwhile Jill and their children, Konnor, Korbin, and Kaleb huddled in a closet. A door landed on top of them, which they used to deflect the debris. This ultimately saved their lives. After the storm, they had no idea if Kyle was alive, but eventually the family, along with older son Keenan, who was out of town at the time, was reunited. Jill sustained minor injuries, but their home was completely destroyed. The Nevins Family Kari and Justin Nevins love Joplin and prior to the tornado, their home was known as "the neighborhood's house," where kids could play, have refreshments and hang out. Kari is part of Bright Futures, a, organization whose goal it is to increase graduation rates through teaming with businesses and faith-based partners to provide for the needs of students. The parents, along with their children, Uriah, Avery, Cana, and Rhoen, ran to the cellar. As they huddled together, they felt the force of the tornado as it ripped apart their house. After making sure his family was safe, Justin immediately started helping others by searching and digging neighbors out of the destruction. The tornado not only destroyed their home, it also destroyed the entire neighborhood and school Kari worked so hard to help. Without a home, the Nevins are currently staying in the basement of a friend's house as they try to piece back their lives. They are now staying in a rental home 17 miles outside Joplin, but want to come back. The Cogdill Family Single mom Crystal Cogdill works for the Joplin Housing Authority. She has a passion for helping people find housing, but in a cruel twist, now finds herself homeless. In the tornado, Crystal lost her 9-year-old son, Zach Treadwell. Upon hearing the sirens, she hustled her kids inside the house and, following her emergency plan, huddled with them in the bathtub. As the home came apart around them, she felt her grip on her children weakening. The storm eventually overpowered her and ripped the kids from her arms. When she next saw Zach, his lifeless body was pinned beneath a utility pole. Stunned, Crystal finds her friend (also named Crystal). The two friends soon make a horrifying discovery; both of them have lost children to one of the most devastating weather events this nation has ever endured. Currently, Crystal Cogdill lives with friends and has begun the process of starting over. The Whitely Family Before the storm, Crystal Whitely was the ultimate single mother taking care of her three kids and working as a personal care aid. Crystal loved working with her clients that were disabled and elderly, but her kids are her life. The night of the storm, the whole family took cover in the bathtub, but moments later, the house was pulled off its foundation. Though she tried desperately to hang on to them, 10 year-old Shante and 6 year-old Trentan were ripped from Crystal's arms. Only Crystal and her 4 year-old daughter, Keana, survived. The Walters Family In 2006, Tom and Emily Walters bought a house with dreams of raising their family in the beautiful, small town of Joplin. Emily is a nurse, and Tom a coach and teacher. Together they dedicated their lives to helping and nurturing the happiness and well-being of others. When the siren sounded on May 22nd, the family didn't realize what was coming their way. It started hailing and then, all of a sudden, it got worse. They ran to the bathtub. Huddled together, feeling the roof rip off and objects hurling around, 9- year-old daughter, Chloe, cried out to her mom and dad, "Don't let me die!" Feeling helpless, all Tom and Emily could do was pray with Chloe and ride out the storm. As soon as it passed, Tom and Emily knew people in the neighborhood would need help. After making sure their daughter was safe with a neighbor, they ran down to a nursing home that had caved in and began digging people out. Along with others, Tom and Emily helped rescue several people. With their home destroyed and unable to be rebuilt, they've moved from place to place. The Nguyen Family Thang Nguyen (pronounced "win") came to the U.S. in search of the American dream. Thang was in the Vietnamese Air Force and fought alongside the U.S. during the Vietnam War. Afterwards, he was able to move to the U.S. with his family and took a job with General Mills in Joplin. He was on the verge of retirement when the May 22nd tornado took away his dream. That Sunday night, Thang had a craving for seafood. Though his wife, Tiffany, had already prepared dinner, Thang convinced her to go out to eat at a local seafood restaurant. It was lucky for them that she gave in. The tornado missed the restaurant but tore apart their home. Had they stayed in that night they may not have survived. The Nguyens had been living with Tiffany's daughter Sara, and their granddaughter Alex. The Nguyens received help from a local church and are living in an apartment funded by insurance. However, the lease will be up in December, and Thang and Tiffany will be left with no place to live. The Gonzalez Family Having both been divorced, Natalie and Scott (who live with Natalie's son, Augie) didn't think they would remarry. But when the tornado took their home, they changed their minds. Before moving to Joplin, Natalie lived in California and once saw a special about earthquakes. She learned that putting a bicycle helmet on your child's head could save his/her life. When the tornado hit, the family huddled in their bathtub with Scott on top holding on to a mattress and Augie wearing a bicycle helmet. The roof flew off, and suddenly the Gonzalez family was facing the full brunt of the tornado. Scott was picked up off the family and thrown back down in the bathroom. A toilet from the second bathroom flew through the air and hit Augie. The bicycle helmet he was wearing shattered to pieces and saved Augie's life. Natalie got pelted with debris while trying to protect her son, severely hurting her back. While up in the air, Scott watched his family. It was at this moment that he realized, if they all survived, he wanted to marry Natalie and become a legal stepfather to Augie. When the wind started to calm down, Natalie realized they were in the eye of the tornado and their house was gone. Realizing they wouldn't survive the second wave, Natalie and her family rushed over to a drainage ditch to find cover. Watching Scott carrying her son with his good arm (the other suffering a compound fracture), Natalie knew Scott would be her husband. They survived the tornado, broken and without a home, but their family had grown stronger and closer. Scott proposed to Natalie a few weeks later, and now the family would like to start over. They're currently living in a rental outside of town, but the family loves Joplin and plans on driving Augie back for school.

It's pretty amazing the number of people that survived in bathtubs too, heh. From what I gather from a lot of the survivors I have talked to, they are just happy to be alive. I watched a family with 2 young boys play in what will be the foundation of their new house (theirs was destroyed) the other day. It was very touching. Having Extreme Makeover, Home Edition come is a HUGE morale booster for Joplin though, bigger than I thought it would be. Family #2 and #3 were being notified as of 30 minutes ago. http://yfrog.com/nw8hnsdj The houses are located on the 23-2400 block of Connor. There should be a weather balloon camera launched sometime to keep an eye on all of the builds.