60 Powerful Photos Of Joplin Rebuilding
Today marks the one-year anniversary of the EF-5 tornado that devastated the town of Joplin, Missouri. The tornado left behind is responsible for 161 deaths and hundreds of injuries, but one year later there are signs that the town is beginning to recover. Truly amazing stuff.
1. The day after the tornado, May 22, 2011:
Destroyed vehicles are piled on top of one another in the parking lot of the Joplin Regional Medical Center.
A hand-written note to rescue workers is seen on a house that was damaged by a tornado.
Rescue workers in lime-green jackets search for bodies and survivors inside St. John’s hospital.
Maggie Kelley and her husband hug their dog, Saint, after finding him amid the rubble of her home.
A man walks past destroyed vehicles in the parking lot of the Joplin Regional Medical Center.
20. One year after the tornado:
St. Johns Regional Medical Center one year later.
Morgan Osburn, David Hoosier and Kim Hoosier spend a quiet moment together in front of a memorial built for their friend Lance Hare who was killed in the tornado.
A neighborhood street one year after the tornado struck.
Artists Emily Frankoski and Dolores Bilke paint a tornado damaged tree.
A grocery store one year after the tornado struck.
Boys stand on an empty lot where a house once stood.
A memorial is displayed where a house once stood.
Scott Hasty places an American flag next to where his house once stood.
The iron cross is all that is left of St. Mary’s church after it was destroyed by the tornado.
Bob Henke, on vacation from Anchorage, Alaska, stops to take pictures and take in the sights of what was once nothing but debris and destroyed homes.
Camryn Dean plays on a pile of dirt behind her mother’s rebuilt home.
Grace Goebel and Zachary Cook play in a wading pool outside of the new Habitat for Humanity home that was built on the spot of a home that had been destroyed.
7-year-old Camryn Dean plays in the newly built tornado shelter behind her mother’s rebuilt home in the heart of what was once nothing but debris and destroyed homes.
A Joplin neighborhood one year after the tornado struck.
President Barack Obama delivered the commencement speech at Joplin High School. In this picture he is greeting the mayor.
The President delivers the commencement address.
Students show emotions at the 2012 Joplin High School commencement ceremony.
The President wears a wristband with the word “Willdabeast” on it during the national anthem at the 2012 Joplin High School commencement ceremony.
Gov. Jay Nixon, President Barack Obama, and Superintendent of School C.J. Huff lower their head during a moment of silence.
Student sing the school song for the President.
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