View Full Version : One year ago..
Snowman78
05-23-2012, 12:14
On May 22nd 2011 a F5 Tornado hit Joplin, MO
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Joplin_tornado
I work in Insurance claims; I do investigations and settle claims. If there is a large storm I also go there to settle losses. Here are some photos from the tornado last year in Joplin MO.
http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc8/Nvasu4333/1.jpg
http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc8/Nvasu4333/2.jpg
Hospital: The St John's Medical Center was at the heart of the tornado's path through the city. Hundreds of patients had to be evacuated
http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc8/Nvasu4333/3.jpg
http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc8/Nvasu4333/4.jpg
The remains of this apartment block surround what was once a swimming pool
http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc8/Nvasu4333/5.jpg
http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc8/Nvasu4333/6.jpg
The Home Depot do-it-yourself store was where many dead bodies were found.
http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc8/Nvasu4333/7.jpg
http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc8/Nvasu4333/8.jpg
The city's Walmart superstore was barely recognisable.[/quote]
Holy crap!!
Amazing what mother nature can do in a few minutes.
Tinelement
05-23-2012, 16:35
Wow!
Scary pictures.
Wow that is crazy. Amazing photos
Chilling photos. Since you're in adjustment/claims do you know much about that Home Depot structure? Was it built to code or were some short cuts taken or did they relax their code to allow a large retailer to build on more of a budget? The reason I ask is that there had to be WAY more people in that hospital but as I recall there were many more people killed in that HD structure. As sad as it is the closet engineer within me always wondered about build quality comparison of the two buildings since it also sounds like the hospital was more of a direct hit. I don't know if you're privy to any of that but I would be curious to know.
Zundfolge
05-23-2012, 22:52
No sir I don't miss living in Kansas. Not one bit.
No sir I don't miss living in Kansas. Not one bit.
Exactly why I moved to the foothills of Colorado from Nebraska. I don't miss tornado sirens daily in the spring and fall.
SA Friday
05-23-2012, 23:18
Lived through a few bad ones as a kid. One in Iowa when I lived there for a couple years was really bad.
Tornados are serious 'finger of god' stuff.
jreifsch80
05-24-2012, 00:22
Exactly why I moved to the foothills of Colorado from Nebraska. I don't miss tornado sirens daily in the spring and fall.
ahhh a fellow cornhusker lol im originally from scottsbluff. have some stories of nasty tornados from my grandpa that was a wheat farmer in banner county but nothing like this one
ahhh a fellow cornhusker lol im originally from scottsbluff. have some stories of nasty tornados from my grandpa that was a wheat farmer in banner county but nothing like this one
Jeff? Is that you?
jreifsch80
05-24-2012, 00:43
no maybe you're thinking of my cousin jeff lol
hghclsswhitetrsh
05-24-2012, 06:39
Don't forget that the Windsor tornado was 4 years ago. 1 person died, millions of dollars of damage, and thousands of lives affected.
Snowman78
05-25-2012, 08:52
Chilling photos. Since you're in adjustment/claims do you know much about that Home Depot structure? Was it built to code or were some short cuts taken or did they relax their code to allow a large retailer to build on more of a budget? The reason I ask is that there had to be WAY more people in that hospital but as I recall there were many more people killed in that HD structure. As sad as it is the closet engineer within me always wondered about build quality comparison of the two buildings since it also sounds like the hospital was more of a direct hit. I don't know if you're privy to any of that but I would be curious to know.
Yes it was up to code as far as I know, the problem is that it was built like every Home Depot with large shelfs all over the floor plan. So when the storm hit they had everyone go to the center of the store and all the shelving fell on them. The people who went to the inner outside walls made it out.
The few photos don't even come close to how bad it really was, you just had to be there to really understand how bad it was. The damage path was over 9 miles long and 1.5 miles wide at its biggest point.
I also worked the Windsor storm and it was nothing compared to this.
I flew around it that night and over it the next day. Easy to see the destruction even from 35000 feet. Amazing to see the track the tornado took and the devastation it left behind.
My friend works at that hospital as an IT administrator. It was very scary and talking to him it was a LIFE changing moment.
I grew up in western OK, and tornados were very common. I do have to say that our town only got hit once, and pretty mildly compared to what many have experienced. I was very young, but I still remember seeing the damages.
We got hit by a huge flood in '73, and it did more damage I believe. I was working that night as a delivery driver, I'll never forget the rain and seeing parts of my town becoming rivers, seeing cars and houses sailing by and crashing into things. I can't even tell you how many cars ended up in trees in one area of town.
Ma Nature can be a real bitch sometimes. Makes you realize what puny, pathetic, weak little creatures us humans really are when you see what mere weather can do to us and our world as we know it.
no maybe you're thinking of my cousin jeff lol
Is Jeff seriously your cousin or are you just joking? I graduated with Jeff from Gering. He's a good dude.
Don't forget that the Windsor tornado was 4 years ago. 1 person died, millions of dollars of damage, and thousands of lives affected.
That's what I said that I moved to the foothills specifically. I'm West of Loveland and the weather is different here than in the town of Loveland let alone Windsor.
Yes it was up to code as far as I know, the problem is that it was built like every Home Depot with large shelfs all over the floor plan. So when the storm hit they had everyone go to the center of the store and all the shelving fell on them. The people who went to the inner outside walls made it out.
The few photos don't even come close to how bad it really was, you just had to be there to really understand how bad it was. The damage path was over 9 miles long and 1.5 miles wide at its biggest point.
I also worked the Windsor storm and it was nothing compared to this.
I can't believe they had people go to the center of a large structure. Yikes. I would tell them, no thanks, I'll be in the bathroom if you need me.
mevshooter
05-25-2012, 10:19
It looks like most of the racks are still standing, though. Hiding under them might have helped. They're anchored into the concrete and can typically hold a few thousand pounds of weight.
Lex_Luthor
05-25-2012, 10:33
Is Jeff seriously your cousin or are you just joking? I graduated with Jeff from Gering. He's a good dude.
Do you guys know any of the Moore family from Gering/Scottsbluff?
Do you guys know any of the Moore family from Gering/Scottsbluff?
Sounds familiar.
Chad4000
05-25-2012, 13:30
Ive luckily never been through anything like that...
went through a 6.7 (iirc) earthquake that did relatively minor damage overall.. and basically nothing compared to that tornado.
and that was still scarey....
You wanna see something sobering, I just watched a bunch of videos about the 2004 tsunami and the one that hit Japan a couple years ago. Now THAT'S some scary shit!
Snowman78
05-22-2013, 08:31
2 years ago today.
No sir I don't miss living in Kansas. Not one bit.
My mom is from Wichita, since the 50's she's seen too many tornadoes (but then again, 1 is too many), and is happy to have moved to the mountains of CO in the early 80's. We have some friends who live just south of where the OK tornado hit, they took the rest of the week off to go help. Nothing is more frightening than- I like SA's term- "the finger of God," you don't know when it'll hit, where, and for how long... At least you can see a hurricane coming.
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