gallery162_Joplin_tornado

Recently Greg and his coworkers from GE went to Joplin Missouri to help with the clean up from the tornado. The tornado destroyed 8000 homes, 500 businesses and killed 153 people. The damage covers 13 square miles. On Thursday July 21st his office went up to work in the impact zone for the 2nd time. They spent the morning helping clear a 4 acre lot. This area used to have homes and large trees, now you can see for many blocks because the tornado basically destroyed all the trees in the area. The team worked in 102 degree temperatures and was able to make a little dent. The team was instructed to place any personal items found on what is left of the owner's house, which is basically now just a flat slab. There was another house on the site that only the fireplace survived. A RV that was in the driveway and managed not to get carried away by the twister but was totaled. Greg also got a couple photos of a car near the hospital that apparently was thrown quite a distance by the tornado. The power of the storm is hard to grasp until you see it. It actually split a thick cement sewer cover in half.    [ July 2011 / 21 images ]