nwaas.com

Sure hope Kenna isn't in problem areas. Sounds like Joplin got hit. How about you Corey? Denny

It's sunny and 75 here

Little hail, steady rain.

Got hte 110 half full, probably finish tomorrow night. Got the parents and youngsters fed and put to bed.

I hope you guys have another safe day. Terrible events in Joplin and also Reading. Makes my hail damage seem like nothing.

The girls and I were at MSSU in Joplin for my nephew's high school graduation. We were able to shelter in a safe place until the storms were past. We then spent the next three hours trying to get to my parents house. They live at 26th and Kansas in Joplin. Everything from about 14th to 24th is completely gone. At this point, their house seems to be okay, for the most part. Many of my friends have lost everything. My neice's house is gone, another niece is separated from her husband. His apartment was destroyed, killing his brother. My ex-husband's sisters' apartment complex was completely destroyed.

My parents are going to be staying with us for a while. There is no way they could stay there. No water, no gas, no electricity, no phones.

Prayers are needed.

Wow, Kenna. Best wishes to you and everyone up that way.

Boy oh boy. I don't think I would really want more than one tornado story during my life. We're thinking about you. Denny

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1390530/Joplin-MO-tornado-Before-photos-complete-devastation.html

Many friends and some family lived in the apartment complex shown in the photos here. Some are still unaccounted for.

It's depressing to see the devastation and hear of the losses in life and property. I've thought about driving up there to take pictures, but I imagine they don't need sightseers in the way. I wonder if there is a place to go to volunteer to help clean up.

I suppose that idiot who predicted the end of the world on Saturday is using all these tornados to claim he was just slightly off in his calculations.

No, that guy is saying he was 5 months off.
My sister tried to volunteer for childcare in Joplin but she was told she had to be certified and turned her away. There has to be something they will let people do though.
Michael

There are many jobs to be done. Most of the volunteers are being organized through Americorp on the MSSU campus.

They aren't the only ones though, other non-profit organizations need help and aren't as big or organized.

Kevin

Ditto what Kevin said.

My family is ... rather eclectic, religiously speaking... I, and my parents, are members of First Baptist Church, Joplin, although I haven't been to a service there in so many years..... I, McKelvie and Mattie are members of Royal Heights United Methodist Church, haven't been to a service there for a year or two, and Nicole is a member of Immanuel Lutheran Church. All three are organizing volunteers for many different jobs. Please, if you don't know where to start, consider giving one of them a call or just stop by.

FBC: Two locations, 7th and Pearl and 4128 S. Connecticut Ave. 417-624-4585 http://www.fbcjoplin.org churchoffice@fbcjoplin.org
RHUMC: 1612 Euclid (Royal Heights area, west of the mall) 417-624-3366 http://royalheightsumc.org/default.aspx
Immanuel Luthern: 26th and Connecticut 417-624-0333 http://www.immanueljoplin.com/TORNADO/tabid/3141/language/en-US/Default.aspx

RHUMC owns Hampshire Terrace Apartments, a low income housing complex. My daughters' aunts and cousin lived there. They were completely destroyed.
Immanuel Lutheran is actually IN the disaster zone. It is right down the street from my parents' house and sustained damage.

Guys, I am honestly disappointed.

You have friends and their families who have been severely effected by this disaster.

I waited to hear what you all as a group would do, but nothing.

Even if you don't help those friends and family, what about the aquarium hobby in Joplin?

Don't you think as an organization you should step forward and at least talk about the options of helping those people that lost aquariums to get back into the hobby after they recover?

Kevin

Today I finally lost it.

The girls and I drove my parents to Joplin. We dropped them off at their house (2621 Kansas), which has been damaged, but we don't know yet whether they will be able to return to it or not. We then drove just a few blocks west to my friends house (26th & Minnesota). They lost all their windows and part of their roof. When the tornado hit, Michael was hiking and Chris was alone at home. She hid in a closet. The girls and I spent much of the day helping them get anything salvageable out. They had rented a house in Webb City, sight unseen. We unloaded everything, hugged each other, then drove back to my parent's house.

The drive across town was indescribable. The town I grew up in is unrecognizable. Everything is gone in a six mile long stripe that ranges between 1/2 and 3/4 mile wide. The sight of the places I played when I grew up, the stores I shopped last week, the homes of friends and family members completely gone completely broke our hearts.

When I pulled up in front of my childhood home, I saw Kevin and Brandon, standing with rakes, waiting to catch me as I fell to pieces. They had driven in and spent hours raking, hauling limbs, and sweeping debris off driveways and sidewalks on the street that was my home from the day I was born until I graduated high school. They climbed in and around the next door neighbor's back yard searching for any sign of tornado victims because I had convinced myself that maybe someone's body was buried under the massive tree that had fallen from my parents yard.
And they didn't do it for fame, or money, or even for a thank you.
They did it because it was the right thing to do. They did it because they love me. And for that, I say thank you, my friends. I love you.

Kevin and Brandon had another friend with them. For some silly reason, I seem to have completely forgotten his name, but is teaches with Kevin. Thank you even more to him, because he doesn't know me at all and still, he came.