On May 22, 2011, Joplin, MO, was hit with an EF-5 tornado carving a path of destruction as large as one mile wide and thirteen miles long. The devastation was more has ever been seen in that area and was ranked as the second deadliest tornado in American history, causing 161 deaths and approximately three billion dollars in total damages.
Over 80,000 volunteers have since stampeded the area and begun the rebuilding project, both long and short-term. The First Presbyterian Church Youth Group recently had the opportunity to make the seven hour trek to Joplin through the Rebuild Joplin program to do just that.
Tim Chipman, the youth coordinator at First Presbyterian Church as well as a newly hired English teacher at the high school, led the group of 21 on the trip.
When asked about it, he described the experience as “Exhilarating. An opportunity to meaningfully serve and put words into action. It was also a chance to connect with each other and those we served: the church not only connects us to God, but to each other.”
For five days, the youth group worked from 8:00 in the morning until 2:00 in the afternoon, performing tasks that ranged anywhere from watering 300 saplings to helping repackage books sent from around the country to be used in classrooms to going door to door attempting to asking about the current needs of displaced peoples.
“One of the major things we did was clear debris from a lot and organize it, according to EPA standards, into three piles: vegetation, rocks, trash,” says Mr. Chipman.
Of the 9,000 total destroyed houses and businesses—over 850 more were badly damaged—over 6,000 have been rebuilt to date, with many more ongoing projects still being completed.
Those numbers are very descriptive of the progress the city of Joplin, Missouri, has made in the past year. On the whole, the city that was once comparable to a bombed out city is now beginning to look like the Joplin of former glory.
Although there is still visible damage to still standing structures and the obvious construction needs of leveled homes, the city of Joplin is moving forward and rising above it all, and they will continue to do so until the last crack has been filled.
If you want to find out more information about the rebuild effort or how you can help go, to rebuildjoplin.org.