The loss of tree cover remains one of the starkest legacies of one of the nation's worst tornadoes. This frame grab from video shows a massive tornado on Sunday, May 22, 2011, outside Joplin, Mo. This 10-year streak is the longest period on record without a single EF5 tornado. However, some commercial and residential lots remain vacant. The Joplin Globe estimated this tornado generated about 4.1 million cubic yards of residential and commercial debris.įive years later, new homes have been built in these tornado-scarred neighborhoods. It was settled about 1840 by Tennesseean John Cox, who named it for his friend the Reverend Harris Joplin, a Methodist missionary who was also an early settler. It lies adjacent to Webb City, near the Kansas and Oklahoma borders. NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with Ryan Stanley, the mayor of Joplin, Mo., about recovery efforts and lessons learned from the 2011 tornado that killed 161 people. ( MORE: 7 Things You Should Never Forget When Tornadoes Strike) Joplin, city, Jasper and Newton counties, in the Ozark region of southwestern Missouri, U.S. (Google Earth)Some neighborhoods were left unrecognizable.Ībout 7,500 residential dwellings were left damaged or destroyed, affecting more than 17,000 residents, according to "32 Minutes in May," a book published by The Joplin Globe.Ī June 2013 study from the American Society of Civil Engineers concluded more than 83 percent of structural damage was caused by winds only up to EF2 intensity, though, as mentioned above, National Weather Service storm surveys finding removal of concrete parking stops, manhole covers, and scoured-out pavement was used to justify an EF5 rating. The Walmart Supercenter (blue), Academy Sports and Outdoors store (yellow) and Pizza Hut (red) are highlighted. Some members of the survey team suggested that an EF4 rating would be more appropriate, due to poor house construction.Before, after and March 2016 view of businesses damaged by the EF5 tornado in Joplin, Missouri. and was the worst since the Woodward, Oklahoma tornado in 1947. 2016) view of the swath of damage from the EF5 tornado in Joplin, Missouri. The Joplin total ranks 7th on the all-time US killer tornado list. Before, after, one year after, and most current (Mar. A check of the information in the non-government Significant Tornadoes, would have shown six killer tornadoes in the Joplin area, and many others in adjacent Cherokee County, Kansas prior to 1950. The extensive government report noted no previous tornado deaths in the Joplin area, using only official government data back to 1950. Most of the deaths were in buildings that recorded EF3 or above damage. A total of about 7,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed with a record three billion dollars in damage. Eleven died in churches, but only two in mobile homes, which are generally not permitted as residences within the city limits. Marker is in Joplin, Missouri, in Jasper. A Wal-Mart, with about 200 people, was ripped in half, but with just three deaths. This historical marker and memorial is listed in this topic list: Disasters. At a Home Depot, 30 people survived as one wall collapsed outward, 8 died as another wall collapsed inward. Nineteen people died in a nursing home Four died in the ICU of a hospital. Fatalities occurred in 59 different homes. It was the deadliest tornado in modern American history, killing 161 people and causing. The result was deaths in a wide variety of buildings. It’s been 12 years since a deadly tornado tore through the city. The deaths can be attributed to poor house construction, the size and intensity of the path, confusion as sirens went on, went off, then back on again, the lack of basements and below ground shelters, and general belief that Joplin was somehow made immune from tornadoes by local topography. In fact, it was not a single tornado, but a multi. The result was the loss of 158 lives (not including plus three "indirect" deaths), the most since tornado forecasting began in 1953. On the deadliest tornado ever recorded struck Joplin, an F5 in which wind gusts exceeded 200 mph. On Sunday, an EF5 tornado cut a mile wide path across the unprepared city of Joplin, Missouri with catastrophic results. A sky-darkening storm was working its way into southwest Missouri around dinnertime on a. Descriptions of the Top Ten US Killer Tornadoes #7: The Joplin Tornado Counties: Newton / Jasper / Newton, MO In this May 22, 2011, file photo residents walk in the street after a massive tornado hit Joplin, Missouri.
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