![]() ![]() Having supplies ready to go, it says, is one step that provides “resilience to all types of emergencies.” “Having a personal preparedness plan increases your chances of staying safe,” according to one of Columbia University’s National Center for Disaster Preparedness training programs. Many experts expect that such natural disasters will not only continue to occur but become more frequent and intense as the world’s climate changes. The central and southern states in particular experience a disproportionately high frequency of tornadoes. records more tornadoes than any other part of the world, averaging more than 1,000 annually. history - and the deadliest since 1947.Įach year, the U.S. The EF5 tornado tore a 6-mile-long swath through the city, resulting in 161 fatalities and $2.8 billion in damage. ![]() The only thing that was vertical was the people.” No trees, no houses, everything just in shambles. Where I came in on the west side, there was just devastation everywhere. He relates: “I had never seen anything like that. Mike has photographed the aftermath of countless tornadoes throughout his career as a photojournalist. Without photos, people can’t really understand what happened … My job was to capture this and let the world know what was happening in Joplin, Missouri.” ![]() “I just went because I knew this was major. Minutes after the tornado touched down in Joplin, Missouri, on Sunday, May 22, 2011, Mike Gullet, a freelance photographer for The Associated Press and USA Today, hopped in his car and drove as fast as possible to Joplin, even though he had been at home sheltering from the same tornado.Īs a longtime area resident, Mike knew many people in Joplin but his trip this time was strictly to document history. Photo provided by Mike Mijo What they’re doing differently after living through the deadliest tornado in US history It’s difficult to know how to grieve the loss of a place, and sometimes, it makes all of the important things in your life feel even more important.The tornado damaged 7,500 homes and displaced 9,200 people. For months, my husband struggled with the grief of seeing the hospital in which he was born, the high school he attended, and many other places left in rubble. We weren’t in Joplin when the storm hit, but we felt the impact. Street signs and landmarks knocked down or blown away left him disoriented in a place he had called home for more than 20 years. Ten years later, I still don’t know everything he saw that night-in some cases driving through parts of town first responders hadn’t gotten to yet, and in others not even being able to tell where in town he was. He couldn’t be still with it, and within minutes of getting home, he was heading south to see the unthinkable, and to help whomever he could. Things happened quickly as my husband learned his hometown of Joplin had just been devastated by a massive tornado. We were coming back to Kansas City after a weekend in Denver, and ready to get a good night’s sleep before starting a new work week. It was a normal day in May, 10 years ago-until it wasn’t normal at all. When an event changes the landscape and the lives of so many people in a community, it always seems strange to talk about it in terms of time passed. Joplin, Missouri, resident Patsy Harbottle interview with Ninette Sosa, 5/2011. Harbottle said faith got them through the recovery and God. There is no explanation for us to be alive. The house came down on top of us and we slid about 10 feet, the whole house shifted, and then it was over. I began lifting up off the floor and my husband just called out to God, saying, “I’m not going to let her go.” Literally, at that moment, he said he felt the hand of God grab his wrists and we didn’t go any further. My husband said he saw the brightest blue sky he had ever seen. The closet door pulled away, the walls began bouncing up and down and my husband and I were calling out to God to protect us. We were unloading groceries and quickly ran for cover in our house. “When there is only a God for an explanation,” said Patsy Harbottle, “when there is no explanation for us to be alive.” When it was over it was a true miracle for those who survived. Surviving an EF-5 tornado, a true miracle, according to one resident ![]()
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