1 Marc Gregson 11/27/2013 Geography 1070 The Joplin Tornado Report During the afternoon of May 22, 2011,

a po erful super cell for!ed in south"east #ansas $along the %oundary %et een ar!, !oist air flo ing north ards fro! the Gulf of Me&ico, and cold, dry air !o'ing south fro! (anada)$ *Masters, 2011+ This dangerous stor! then pressed itself across the %order into south" estern Missouri) ,t -.0/ 0M, the 1ational 2eather 3er'ice reported the for!ation of funnel clouds in the stor! in (hero4ee (ounty, #ansas) *Tripline+ 1ot long after, the alar!s ere sounded in Joplin, Missouri at -.17 p!) 5ess than 20 !inutes later6 the !assi'e tornado 7initially touched do n 8ust east of the #ansas state %oundary near the end of 32nd 3treet9 and surged northeast) *:d)+ This incredi%le t ister tra'eled for si& !iles, destroying e'erything in its a4e) *Murphy, 2011+ ,!ongst the %uildings destroyed ere the 3t) John;s Regional Medical (enter, hich had the glass side of the %uilding co!pletely %lo n out) *Tripline+ ,lso destroyed as the Green%riar 1ursing <o!e, the :r'ing =le!entary 3chool, the Joplin <igh 3chool and the =ast Middle 3chool) *:d)+ The inds ere in e&cess of 200 !ph, classifying this tornado as a - on the =nhanced >u8ita 3cale) *Masters, 2011+ 3o po erful ere the gusts that pa'e!ent as ripped fro! the earth) De%ris spiraled around, colliding ith ho!es and %uildings, causing e'en !ore da!age) (ars could %e seen stac4ed atop each other, and so!e trees had de%ris stic4ing fro! hat as left of their %ranches) *3ch8on%erg, 2013+ Rescue or4ers spent days searching for sur'i'ors, using dogs to sniff the! out, and 7Missouri Go') Jay 1i&on told 10R that the searches ere %eing conducted ?house %y house, car %y car, %loc4 %y %loc4?9 *2ires, 2011+ There ere e'en sporadic reports that people had heard cries for

2 help fro! underneath the ru%%le, %ut in !ost cases these ended up not %eing true) *:d)+ <o e'er, in one instance, an elderly o!an as %eing inter'ie ed %y (@3 1e s, outside the ru%%le of her ho!e) 3he e&pressed her sadness, 4no ing that her little dog as so!e here in the !ess, pro%a%ly dead) ,s the inter'ie progressed, a person spotted her dog and she as a%le to rescue it) *34y 1e s, 2013+ @ecause it as such a !assi'e stor!, the Joplin tornado reAuired a long reco'ery process) ,nd the longer it ent on, the higher the death tally rose) , day after, the tally as at 11B *(11 3taff, 2011+ and then t o years later, it finally stopped at 1B1) *Johnson, 2013+ The tally for in8uries 8u!ped o'er 1,000 hile the da!ages to %uildings ere 8ust as catastrophic) (lose to 7,000 ho!es ere destroyed, hile C00 others ere da!aged) 1ot to !ention that 7nearly e'ery %usiness in a si&"%loc4 stretch of Main 3treet as hea'ily da!aged or destroyed, as ere a nu!%er of %ig"%o& stores on a co!!ercial strip in eastern Joplin)9 *3ch8on%erg, 2013+ This tornado ran4s a!ong the top 10 deadliest in D)3) <istory, and the orst one since the 2ood ard Tornado in E4laho!a in 1C3B) *1e co!%, 2013+ , ee4 after the tragedy, 0resident E%a!a 'isited Joplin and is Auoted as saying that it as the orst disaster he had e'er seen) >urther!ore he pro!ised there ould %e a national response, hich is 'ery i!portant for a natural disaster of this !agnitude) *Mcgreal, 2011+ 2hile the the direct effects *death tally and nu!%er of %uildings destroyed+ are often the first things discussed after a !a8or stor!, indirect effects are al!ost 8ust as i!portant) >ollo ing the stor!, Joplin ho!e sales spi4ed *(ity"data+, hich could %e for a 'ariety of factors, li4e anting a fresh start, or perhaps to loo4 for a 8o%) Many %usinesses in Joplin ere destroyed, and ith less 8o%s a'aila%le, so!e !ay ha'e 8ust had to pac4 up and !o'e) ,dditionally, se'eral schools ere destroyed, and parents !ay ha'e !o'ed their fa!ilies a ay, thin4ing they could get a %etter education for their children)

,nalysis The Joplin tornado as an e&tre!ely deadly e'ent for 'arious reasons including. pro%le!s ith the accuracy of stor! prediction, population density, arning syste!s, and %uilding safety) :t is i!possi%le to predict ith a%solute certainty hen any natural disaster ill stri4e, ho e'er, due to ad'ance!ents in technology, tornadoes today are easier to predict) Meteorologists can, ith the help of Doppler radar, 7see9 stor!s co!ing in %efore they happen, and !a4e educated guesses of hat they?ll do) Ene pro%le! ith this tornado is that it as %elie'ed to %e a !uch s!aller t ister) @ut then it suddenly !erged ith large stor! cell that %le in fro! 3outheast #ansas and a stor! cell fro! 1ortheast E4laho!a) The odds of this happening are said to %e astrono!ical, and yet it happened) *=D1, 2011+ This 8ust goes to sho that relying on predictions is a ris4y %usiness, and perhaps the residents paying attention to the reports %elie'ed it asn?t going to %e such a %ig deal) The Joplin Tornado ran4s a!ongst the deadliest tornadoes, ho e'er, in years past there are se'eral stor!s that resulted in far !ore deaths, li4e the Tri"3tate tornado, hich clai!ed BC- li'es and the 1atcheF, Mississippi tornado hich too4 317) *1e co!%, 2013+ More people li'e in the Dnited 3tates than e'er %efore, and !ore people li'e closer together, creating the possi%ilities of far !ore disastrous tornadoes than e'en the Tri"3tate) ='en so, the nation hadn?t seen a tornado as disastrous as the Joplin tornado in al!ost eighty years) Most li4ely, due to our arning syste!s no in place, and hopefully %etter education as ell, people are a%le to %e spared fro! these disasters) Though, perhaps their property on?t) There is no dou%t that the t enty !inute ad'ance arning of the tornado sa'ed li'es) 2ithout it, ho high ould the tally %eG 2ith 7,000 ho!es destroyed and another C00 da!aged, not to !ention all the %usinesses, schools, and the hospital, perhaps it is fair to assu!e that the tally

H ould;'e 8u!ped into the thousands) Joplin as prepared to arn its citiFens, ho e'er one !an, Mi4e 3!ith, !ay thin4 other ise) During an inter'ie for the release of his %oo4, When the Sirens Went Silent, Mi4e discussed four topics that !ade the arnings less effecti'e than they should ha'e %een) The article states, 7the tornado as so rain" rapped IthatJ it as ?co!pletely and totally in'isi%le,? IandJ since no one could see it, they ere co!pletely dependent on the arning syste!)$ Mi4e added, $ItJhere ere 'ery intelligent people ho actually dro'e into the tornado)9 *>inger, 2012+ >urther!ore, Mi4e said, 7I%Jut %ecause the tornado sirens had 8ust %een turned off and %ecause the 1ational 2eather 3er'ice had said the tornado as going to !iss the to n, the decision as !ade not to sound the sirens a second ti!e) That !eant the people of Joplin didn;t 4no a tornado arning had %een issued unless they ere atching TK or listening to radio)9 *>inger, 2012+ , arning syste! is only good as long as it is a%le to arn people) 1ot e'eryone ould %e atching TK or listening to the radio at that point, and so sirens ould ha'e %een the %est route) 2arning syste!s do cost a lot of !oney, %ut for co!!unities in tornado alley, so!e sort of !andatory alert syste! placed on cell phones could %e e&tre!ely %eneficial and pay for itself) 0erhaps so!ething li4e hat the Japanese are fiddling ith hen it co!es to earthAua4e arnings follo ing p" a'es, and alerts sent to cell phones ould also %e an option) @ut putting up a arning syste! li4e that is easier said than done) :t is 'ery easy to loo4 %ac4 at a natural e'ent and thin4 of all the things that could %e done differently) E%'iously, anyone ho chooses to li'e in any of the states as part of tornado alley should recogniFe the ris4s) They should also %e educated a%out the arning signs, and should ha'e their o n indi'idual preparedness plans, li4e 4no ing a place here they can hole up) ,dditionally, they should loo4 into ha'ing a food and ater storage) 3o!e !ight not ant to spend the additional !oney, fearing that it ill %e a aste of their ti!e) 7:t?ll ne'er happen to !e,9 they thin4, %ut it is

far %etter ha'ing these things and not needing the!, than it is to not ha'e these things and needing the!) Ene thing is clear though a%out Joplin as a hole. they assessed the da!age caused and then ent a%out findings ay to i!pro'e their structures) The Joplin <ospital had a hole side, !ade of glass, %lo n in hen the tornado hit) :t is easy in hindsight to say that !a4ing the side of a hospital out of glass in tornado country is pro%a%ly not the %est idea) <o e'er, construction has started in Joplin to replace this hospital) The ne hospital ill ha'e roof, siding, and glass that are tornado ready) The roof is li4e a !e!%rane and if it is torn off, there is concrete underneath that 4eeps %uilding atertight) The other ad'ance!ent is ith the glass) This la!inated glass has actually has %een tested in 1H0 !ph inds and 2-0 !ph inds and is generally a product that is used for high security %uildings) The hope is that this ill i!pro'e this %uildings chance of sur'i'al hen/if the ne&t !a8or tornado stri4es) *>arnen, 2013+ , couple days after the stor!, 0@3 ran a 1e shour here they had se'eral people discuss the effects of the stor!) Greg (ar%in said that the population density is directly tied to the =nhanced >u8ita scale, and this stor! as deter!ined, after 'ie ing the da!age, as an =>-) *0@3 1e shour, 2011+ <ea'ily populated areas are far !ore suspecti%le to these 4ind of da!ages than an a'erage rural area) The Joplin tornado occurred in an area that has a 1,-3B people per sAuare !ile) 0erhaps if the stor! had only tra'eled a little !ore to the north, an area that has around 1-"2- people per sAuare !ile, there ould ha'e %een less death and destruction) *(ity"Data)co!+ The Joplin Tornado 4illed o'er 1-0 people and destroyed thousands of ho!es) :ts po erful inds and its path contri%uted to the a!ount of destruction it caused) <ad it %een so!eh ere else, e !ight ha'e si!ply referred to this si!ply as a natural process) ,lso contri%uting the le'el of destruction ere the pro%le!atic arning syste!s and the lac4 of %uilding safety) 2e can ne'er 4no hen any natural disaster ill stri4e, %ut as long as e ha'e good prepatory plans in place,

e can !iniFe the effects)

7 Reflecti'e 2riting 2hile researching the Joplin, Missouri tornado, : selfishly thought to !yself, 7%oy, :?! glad : don?t li'e in tornado alley)9 2hile : 4no there al ays is the possi%ility that a large tornado could for! o'er the 3alt 5a4e 'alley, : a! co!forted 4no ing that, relati'ely spea4ing, it is highly unli4ely) @ut : thin4 !y thoughts ere pretty natural for anyone loo4ing upon any de'astation) @efore ta4ing Geography 1700, : generally 8ust s4i!!ed o'er these type of articles hen the ne s hit) : ha'e %een luc4y in !y life that : ha'e not personally itnessed any type of natural disaster) Due to that, : usually o'erloo4ed these 4ind of things as 7so!ething that on?t happen to !e)9 This class has gi'en !e an appreciation for the po er of !other nature, and also a %etter understanding of hat : should do to %e prepared for the orst) : as !o'ed %y so!e of the people affected %y this tornado, particularly the old o!an ho found her dog ali'e, %uried in the ru%%le of her house) : cannot relate to her house %eing destroyed, %ut : can relate to finding a !issing dog) 1o that : ha'e finished this research paper, : hope that others ill get the!sel'es educated so they can also !ini!iFe the effects of a possi%le natural disaster)

/ 2or4s (ited City-Data.com) *n)d)+) Retrie'ed 1o'e!%er 2C, 2013, fro! Joplin, Missouri. http.// data)co!/city/Joplin"Missouri)ht!l >arnen, J) *2013, May 21+) 1e <ospital :n Joplin, Mo), Designed 2ith Tornadoes :n Mind) *R) 3iegel, :nter'ie er+ >inger, 3) *2012, May C+) Finger On The Weather) Retrie'ed 1o'e!%er 27, 2013, fro! <o the arning syste! failed Joplin last May. http.//%logs)4ansas)co!/ eather/2012/0-/0C/ho " the" arning"syste!"failed"8oplin"last"!ay/ Johnson, 2) *2013, May 21+) USA Today) Retrie'ed 1o'e!%er 2-, 2013, fro! 0rogress continues 2 years after Joplin tornado. http.// after"8oplin"tornado/23221B7/ Masters, D) J) *2011, May 23+) Wunderground) Retrie'ed 1o'e!%er 21, 2013, fro! Dr) Jeff Masters? 2under@log. http.// ) underground)co!/%log/JeffMasters/deadliest"us" )usatoday)co!/story/ne s/nation/2013/0-/1C/progress" )city"

tornado"since"1C-3"rips"through"8oplin"!issouri"4illi Mcgreal, () *2011, May 2C+) The Guardian) Retrie'ed 1o'e!%er 2C, 2013, fro! @arac4 E%a!a 'isits Joplin tornado scene. http.// 'isits"8oplin"tornado Murphy, #) *2011, May 23+) Reuters) Retrie'ed 1o'e!%er 23, 2013, fro! Tornado de'astates Joplin, Missouri, 11B dead. http.// )reuters)co!/article/2011/0-/23/us"usa" eather" )theguardian)co!/ orld/2011/!ay/30/%arac4"o%a!a"

tornadoes"idD3TR=7HM0/520110-23 1e co!%, T) *2013, May 21+) TI !) Retrie'ed 1o'e!%er 2-, 2013, fro! 10 Deadliest Tornadoes in D)3) <istory. http.//nation)ti!e)co!/2013/0-/21/10"deadliest"tornadoes"in"u"s" history/slide/ ood ard"o4la"1C3B/ 1e s, 3) *2013, May 21+) "outu#e. Retrie'ed 1o'e!%er 2/, 2013, fro! E4laho!a Tornado. Dog =!erges >ro! De%ris . http.// )youtu%e)co!/ atchG'L@Dc1MgNiOGs

C $%S &e'shour) *2011, May 23+) Retrie'ed 1o'e!%er 2C, 2013, fro! :n Joplin, Mo), Tornado Destruction ?5oo4s 5i4e an ,rtillery @arrage?. http.// 8une11/tornadoP0-"23)ht!l 3ch8on%erg, M) >) *2013, May 22+) !(isoco(al &e's Ser)ice) Retrie'ed 1o'e!%er 27, 2013, fro! T o years later, tornado"ra'aged Joplin re%uilds. http.//episcopaldigitalnet or4)co!/ens/2013/0-/22/t o"years"later"tornado"ra'aged"8oplin" re%uilds/ 3taff, () 2) *2011, May 23+) C&&) Retrie'ed 1o'e!%er 27, 2013, fro! 11B 4illed %y Missouri tornado, tying it for deadliest on record. http.// )cnn)co!/2011/D3/0-/23/!issouri)tornado/ )p%s)org/ne shour/%%/ eather/8an"

Tri(line) *n)d)+) Retrie'ed 1o'e!%er 23, 2011, fro! 0ath of the Joplin Tornado. http.// )tripline)net/trip/0athPofPthePJoplinPTornado"

0H2H20777-021003,DH3(13(-30B0=@( 2ires, 1) 3) *2011, May 2H+) &$R) Retrie'ed 1o'e!%er 27, 2013, fro! <ouse"To"<ouse 3earch >or Joplin Tornado 3ur'i'ors. http.// city"possi%le"2nd"punch"loo!s !**ingham Daily &e's. *2011, July 1/+) !D&. Retrie'ed 1o'e!%er 30, 2013 fro! Joplin Tornado called perfect stor! on steroids. http.// )effingha!dailyne s)co!/cnhins/&1H2H0B37/ )npr)org/2011/0-/2-/13BB031/7/for"reeling"!o"

H/Joplin"tornado"called"perfect"stor!"on"steroids