Community

On April 5 2017 an EF-2 came roaring through the small city in Southwest MO where I live . It totally destroyed the elementary school and two of our three small fire stations, and multiple houses and businesses. My family and property was unscathed for the most part, we were very blessed.

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We had just started to check on our house and animals when the call came in. As a volunteer fire fighter I was immediately dispatched out for search and rescue. When I arrived at the bank where we set up our make shift command post not only did I see the other volunteer fire fighters from my town, but I saw dozens of trained and untrained volunteers from my town and other surrounding areas. The help kept on pouring in from all the neighboring towns, big and small. It was one of the most impressive things I have seen first hand.

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As a new Missourian there was something I was missing, a since of fear and stress in the air that was not effecting me.
In 2011 a catastrophic EF5-rated multiple-vortex tornado struck Joplin, Missouri, on a Sunday afternoon.
Overall, the tornado killed 158 people, injured some 1,150 others, and caused damages amounting to a total of $2.8 billion. It was the deadliest tornado to strike the United States since the 1947. This tragedy came back full circle in the memory of most the people that came out to help. Almost everyone in the area was effected by that 2011 tornado in some manner.

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Volunteers with and without first responder or triage experience desperately tried to help the severely injured, and crews of volunteers searched for missing people. Many had to help load and carry body bags themselves.

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With the massive amount of volunteers coming in we started going door to door checking on and accounting for every single resident. In three hours time everyone was accounted for, and not a single person was seriously injured or lost.

We had to dig out several of our emergency vehicles before we could even run calls.

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The tornado left over 8,000 of us without power, but thankfully because of all the hard work and volunteers most of the power was back up the following evening.

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Sadly enough I'm one of the first to speak up saying just how bad the world is getting. It's a self loving self loathing society that is more concerned with watching a football game or some reality show then making sure our own elderly neighbors are warm and fed, but that night I was proud of everyone around me. The feeling of unity and community between so many was truly astonishing.
So looking back my only question is, Why does it take tragedy to bring us all together? Where is that helping hand in our everyday lives?