The Misty Manor, Mercers

The work site partway through the day. A lot of the brush has been removed from the wreckage of the garage (foreground) and much of the overhead door mechanism has been removed. Chainsaw crew is working the background at clearing one of the downed trees. It is starting to look like there is a house underneath. The X on the side of the house is from the Search and Rescue teams. The top number is the number of dead. To the right is the number rescued alive. These folks extracted themselves so they are not recorded.

Cathi is standing at right middle-ground.

St. John's Hospital is in the background. Much of the structure survived but sections were gutted by winds. In the foreground is what is left of a metal structure with 24-30" steel I-beams. The beams are twisted and crumpled like straw papers. Much of the wreckage in this area has already been removed and tents are being set up for relief efforts. Note the school bus in the center of the field. Buses and pickups were pressed into service to move the wounded from the hospital to outlying areas.

Damage to a residential neighborhood off of Schiffendecker. The lump in the center was a house.

A section of residential neighborhood where many of the houses from one side were swept clean and mounded up on the other side.

Much of the front of the house is now finished. The rest of the garage wall has been detached and is awaiting a front-end loader. The ladder in the foreground, if I remember correctly, did not belong to the home owners, nor did the hundred-dollar bill and stethoscope one of the kids found. The hospital was about two miles away.

Our work crew assembling in the church parking lot for final instructions before going into Joplin.

Leveled businesses near Rangeline Rd. Center right is a light pole. Many of them were sheared off at the base and became missiles to destroy buildings and vehicles.

A much less damaged section of Joplin off the main track of the tornado. Buildings missing roofs and windows but otherwise intact. Many trees down and others stripped of foliage.

A view of tornado damage from near 20th and Schiffendecker.

The Joplin Family Worship Center served as one of the staging areas for relief efforts. You can see the wall of bottled water under the awning. It seems like a large amount of water, but it is being consumed quickly. That stack represents roughly one day's minimal supply of water for 16,000 people, a fraction of Joplin's population, and volunteers working in the heat are consuming much more than the standard minimum allotment.