Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Well, we’re alive.

Odysseus, the imp, the pixie, and I are all safe. Yes, we live in the general area hit by the ginormous tornado, but luckily aren't anywhere close to ground zero. As you've probably heard on the news, there's a six mile swath through the middle of Joplin that's been destroyed, including one of our two spectacular hospitals.

We're incredibly lucky. Unlike some of our friends, we still have a house, a car, and electricity. We didn't take any damage, and we have enough extra to be able to help somewhat. The only thing we lack is internet, phone, and television. Other than that, we're good.

4 comments:

  1. Glad to hear you're all safe and sound.

    BobF

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  2. Good news. The pictures I've seen were horrific.

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  3. I haven't had the courage to go downtown. The bits I've seen at the edge of the tornado's path were horrific enough. One of my best friends's mother is a nurse at the hospital that got splattered--thank God she wasn't working that night.

    So many people have come into Joplin to help out. So much of the country is reaching out that it's humbling. We actually have been told (several local radio stations have been 24/7 covering the storm and recovery--since 4:00 p.m. Sunday) that we're at capacity for blood storage, and they're turning people away for the next two weeks. As soon as the tornado had moved away from the hospital, people started showing up with pickups to help evacuate the sick and injured. MSSU's football team is organizing to go out and help with cleanup--the wives of the Kansas City Royals arrived with clothing and bottled water to help out on Wednesday.

    We'll see how things stand in a couple weeks. I would be willing to bet that we'll be mostly recovered within three months. Joplin is no New Orleans. Yeah, we've had a six mile by three quarter mile swath ripped out of the heart of the city, but we were already starting to clean that up and fix it the same day of the storm. We aren't waiting for anybody to save us--though we are grateful for the help we've received.

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  4. "ginormous"--I had to look it up--I thought you were using poetic license!

    It amazes me how resilient the American people are--we almost immediately saw 2 x 4 framing going up!

    Then I think of Haiti--I don't think there's a 2 x 4 in the entire country!

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