Joplin Tornados: A Year Later

A year ago today, a monster EF-5 tornado struck Joplin, Mo. A mile-wide, six- mile long swath of destruction was left in its wake. Nearly 200 people were either killed, or have since died, from injuries sustained that day.

This somber anniversary has a Loganville connection. Last year, Loganville residents from traveled to the southwestern Missouri town to help out. The church group took three trips over the year, the first of which was barely four weeks after the storms to help with cleanup. A follow up trip to help rebuild a home happened in November. The third trip, in mid-February, saw volunteers working on two homes in the hard hit town.

There's more to the local connection. Adam Turner, Senior Pastor at Corinth, is a native of nearby Carthage, Mo. He and his wife Jennifer, also from Carthage, moved to Loganville seven years ago but still have family in Missouri. Turner initiated the idea of a trip to help with the cleanup. About 20 people headed out a month later to the disaster zone to lend a hand. Many of those who went on that first trip were high school students. The follow up trips were mostly made up of adults with experience in construction.

"One of the coolest parts is to see people here in Loganville look to the midwest and show a little southern hospitality," Turner said of the trips.

In the year since the storms, much has changed in Joplin, change evident to those who took part in the trips. What was a true disaster zone in June was starting to develop a new "normal" routine by November, as displaced residents sought new homes in FEMA trailers and older homes such as the one renovated by the Loganville crew in nearby Webb City.

By February, ground zero was no longer a disaster zone, but instead an enormous construction site. Most of the destroyed building were gone, with new homes a businesses in various states of completion dotting the flat landscape. The notable exceptions were the high school and the hospital, prominent reminders of the wrath of the storm. Both have since been demolished and rebuilding efforts have begun. The Loganville crew worked on a new home in the heart of Joplin, and also finished up the home in Webb City.

There is more work to be done. Experts project it will be at least five years before Joplin will be completely rebuilt. While much of that work is now being completed by paid contractors, there will always be a need for volunteers to fill gaps when people cannot afford it. Groups like the volunteers from Loganville will continue to fill the gap. It's likely that Corinth will send a crew to Missouri yet again.

"People I love and care about here now have a connection with people I love and care about there," Turner said. "That's cool."