God Bless Joplin

Over the Labor Day holiday, I went to see my family in Southern Missouri. My uncle was getting married and it gave me a good excuse to spend some long overdue time with my Grandma. On the way back home we decided to take a slight detour and went a few more miles up I-44 to go to Joplin, Missouri.

I wanted to see for myself what a tornado was capable of.  As you might already know, I moved here from Tampa, Florida.  I have always maintained that a hurricane was the lessor of two evils because at least you have sufficient warning to evacuate.  With a tornado, even if the sirens go off you may only have a few seconds to react.  That thought scares me to death.

I have seen  the pictures on the news and it has been the topic of most conversations for a while. I just thought I wanted to see the area for myself. It had been more than 3 months since the tornado and it was still very apparent where the damage was. I don't know what I thought I was going to see but I was not at all prepared for what I saw. There are simply NO WORDS.  There is just one wide strip of land that is just gone.  As I was driving down the street in disbelief, I saw a house that was missing pieces of the side of it but was just on the outer skirts of escaping total destruction and it had been spray painted with the words "God Bless Joplin."  I can't describe in words how moving that was. My heart breaks for the people of Joplin.  I can't imagine what they must be going through, even today, almost 4 months later.

My niece who is only 3 years old rode home with me on this trip.  Her parents went on a float trip and I figured she would have more fun with me anyway. :) I didn't even for a minute, think about how seeing all of this would affect her.  While we were driving through the affected area which seemed to go on FOREVER, she kept saying "broken houses" ... "Look at all the broken houses!"  My brother called me today and said that she is still telling Mommy and Daddy about all the broken houses she saw last weekend.

Extreme Makeover Home Edition is getting involved in the rebuilding of Joplin beginning October 19th and running through October 26th.  It has been reported that 14 local builders have already signed up to help. They anticipate a need for 4,500 skilled volunteers and approximately 5,000 general able bodies.  I think that it would be an amazing opportunity to give back.  They are going to build 7 homes in 7 days.  What a huge undertaking!  If you are able to help to donate time, money or materials, you can visit http://www.joinextreme.com/Joplin. I plan to be there with my family and hope to see you there as well.

Be a Hero ... Lend a Hand,
Melody