Trouble in Tornado Alley

I remember sitting in class when the tornado sirens went off and panic ensued. It had been raining all day, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary, as big thunderstorms are not uncommon in Kansas City, MO. We were ushered into the cafeteria which was in the basement of my elementary school. From there our teachers tracked the storm, following its movement on the radar. Little did I know that an EF-5 tornado would devastate the city of Joplin two and a half hours south. 

In late May of 2011, an EF-5 tornado plowed through a southwestern Missouri town called Joplin, devastating everything in its path. What started as a less serious EF-0 tornado, simply damaging trees on the Kansas-Missouri border, quickly escalated to an EF-5 with winds reaching up to 200mph and a mile wide (1). The images below show the radar image of the tornado. (Note: look at the spiral/hook on the radar, indicating a tornado (2). Residents of Joplin were given a 20 minute heads up (meaning that the sirens went off 20 minutes before the tornado hit), but nothing could protect them from the monster storm coming, and tragically, 158 people lost their lives (1). 

People spoke of the horror and sadness they experienced after the tornado had passed, discussing how roofs went flying off, windows shattered, and trees were uprooted (3). What used to be a town filled with almost 8,000 residential housing, only had about half of the homes still standing, leaving about 9,000 people without a place to call home (4). Not only were homes destroyed, but public buildings and places were too. Firehouses were demolished, parks were torn apart, and even hospitals faced damage (4). A public radio stationed in the ozarks predicted that the total damage was about two billion dollars (4). Members of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration set out to understand how to improve the alert system, to help protect communities ahead of disasters such as this. 

I remember driving through Joplin months after this tornado, on the way to visit my grandparents. I could not believe how much of the city was completely gone, even months after this disaster. Joplin seems to have recovered nicely, though I’m sure its effects will be felt years to come.

Works Cited: 

1. US Department of Commerce, NOAA. Joplin Tornado - May 22nd, 2011. 18 May 2020, www.weather.gov/sgf/news_events_2011may22. 

2. Wheatley, Katie. “The May 22, 2011 Joplin, Missouri EF5 Tornado.” U.S. Tornadoes, 17 Feb. 2016, www.ustornadoes.com/2013/05/22/joplin-missouri-ef5-tornado-may-22-2011/. 

3. Cohen, Noam. “Tornado Hits Missouri City, Killing Many.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 23 May 2011, www.nytimes.com/2011/05/23/us/23tornado.html. 

4. Stewart, Randy. “Facts and Figures from the Joplin Tornado: What Did It Cost?” KSMU Radio, 19 May 2016, www.ksmu.org/post/facts-and-figures-joplin-tornado-what-did-it-cost.