Please do not leave comments mocking the victims shown in the video, or those who leave their stories and experiences in our comment sections. We’re disappointed that we have to say this for multiple videos now.
My Uncle and his wife were literally sucked out of our bathroom through the ceiling as the tornado blasted through our house. I don’t remember much after seeing them disappear through the ceiling. I regained consciousness a few minutes later getting rained on in what used to be our living room. I remember my ears were popping so bad and I felt intense pressure almost like my head was being squeezed before I lost consciousness. My Uncle and his wife were never found. It was the scariest day of my life. To this day anytime there is a chance of a tornado I start having panic attacks and try to plan a safe place for the evening. My family and I usually go to a hospital parking lot now and if the storm gets bad we go to the hospital basement. I will forever have nightmares about this day
Hello, Im Trace Myers, Survivor of the Joplin Tornado. I was in the fast trip video featured in your video. I was only 11 years old at the time, with my Brother, Mom, and Step Dad. We were all sitting along the back wall, right as the tornado was getting close, and starting to damage the building, we all quickly jumped into 1 of the 2 beverage cooler areas in the gas station. I remember watching the glass of the building being ripped away as i got into the beer cooler. The ceiling in the cooler collapses and all that held up the ceiling was cases of beer and some racks. I could now look up and see into the tornado from a window with the rubble. I remember getting pelted with hail for short while. Soon enough we realized we would have to figure out to get out. I was the first one out and once again the cases of beer saved us. I was able make somewhat of a staircase with the cases of beer to help everyone get out safely. after looking at the building i just crawled out of, it's inconceivable that anyone could have survived what we had just went through. Surrounding structures were now just Concrete slabs. How All 18 of us in that beer cooler made it out not just alive, but with only scraps and bruises, is absolutely a miracle. Thank you for the video, definitely the best video essay/documentary i've watched about the Joplin tornado.
I’m sorry you went through that but thank you for sharing your story. I’ve watched the beer cooler video at least a handful of times over the years. I’m glad you and your family made it through that.
@@Tracer1999 my town just got hit by a low end ef3 luckily didn’t hit us but me and my sister were at church and they had the music so loud to distract us kids couldn’t hear it if it was on us
Christopher Lucas…what a man and hero. Clearly in that moment, he had zero thought of the self consequences of his actions. Only that of the others. That man’s family, friends and Joplin should be proud of what Christopher did. Truly selfless perhaps even too selfless as he didn’t remotely think of the consequence potential to himself. Really wish the young man hadn’t attached himself to that door but admire his desire to do everything he thought he could to protect others
Well done video. I was a student in Saint Louis at the time this happened. I saw Mike Bett’s reporting that day and grabbed a buddy of mine, loaded up our truck and drove the 5 hours to get there and help. I’ll never forget seeing the damage around the High School, or the hospital, or any of it really. The endless pictures, belongings, clothes, warped metal and fragmented wood, all of it. Before we left we helped a disabled couple pack up their home into a moving truck. While we were loading up a man with a bagpipe stood at the corner adjacent to the high schools sports field and played “Amazing Grace”. I will never forget it.
I know that considering the life alter event this video covers this may seem miniscule, but your comment and what you did is life changing. I'm a medical professional and people like you, actions like yours, are what I strive to do/be for my patients. You're a hero in my book and stories like yours are what I keep in mind to help me to do everything I can for my patients, even if it is just cleaning up the wreckage.
This tornado was, for me, so upsetting that I try not to think about it. It was the first time I saw a professional storm chaser (Jeff Piotrowski) break down sobbing when he came across bodies and realised just how many people had died. For a 21st-century tornado, such a high death toll (about 158) is unheard of, given the improvement in early warnings. This tornado easily ranks with the Tri-State (1925), Xenia (1974), Andover (1991) Jarrell (1997) and Moore (1999; 2013) storms as twisters straight from Hell.
dieterdelange9488, a tornado recently tore through towns Southwest of WakeCounty NC, heavily damaging the Pfizer Plant, injuring 16... The Tornado Warnings weren't issued until 6 minutes before the storm blew in... That is nowhere near enough time to seek adequate safety.... And it was registered an EF-3.. The last major tornado to tear a Path of Destruction through Raleigh to Franklin County NC was the F-4 in 1988...
The destruction left behind the EF-5 Joplin Tornado looked like a complete WarZone.... Seeing this horrifying storm play out on live television was absolutely heartbreaking...
The woman praying in the gas station is the purest Midwest American experience. As a midwesterner myself, I know this is 100% what I would be hearing (and doing) in a situation like that. She was a voice of lucidity when hell swallowed them whole and I found myself clinging to her prayers through the video.
Not to be rude, but praying doesn't make any sense. Since those people survived, others often say it's a miracle and her prayers were answered. But what about the 150+ who did die? Did they not pray hard enough? Why weren't their prayers answered?
@@EmeraldBayMovies Woof. Friend, that is a long and complex set of questions that I don’t think ANYONE can objectively answer. Your concept of miracles, prayer, and what makes sense is entirely up to your perspective and your relationship to a god as you know it (if you choose to). All I can say is that I’m not a really religious person. But as someone who has prayed like that before (for me, it was the seconds before a car accident when I realized what was happening) I was comforted by the idea that maybe something out there was with me in that moment, no matter what happened.
@@EmeraldBayMovies It makes perfect sense when you grow up in this kind of culture. Objectively, absolutely nothing any of those people did could have made any difference. Screaming, cussing, praying, crying, none of it would have an impact on the tornado, but most people would scream into the void anyway. When you're in that situation, you know that there is literally nothing you can do, and you grew up believing in a god or gods who listen to your prayers and may intervene on your whim? You will think this is now in God's hands. There is nothing I can do and I need supernatural intervention for myself and these others to survive. It is a pure fear response and somewhat of an understanding that the situation is no longer in your control, ie, it is now in God's hands. How you perceive why others died depends on your personal theology, but it isn't uncommon for phrases like "it's up to God now" or "God has a plan" to basically mean there is nothing us puny humans can do. We are at the mercy of supernatural beings who will either allow us to remain on Earth or take us to the afterlife.
The real hero at the gas station was the young man who had the calm presence of mind to get everybody into the beer cooler and, after the storm had passed, help them get out of the wreckage without serious injuries.
I had to be sheltered in a hyvee fridge once with about 40 people, during a tornado watch, it wasnt nearly as close or strong but nobody was praying, looking back it was actually kinda surprising. I was just being smug with my mom and little brother because I had chosen to wear a jacket even though it was 75+ degrees outside, and it was cold in the fridge.
I love this video. Something that's hard to quantify unless you lived in the area, is how substantial the impact was of this tornado on the entire region. My family lived in a small town about 15 minutes of south of Joplin. We didn't get impacted directly by the tornado, but we had to leave the area all the same. Joplin was essentially the lifeblood of the area. It's where all the big stores were, it's where people went to work, it had the only mall and all the entertainment. After the city was destroyed, life was very difficult for a lot of us who depended on Joplin for regular living. We relocated down to Arkansas, as did many others in the small sattelite towns. The Joplin tornado was a grim but important reminder how quickly life can be flipped upside down or even lost altogether. Take every moment of peace and enjoyment you have. Great work, bro.
I hope Northwest Arkansas was an option for families who were able to come here afterwards. I cannot imagine going through all of this horror and the after affects.
I actually lived in Northwest Arkansas at the time, but a couple years later, my family moved to Joplin. It was still recovering at the time, but given that it had only been two years, I think it’s progress was admirable. These days, I think it’s recovered pretty much entirely, but the memories and loved ones lost will never be replaced, of course.
@@travis4694It is tornado Alley, I hope more shelters and protection was built. Homes shouldn't nmbe built out of particle board should be concrete with good basements
I was a responder to this tornado and will never forget what I saw. The destruction is almost impossible to describe. Boards impaled into trees, cars and trucks swept into piles 60 ft tall. Some vehicles were smashed unrecognizable
The young man who graduated just hours prior, how tragic. He was just beginning his life 😔😭 And the heroic pizza hut worker, and all those patients on the ventilators and the nursing home that was leveled. Everything mentioned. What a catastrophic disaster. I'm sure everyone has a unique story, and so sad the trauma endured caused 18 additional deaths. Unbelievable. 😢 The Joplin community is forever in my ❤️ knowing what occurred there. The butterfly is a beautiful symbol of tribute & representation.🦋🫶🏻 Thanks for this video and for detailing this tragic event. Rest in peace to the victims. 🕊️
7:05 the way the weather reporters were just saying “we don’t have any reports of a tornado on the ground” then they pan the camera and see the monstrosity of this tornado and the woman says “eh-“ noticing the humongous twister, right before they lose signal, sends chills down my spine..
The gas station video makes me feel something that very few videos make me feel. It's ethereal. Something you can't possibly comprehend being in that situation until you're in it. Something that makes me sad and frustrated is how probably a good amount of injuries and fatalities could have been prevented if the homes were better constructed. An ASCE Paper notes that most of the damage was caused by winds of 135 mph or less, and if roofs were fitted with hurricane clips, the damage could have been mitigated. While I'm religiously agnostic, the Butterfly mythos fascinates me, and I find it an inspiring symbol of the spirit of Joplin's citizens.
It doesn't matter how those houses are constructed. If it's hit dead on it was like a nuclear bomb hitting those places. The most insane footage came from this tornado of all time.
Take the sad and frustration and direct it toward local elected offices to reform and do better. Together we can drive necessary change and create more affordable housing, get people off the street who'd stand no chance against these storms, hurricanes especially.
Duquesne lost several homes also, just east of joplin and a couple of souls. I was at home there croutched down in the hallway as the storm ripped my rental home apart. Miraculously I was left on the foundation without a scratch in total darkness, crawled under a door trying to get out of the hail. When the rain cleared, managed to get into my mangelled car and my dog jumped in with me in the back seat relieved that he was ok. It was a sobering experience never want to relive. I thank God everyday for protecting us. My landlord whom resided next door with family were all ok also.
@@asqmate why do some ppl always blame God for random events that happen? A tower falls and crushes evil ppl and the good also. God is no respector of man. Stop.
This day was the hardest for me. I was in that gas station that got hit. the sound it's self was scary. To this day, even talking about this day hurts because of all the people that lost their lives.
I am so sorry you went through this, and I am glad you are ok. Did everyone at that gas station make it out ok? That was truly so hard to watch and listen to.
Man, i remember when i was in highschool, we were on a field trip heading back to our school, and were passing outside of Joplin. From our angel, it just looked like a massive wall of darkness, blacker than space. We could see pieces of the city flying around within the black wall, and we realized it wasn't just a massive dark cloud but a tornado that was plowing the very earth. Our bus just had to stop and wait for it to pass by. We were lucky, it just passed in front of us and shook the bus, but after it passed we were able to continue on our way. As we passed along it looked like a nuke hit the city in the distance, it was insane. It went from a large sprawled city, to looking like a plowed field. That tornado was utterly insane, it was shrouded so well, and accompanied by its massive wide shape, that until you see transformers going out inside the cloud and debris being flown around, you would think it was the distant storm meeting the horizon, but it was the tornado all along, and it was so much closer than everyone thought. That's where i learned, if it isn't moving, you're in it's path.
Man, that must have been totally horrifying. To know that you were in its way, and yet, you still survived.... Wow, what a ride!!! Knowing people still talk about this must kinda give you shivers.... ~ JonseyG 👲💖
Oh my gosh, that's terrifying! I have watched a multi part video series here on RUclips which talked about the experiences of the staff at St. John's Medical Center during the disaster and one particular story that stands out in my mind is that of Carey Miller. Carey was working as a nurse in the Maternity Ward of the hospital and she was protecting a new mother and her baby along with the help of the woman's husband and father of the baby. When the tornado blew out the windows in the patient's room the high winds caused the patient's bed to violently bounce up and down. Carey screamed over the howling winds at the mother to give her her baby and she ultimately placed inside of her jacket; saving the life of the baby. After the tornado had moved past the hospital (and as stated in this video destroyed the 501 Elks Lodge and the Greenbriar Nursing Home) Carey opened her eyes and brushed dirt off her face. Her first thoughts were how she could get the mother, husband and baby to safety and how many of her fellow staff members could help her. Carey was also extremely afraid of a fire erupting and she said that she had no desire to lose her life in a fire on the eighth floor of the hospital. Ultimately, Carey and the other nurses and doctors at St. John's were able to evacuate the patients.
That recording from the gas station triggered the most emotion I've ever gotten from any piece of media probably ever. I nearly was in tears feeling the helpless ness those people must have felt.
I've been living in Joplin for about a year now, and you can still tell where it was by how new everything is. But the city has built back stronger and better! It's rather impressive, really
the resilience of humanity when struck by disasters like this is beyond impressive. i know i would do anything i could to help others as an Oklahoman during these times.
@@mgaeeeee9150 it's not bad here. It's big enough to have everything you need, but you can also go driving for just a few minutes and be out in the country if you want. The crime rate is pretty low, and the housing prices are below the national average
@@redraptor9688And how much protection was built now after that monster typhoon blew Joplin apart was built? Is there more shelters?? Are the homes built better or built back out of sticks and particle board? Homes in Toronto alley should be built like homes in Europe out of concrete and deep basements. I heard people were sucked out of basements that's why I say be prepared because you guys are in tornado Alley be safe this time!
I was in Joplin in May of 2015 and did not know of this event. A strong storm came through and I wondered why people seemed freaked out more than "normal" during a storm even though it was quite intense. I did a bit of research on this tornado and then I understood.
I think so because everybody in the *United States* must have heard about this at some point in their lives.... It's really *HARD* for most people to have *NOT* known or heard anything about this!!! ~ JonseyG 👲💖
I was raised by a survivor of the '79 tornado outbreak in Wichita Falls Texas, so I've lived like this my whole life. A tornado warning may as well be the blitz for me. I find myself watching myself don my full airsoft kit as if it's an out of body experience, and my only wish is to be in a good enough condition to help everyone deal with the aftermath.
My dad, a firefighter, was called in to work this day due to the tornado. He hasn't told me much about what happened when he went to assist in the search and rescue operations, and I plan to ask him someday if he feels comfortable with it, but he told me that it was horrible enough he had to go to therapy, and I'm sure still has issues with it to this day. It was truly a disaster, possibly a once in a lifetime occurrence, but I truly hope that nothing bad happens anytime soon. Luckily, the EF1 that struck Joplin on May 6, 2024, the Monday of the week I wrote this, did only minor damage, with some houses taking damage, a semi tipped over, billboards bent over, and other damages.
I live near the Carolina alley, which is less known, and we just got hit by an ef-1 or ef-2 and my local Arby’s got destroyed as well as a used car dealership. Our Walmart had the tornado o right between it and a dollar store.
I'm *GLAD* to know that you were able to *SURVIVE* and I'm very relieved that your *TOWN* is now once again *THRIVING* as well as it could, given the circumstances of that day!!! ~ JonseyG 👲💖
You cannot begin to imagine the strength of a storm like this until you've lived through one. You will never forget the sounds or the screams during or the cries and look of bewilderment afterwards.
You should do more long videos. This was fantastic! The angels and butterfly people always get me...I get chills and tear up every time. Bless their hearts.
That was a wonderful video, it really broke my heart for all those people who passed away and especially those children crying as the tornado impacted the FastTrack gas station. I cried so much 😭 😢 R.I.P to all of the victims 😢
Survivor here, while only being 5 i still remember it vividly to this day. My home was in the outer bands of the tornado and me and my mom along with our dog had to shelter in a hallway that was very exposed, we were lucky as had we been in the core of the tornado i would not be here today. As part of the class of 2024 the scars are still here mentally as whenever a bad storm comes through i do get slightly anxious but the storm fueled my interest in tornadoes
I live in northestern Oklahoma, but I remember this storm very well. My family had gone to see a movie this day, I don't even remember which one, because after the show we stepped outside and the whole sky was nothing but a wall of billowing white clouds to the north-northeast. I mean it was blue sky above us, but those clouds FILLED the sky from horizon to horizon and seemed as if they should have been overhead for being so dang tall. I've never seen anything like that storm system before, nor since. All of us just knew something wasn't right about that storm. Found out later that day that it'd torn through Joplin, and that some extended family had just left the strip ten minutes before the thing hit. Few weeks later my mom and I went out to do volunteer cleanup. Even after days of work already being done, I've never seen such distrction. Saw a two-seater crop dusting plane twisted and tossed like a matchbox toy. Half of houses were completely gone. I got to listen to the woman who's yard were were cleaning and how she and her dogs managed to survive inside despite how damaged her house took. Her only warning were her dogs wanting inside so desperately, and they barely managed to make it into a closet before her back door blew in. About mid-way through that work day, we all started smelling rotten meat out in the field behind the house, and us volunteers had to be ushered away so the police could check just to make sure it wasn't a corpse. Thank God it wasn't, just a freezer full of food. We work our tails off from morning to late afternoon, but I left feeling like I hadn't done anything at all the amount of debris was so massive. One of the most sobering experiences of my life, volunteering that day.
@@susanwahl6322yeah! I believe that there are only 2 videos in existence that show the tornado kind of form and take shape and immediately make ground contact as a violent wedge. This tornado is strange, it creeps me out, and I find it so morbidly fascinating. I kind of wish I didn’t.
@@champton911 not really. I’m not trying to be right or anything like that. I’m just inviting you to look at the differences in these two tornadoes. The El Reno tornado was this wild multi vortex system that was seen coming from a long distance and time frame away. This Joplin, Missouri EF5 tornado was some diseased, black abyss that only wanted to kill. Really I’m not being hyperbolic, if you are new to tornado research, you will see the differences in the two tornadoes. They are equally wild. But the Joplin tornado… just… jeez.
This tornado occurred just 10 days before a damaging tornado in my state would spark my interest in weather (Springfield). Joplin, one of the most damaging tornadoes ever recorded. The amount of damage it produced was incredible. I can't even imagine what the people impacted by this tornado felt going through it.
Instant tears hearing the man in the gas station saying, “I love everyone. I love everyone man. I love you.” I was so young when the Joplin tornado hit. I’m a Hoosier and we’ve only had a handful of rough tornados in my lifetime in Indiana, but I remember hearing about Joplin and seeing all the news feed so clearly. Watching footage now gives me the same gut-wrenching feeling I had all those years ago as a child. I cannot imagine the lasting heartbreak the citizens of Joplin. I wish nothing but peace and healing for the survivors.
It also makes you wonder how many times this type of outbreak has happen before after a powerful tornado has gone through an area and wasn't report on, because nobody recognized it. Also this micosis fungus likes tropical regions, so how in the heck did it survived in MO, which most of time isn't a warn state, and was never mentioned in the sates of AL and/or MS, which have a much warner environment that MO and has a greater history of much more powerful tornadoes.
@@meghanhause9435not warm as in not Arizona warm or? Because Missouri is hot and disgustingly humid a lot of the time, especially in late spring and throughout the summer.
I was going to college at MSSU in 2011 and I'll never forget the fear I felt that day. I wasn't in Joplin at the time the tornado struck, but I had many friends that were. Calls wouldn't go through and I couldn't reach people to find out if they were okay. I remember crying in front of the TV, terrified of what might be happening to the people I loved. Two of my college friends were inside the Fast Trip gas station, along with their dog. Even now, I still can't watch that footage and had to skip through that part in your video. I didn't take tornado sirens seriously until the May 22nd tornado. Now, 13 years later, I'm always watching the weather and the first to seek shelter. Thank you for your respectful, informative coverage of what happened.
This was my grandmother's childhood home. Watching this on TV from Maine was absolutely devastating for her. We visited in 2016 and she showed me where she used to ride her little red bicycle to the local diner to get a coke and ice cream as a 10 year old. She also showed me where she went to school and where she lived. Her home was spared but much else was destroyed or rebuilt.
i was in the Joplin tornado, me, my mom, and my sister were on our way back from her cheer meet. we had to pull over and go into a gas station. this video has showed me that the gas station we stayed in would haven't withstood the sheer intensity of the storm. my older brother had his home demolished seconds after he reached his basement, narrowly avoiding almost certain death. me and my family were lucky, but others weren't, rest in peace to everyone who had lost their lives.
This was a beautiful and respectful video, thank you. You did a wonderful job covering the aftermath - no one has ever mentioned the illnesses afterwards as a result of the debris and damages, I had no idea it was even a thing!
I have been obsessed with tornadoes for as long as I can remember, ever since I got a copy of Twister: Fury on the Planes when it first came out. There are many great channels on RUclips covering this topic, but only yours has that magic, combining modern analysis with that “old timey” feel of the documentaries we grew up with. I wish I had a million dollars to give you, but alas, I am poor. Instead, please take my word that yours is the best tornado channel on RUclips, by far. And that is saying something.
This was a really moving piece. I was particularly struck by the story of Christopher Lucas. He was a real American hero. I hope I’m never in a situation like that, but if I am I hope I can be so courageous as to rise to the situation like he was.
I think the reason why there were so many deaths is due to poor structure quality and lack of public storm shelters, and also the fact that it was such a powerful F5. I do believe people don't take storms as serious as they should, since it's so rare to actually get a tornado. But those other reasons I think more of the issue. I live in Missouri quite close to Joplin, our infrastructure in Missouri is crap. Like a simple thunderstorm will plunge us into the dark age without electric, like the entire area, hundreds of thousands without electric. It literally just happened to us a couple days ago, and it was out for almost 2 days. I think every town should have at least a few public storm shelters. There just isn't anywhere to go in so many of these poor towns here. I myself live in an upstairs apartment. No basement or shelter here. If a tornado hits I'd be 100% screwed, unless I like went somewhere long before the storm got here. But so much of the time you don't even know a storm will produce a tornado until the sirens start going off. And then here we're also hit by storms every single day(especially this time of year) and I watch the radar every time, they're always big and Purple/Red on the radar. But it's like daily or every other day that these come through, so I think that does desensitize the public here a bit to it, they just can't tell really if it will be bad enough since we're always hit by them anyway. Really sucks tbh. Also! Love your stuff dude your vids are absolute Top Notch, like your channel should(and will) have hundreds of thousands of Subs 💯
Storm was very wide and rain wrapped, ppl couldnt see it, probably why they didn't take sirens seriously. the siren warnings were less than 5 minutes on the west side of town, struck quickly. I was in a suburb of joplin, east side in Duquesne had about 10-12 minutes warning plenty time to take cover in my hallway.
All of that is true, plus the fact it formed so quickly and became so powerful right on the edge of town means it was on top of people before they knew it. Storm basically snuck up on a town. Tragedy but hopefully with shelters and stuff like you said it can be prevented
The 18 suicides really bothered me. Those poor people survived but couldn’t deal with whatever they had going on and decided to end their lives. So sad.
@@lizogden2458 Suicides are common after natural disasters and usually aren't discussed. Parents lose their children, children lose their parents, people lose their partners, jobs are lost, your livlihood is in rubble. The grief is devastating and can't always be well managed when the aid teams are trying to supply food, water, shelter, and medical aid. The only famous example I can think of is a little boy who survived the Plaza Towers elementary school direct strike in 2013. He died seven years later by his own hand despite therapy. All of his classmates who were beside him died. He was only seven when it happened.
@@lizogden2458surprisingly too common. I know both Moore tornadoes, 99&13 there were at least two in each tornado that took a direct hit that also committed suicide after the tornado.
When Joplin happened, I was in training for our local CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) here in SE KS, about 2 hours drive from Joplin. We were planning to deploy out to help, and while I was not eligible to deploy as a member of CERT, I was also an amateur radio operator, and they were planning to take me along in that capacity to help with communications. However, we had a train derailment in our county the next day, which required us to cancel the deployment to Joplin. Also, that evening another storm rolled thru our area, which required us to stand up our own storm watch team. I do remember hearing about all the emergency responders who went to Joplin to help, and I salute every one of them!
I live close to Joplin and have seen every report and documentary about that deadly day. Your video ranks towards the top of my list as you have covered so much of the story in a compact time frame. Great story telling thanks so much!!!!
My best friend lived in Carthage, but worked in Joplin when this tornado hit. He had just started a new job at AT&T on the north side of town. The Academy Sports he had just quit a few days before (located on Range Line just north of I-44) was wiped off the face of the earth. I remember him calling me in tears after he spent the day sifting through rubble looking for survivors. He told me about how he pulled the lifeless body of a little girl who couldnt have been more than 8 or 9 years old out from under what was left of a house. She died when the brick wall of her house collapsed on top of her. Just remembering that story gives me chills.
My Aunt and Grandma were driving back across country and stayed the night in a hotel in Joplin. They decided the next morning not to stay and get food or anything and just get on the road and go. Within hours the hotel they were staying in was entirely levelled. Thankfully they were many miles down the road by then.
@@lizogden2458 its been 13 years. I dont remember. My Dad followed through the next day to go meet up with them and the one the stayed in was gone. May have been a motel.
Reading about this tornado brings tears to my eyes. Can’t believe this was 12 years ago, Can’t imagine what everyone in the city of Joplin went through that day. I’m so terrified of tornadoes.☹️
The way that old woman started staying "Jesus Jesus Jesus." You could just hear the Fear from everyone there. I could imagine going through anywhere near something as crazy as that.
Joplin was just a monster. Now given a deeper dive into the storm, i was just speechless and given goosebumps every frame of the video. Thoughts and prayers.
Humans don’t just fight and get violent when they get scared. They also call out for each other, call upon God and come together. That gas station audio, though terrifying for those involved, is actually kind of beautiful.
I remember when my church went on a mission trip to Joplin that July to help aid and clean up. We went to the museum, and we were all in tears. It’s still shocking and tragic.
It’s an incredible story on how Joplin bounced back after that tornado. The people were resilient and wanted to rebuild their lives. It’s nothing short of an inspiring story
R.I.P. Will Norton. His last tweet said "I graduated today!". If I remember correctly he wasn't found until 3 days later. May 22nd is also my birthday. I think of Joplin every year.
This has probably been the best documentary I have seen so far. Very respectful and you have been the only one that I have seen so far to cover about the butterfly people thank you for this , it gives everyone hope that even when bad things happen good is still here.
I watch a lot of these kinds of videos, but you have a genuinely beautiful and effective storytelling style and talent. The way you share the stories of the people affected and include so much humanity in a respectful and honorable way is remarkable. Sadly so many other channels just seem to gush about the storm, and its death toll and devastation in what seems like admiration. Your work is a breath of fresh air. You have a wonderful talent. Never stop.
It’s because of how fast and quick it formed. There’s a video of it forming where it’s just a tiny little skinny tornado and then literally in one second formed into this massive black wedge. And then only minutes later it’s arriving into the city as this monstrous thing that no one could see because of the wall of rain going on blending it in
@@adamsbriee6330 Your ignoring the fact that it was ALREADY confirmed on the Ground before it became a Wedge and how ignorant and oblivious KSN is being. "We have confirmed reports of a Funnel cloud.."
@@Tornado1994 *you’re ignoring the fact that them seeing it on the tower camera was only minutes into the tornado. Like 3-5 minutes in. JOPLIN F5 formed within seconds and already was hitting people as a wedge before anyone knew what it was like. There was reports that day and sirens had gone off, but no one knew what it was really like. It wasn’t only the news channels fault. It was many peoples. And also having a tornado that acted just evil-y from jump, where most you are able to have time or see it, it starts small, isn’t on a busy day. You can see it hit where Will Norton was driving in this video, which was moments into its assault on the city.
@@adamsbriee6330 Why would ANYONE ignore Sirens? Also "It formed within seconds is a lame excuse". Issuing a Tornado Warning INSTEAD of a Tornado Emergency 5 Minutes into a CLEAR Supercell with aggressive Rotation is very poor protocol. Doppler,Hook Echo, Weather Spotters and Accurate reads of Storm Direction, ALL of those factors count. When you make excuses for them, you act as if lives COULDN'T be saved and that Joplin's Residents were Sitting Ducks. They weren't. Were People In Joplin just plan indifferent? Why the Hell wasn't anyone using a NOAA Weather Radio? Time was Wasted, Sirens were ignored, and KSN FAILED to properly Follow, Keep ahead and Analyze this Storm. I hope someone got fired over this.
I lived in NW Arkansas at the time. But I was at a casino on the shore of Grand Lake in NE Oklahoma. About 25 mile sw of Joplin. Minutes before the EF5 formed in Joplin the supercell expanded to a massive size covering the area we were in. The rain that hit was the heaviest I have ever seen. Within 2 minutes water in the parking lot was running over 2 feet deep. It only lasted for around 5 minutes. At the same time as the rain three small tornadoes formed in a cluster on the lake a mile and a half from us. They were also short lived. After that passed we got word that Joplin was getting hit. It was the saddest and scariest night of my life. The area of NE oklahoma, NW Arkansas and SW Mo. Is very hilly . All the small creeks flooded over the roads and stayed up most of the night.I tried leaving for home in NW ark. around 6:30 it was after 4 in the morning before roads were clear to travel home. As the sun was rising the next morning I sat watching the aftermath on TV.Like everyone in the area I sat watching and crying all day. praying and feeling helpless. Wanting to help somehow. Until you are near something like this it may be hard to fully understand.My hope is that you never have to experience anything like this. Stay safe and alert.
I rarely, if ever cry, while watching a documentary about tornadoes as nobody ever talks about the people who had lost their lives. But this one got me in the gut. I don't know anybody who had to experience the horrific nature of tornadoes up until maybe since January as my partner now lives in Oklahoma. I grow anxious and jittery over her whenever i know a severe weather event is going to happen. To even be IN a tornado warning and to know and think that this may be your final day alive is more horrifying than anything i have thought of in recent memory. Bless those who had passed and those who had to experience the aftermath of it all.
I forget this happened in April I’m an Alabama native and the event on April 27 will forever be engrained in my mind. I was in the fourth grade. We had a tornado hit children’s harbor just a mere 20 miles out of town. But I remember vividly seeing coverage about the Joplin tornado and it’s also permanently engrained in my mind
March 4, 2020, Nashville TN, 1am. We took a direct hit from an EF 3. It snapped power poles about 10 feet off the ground, tore trees out of the groun, destroyed 5 houses next to me, and did 100,000K worth of damage to the house. I too grew up in tornado country. I too began to ignore warnings. I too felt invincible from some "stupid tornado." Weather forecasters gave us a "4% chance" of tornados. I was awakened by what I thought were neighborhood kids tossing rocks at the house. As I was looking out the window, wife said "hear that?" Then it dawned on me, and we raced to our safespot. Buck nekkid, as the tornado roared overhead and the roof started to lift I threw myself over my family and dogs and held on like a sumbit*ch. The suction was so strong I could feel my grip weakening, then as fast as it happened, it was over. Except for the damage. Today we don't eff around. When there is even a watch 100 miles from the house we start preparing. Long track tornadoes are no joke, and they can be on you in a hurry. We also have some serious ptsd from the entire event, and I can understand why people struggled afterwards. Tornadoes are fairly common in TN and we also know how important it is to help with the cleanup. Just don't go barging into neighborhoods unannounced unless it's just happened. Usually law enforcement is blocking access, that's the person you want to let know you're here to volunteer. Todqy we remain beyond vigilant and if one hits within 50 miles, we're in the car, water, toilet paper, beef jerky, duct tape, clothes if we can get them, and we also do running for folks because they often don't have a car any longer. If you've ever tried to navigate through a tornado-wasted area, prepare to spend some hours going a couple of miles. This is a powerful, frightening, and superbly done accounting. I cried through just about the whole thing. If I watched it again, I'd cry harder . Thank you for sharing it.
Hello, Im Ren. I had a cousin who lived in Missouri during that time, she has a brother, and 2 younger siblings (sisters) She came to Louisiana about 3 years ago, she told me that the tornado stripped her house completely clean, She always said "A tornado is never a joke" after the story, about 3 months ago, a Tornado touchdown near convent, but tahys what i am talking on so back on topic: She was hiding in her basement during the tornado, but her foundation was stripped so bad it looked as if the tornado had a traget on that house, her brother had a whole tree branch land about 4 inches from his head, he had a cut on his leg, after the tornado, she went out and looked at her city on horror as the tornado Ruptured the town, she is traumatized and has been ever since...
Such a scary tornado.. just because of how vast the damage was so so so much land just eviscerated for miles on end. I can’t even imagine how surreal it’d be to see that in person. My city is way smaller than Joplin so it’s crazy to think about the fact that an entire town can just get swept away in an instant..
@@mattb6646 oh yeah I’ve seen it.. miles on end of destruction.. it’s so insane to me. And Greensburg is another example, that town literally got swept away and had to restart from literally nothing
one of my mom’s friend’s from college worked at St. John’s in the NICU. she shielded herself over 6 infants in their bassinets and none were injured. an absolute miracle.
Whoa! There's a four part video series here on RUclips on how hospitals can be ready for disasters and it featured testimony of staff members at St. John's. One such person featured in the video was a woman by the name of Carey Miller. Carey was working as a nurse in the Maternity Ward of St. John's on May 22nd and was sheltering in a patient room with the mother, her baby and the woman's husband. When the tornado struck the hospital; Carey explained that the patient's bed was flopping up and down inside the frame due to the strength of the wind after blowing out the windows in the patient's room and she was telling the mother to pray. During the period of calm; Carey told the mother to give her her baby and she hastily stuffed the baby into her jacket, which no doubt saved the baby's life as after the tornado had moved east to attack the 501 Elks Lodge and the Greenbriar Nursing Home, Carey looked down into her jacket and saw the baby was still alive and uninjured through what she could tell as the storm blew a lot of debris into her hair. Soon afterwards; Carey began to fear the possibility of a fire erupting and she explained that she didn't want to lose her life in a fire on the eighth floor of the hospital. Though she soon pulled herself together and with the help of the other staff in the Maternity Ward began evacuating the mothers, their babies and the spouses of the mothers. A pediatrician by the name of Dr. Sherry Smith arrived with a van that she had loaded with supplies to help with treating the babies and the mothers. I was only sixteen at the time and I live in Ohio; but I remember watching The Weather Channel that Sunday night and saw how Mike Bettes had broken down sobbing on air while he was reporting live on the scene outside of St. John's. This showed people outside of Missouri who were watching The Weather Channel that Sunday night the severity of the disaster if it could reduce a seasoned meteorologist such as Mike Bettes to tears. What they may not know is that following the disaster Mike adopted a Golden Retriever who had been left homeless in the disaster and named her Joplyn. Aww! Sadly, Joplyn crossed the rainbow bridge in 2022. While I was understandably saddened by this because I love dogs; I reconciled my sadness by reminding myself that Joplyn had lived a good life filled with love and affection. On top of that; Golden Retrievers are truly sweet and loving canines.
I’m from Moore and I was there for Joplin too. We were on I-44 and I wasn’t as gracious as the people saying I love you. I was screaming “I hate you” to my husband because I had begged him to pull off the road and take shelter. My perceived last moments were blaming him for my death. We’re divorced
To speak about the ptsd, mental health, suicide and family violence truly speaks words that so dn many don't think about!!! Thank you for that amd thank you for speaking on the other "late" killers like dirty stuff that got into wounds and everything else! Thank you
I was raised by a survivor of the '79 Wichita Falls Texas outbreak. This is a way of life for me. I've been misdiagnosed by a friend with anxiety depression, and OCD, but it's on the same stimulus level as combat for me.
I was in Joplin the day after the tornado as a part of the relief effort. It was an absolutely horrific experience just seeing what that tornado did with my own eyes. They were still doing search and rescue operations when I got there. However, they also had cadaver dogs to find the bodies of the dead, as well as body parts. I actually saw several dead bodies, and numerous body parts. It's not an experience that I like to talk about. Just seeing human suffering, devastation, and death on that scale was a traumatic experience. I had occasionally nightmares for years about that tornado, as well as nightmares of the barking cadaver dogs searching through that rubble. I'll never forget what I saw in Joplin!
Quick note ... St. Johns was not moved off its foundation (confirmed by Joplin Emergency Manager Keith Stammer). The top floors experienced a torsion load and twisted a few inches, which deformed the concrete/steel structure. That compromised the structural integrity of the building, necessitating its demolition over the next year and a half or so.
An excellent job on this video. Your approach is professional and considerate of the human loss and pain. It might be a good idea to educate and stress heavily the importance of taking the warnings seriously and take cover. I know it's easy to get complacent with so many warnings turning out to be nothing much, but the death toll would have been significantly lower had people taken cover earlier. This was terrifying and so heartbreaking.
Very well said. You bring up a very good point about complacency. When you live in Tornado Alley it is easy to become desensitized to them. You get so many warnings every storm season that you begin to either ignore or take them much less seriously than you should.
Tornados have always fascinated me. I was the type of kid who wanted to be a storm chaser. I love to research this stuff. It intrigues me how much damage natural events can cause. I've never been able to see a tornado in person (thank the gods for that) but I've been researching them since I was young.
This tornado is so haunting. This may sound bad to say, but it inspired me as an artist to write music. Watching the footage of such a deadly tornado approaching, which was unbeknownst to everyone moments prior, is a living nightmare.
Take inspiration wherever you can get it hope you wrote some good stuff. Songs in my band were inspired from all kinds of things, war, politics, natural disasters of all types etc…strong emotions move us to do this
I’m amazed at how the hospital was directly hit but still stood and didn’t crumble under pressure Tornadoes are majestic forces of nature but when they are destroying people property and killing innocent human life. It’s not so majestic even tho 90% of tornadoes will only ever rip trees and fields apart. My love for natural disasters and how they are created is something I find so incredibly interesting! great documentary! Love from Sweden
You deserve so many more subscribers. Excellent work on such a heartbreaking story of tragedy and resilience and recovery. The hospital being hit was also a big part of the reason the death toll was so high. People were showing up and being sent to the hospital across town.
Former resident of Joplin here, now residing in Henderson NV. My home was basically slabbed, lost everything including my only vehicle. I commend the residents that rebuilt, but I just could not return.
My grandparents survived driving through Joplin, somehow. I live back in Michigan. They were visiting family and my dad said there was very bad weather and grandma and grandpa were trying to drive home and to pray for them. I was about 9 or 10. They made it, thankfully.
Checking in from Pittsburg, KS, to the NW of Joplin. People had been talking all day about how many storm chasers there were in the area, so it was known that the weather could get bad. The problem was that it went from unconfirmed funnel clouds to a monster wedge in mere seconds, and to the south of where the initial warning was issued because of the merger. The biggest difference between then and now is that storm chasers can communicate when a tornado drops in mere seconds via modem cell phones and social media. I should also add that the people of Pittsburg consider Joplin to be our "big sister" city. We love Joplin. The ties between the two cities are very strong, and it hurt our souls seeing the people of Joplin suffer so much loss.
That music at the start had me going "If you like to see the strange, dark, and mysterious presented in story format...!" followed by various ways to be discourteous towards the like button. Anyway Joplin was such a terrifying event, and a little close to home. There is no possible way to explain how that city was left by the tornado. Absolutely horrendous.
Ive always been interested in storms, especially tornadoes as long as i can remember. This year, i realized that many terrible storms happened in the year i was born, 2011. I decided to research these storms and make a slide show about them, and 2 of the topics was the Joplin EF5 and the Alabama tornado outbreak, which doesnt get nearly as much recognition as it should. I ended up getting an award by my teachers since i showed them the slide show. It made me so intrigued by specifically the 2 Joplin tornadoes (2011 EF5 and 2019 EF4) and i watched documentaries and videos on them, this being one of them, so thank you for this info😁
Not sure exactly why but hearing the woman praying in the cooler as the tornado was on top of them really made me tear up. Was not expecting that -- incredibly moving.
That gas station audio is horrifying. That is the sound of people that 100% believe they are in the process of dying. Thank God it turned out all right for them You can even hear somebody right before the tornado hits say I don't want to die
Had an F2 Tornado go over my house once and I still have severe anxiety and panic attacks when there’s the possibility of a tornado, I can’t even imagine what all of the people who lived through this event went through and are still going through, nature is so terrifying
That's why we should have respect and be prepared for tragic events! I wonder if many shelters were built now or is the towns all like they were before? Joplin is part of tornado alley
Staying in Joplin tonight on the way home from a trip. Proud of how much the city has built back since the tornado. Hits different when you're at the place instead of just hearing about it from afar.
I live in joplin. Primarily Webb city but lived through this. I remember rushing around in a truck picking up as many injured from the st John's hospital area
I helped clean up after the tornado and it was an awful sight but I heard so many amazing stories of survival. One guy was home with his newborn while his wife was out and he got in the tub with his child when the tornado hit. It picked up the tub amd threw it. The tub landed upside down and became a protective shell until the tornado passed and the debris finally rested.
At the time of the joplin tornado, i was in my house with my house with my sister and my parents, and i can not nearly describe the sheer horror that i felt with the glass shattering and the bricks falling on my head. At the time i was only 13, with the injuries i had after flying almost 20 feet into the air, were a fractured skull, broken ribs, and one of my legs even ended up having to be amputated because of the infection. I hope nobody else ever has to go through something like that again. Love you guys.
I don't think they knew what was happening. Usually tv stations use the least capable people to cover the weekends. At least that is how it is in my hometown.
When the news station saw the tornado I couldn’t help but notice the weather lady had a horrible choice of words, “if you go outside you probably won’t be able to see this”. All I’m gonna say is if I heard the local news station say that I’d go outside and see if I could see the tornado. It’s like when someone says don’t think of a pink elephant you immediately think of that pink elephant. I think James spann said it best, might have been someone else tho. “Do not go outside and look at this storm, you need to be in your storm cellar or basement, you will not survive if you are not below ground”. That’s a fucking warning, not “hey don’t go outside you might not be able to see the tornado, or maybe you can….”
i wouldn’t doubt James Spann said that but i know for a fact that Mike Morgan here in Oklahoma said that during the Moore 2013 tornado. he gave it to the people straight and honest. he told everyone you will NOT survive if you’re in a home. it was either a basement, storm cellar or out of the way. anything else was not going to work. i was young watching the tv at my house and to this day i remember those words so vividly.
Please do not leave comments mocking the victims shown in the video, or those who leave their stories and experiences in our comment sections.
We’re disappointed that we have to say this for multiple videos now.
That's horrible that people do that and I feel disappointed that you have to tell people that.
😢 people who do this really don't have a soul. Saddened to read this update about the corse comments from Alabama.
@@JimmyMims-sq8sfNo, they do not have a soul. That's some psychopathic behavior.
Trolls don't care there the torment of social media.
May god bless all affected
My Uncle and his wife were literally sucked out of our bathroom through the ceiling as the tornado blasted through our house. I don’t remember much after seeing them disappear through the ceiling. I regained consciousness a few minutes later getting rained on in what used to be our living room. I remember my ears were popping so bad and I felt intense pressure almost like my head was being squeezed before I lost consciousness. My Uncle and his wife were never found. It was the scariest day of my life. To this day anytime there is a chance of a tornado I start having panic attacks and try to plan a safe place for the evening. My family and I usually go to a hospital parking lot now and if the storm gets bad we go to the hospital basement. I will forever have nightmares about this day
Did you ever find out what happened to them.
@@daishawilliams8301they died :(
@@daishawilliams8301 their bodies were never found
Odd. It says on news outlets and wikis that all bodies have been accounted for?
@@jasonbradford5345 Supposedly everyone was accounted for.
Hello, Im Trace Myers, Survivor of the Joplin Tornado. I was in the fast trip video featured in your video. I was only 11 years old at the time, with my Brother, Mom, and Step Dad. We were all sitting along the back wall, right as the tornado was getting close, and starting to damage the building, we all quickly jumped into 1 of the 2 beverage cooler areas in the gas station. I remember watching the glass of the building being ripped away as i got into the beer cooler. The ceiling in the cooler collapses and all that held up the ceiling was cases of beer and some racks. I could now look up and see into the tornado from a window with the rubble. I remember getting pelted with hail for short while. Soon enough we realized we would have to figure out to get out. I was the first one out and once again the cases of beer saved us. I was able make somewhat of a staircase with the cases of beer to help everyone get out safely. after looking at the building i just crawled out of, it's inconceivable that anyone could have survived what we had just went through. Surrounding structures were now just Concrete slabs. How All 18 of us in that beer cooler made it out not just alive, but with only scraps and bruises, is absolutely a miracle. Thank you for the video, definitely the best video essay/documentary i've watched about the Joplin tornado.
I’m sorry you went through that but thank you for sharing your story. I’ve watched the beer cooler video at least a handful of times over the years. I’m glad you and your family made it through that.
very happy you’re still here with us today, wishing you good health and happier days
How loud was it?
@@Republic-Studios1 so loud that I couldn’t hear any one scream though they were right next to me.
@@Tracer1999 my town just got hit by a low end ef3 luckily didn’t hit us but me and my sister were at church and they had the music so loud to distract us kids couldn’t hear it if it was on us
Irishman here. This tornado was so devastating it even made headline news this side of the pond.
Well ya, you're not that far away from NY, or "New Amsterdam" if you wish. I know someone in Berlin, she gets all the bad news from the state's
Thankfully over there you don't get weather like us
We heard about the Super Outbreak, Joplin, and the Moore E-F5 here in Saskatchewan
I live in Bangkok and it was the number one news story that day in Thailand. Just like this Omaha tornado today, it's all over the Thai news channels.
Tornados can kill! Jesus saves sinners! God bless you
Still cant believe I survived that day. Its still hard to talk/think about. Thanks for covering it!
Hope you aren’t mentally collapsing to PTSD. But It’s good to hear you survived.
Wow, I’m so sorry for your continued struggle. I enjoyed learning about this, but my heart aches for everyone involved. Sending love your way❤️
i’m so sorry for your struggles, i can totally understand why/how it’s hard to talk or think about
God was watching you. But I'm sorry for your loss.
I was living in Joplin,lost everything but I survived.
Christopher Lucas…what a man and hero. Clearly in that moment, he had zero thought of the self consequences of his actions. Only that of the others. That man’s family, friends and Joplin should be proud of what Christopher did. Truly selfless perhaps even too selfless as he didn’t remotely think of the consequence potential to himself. Really wish the young man hadn’t attached himself to that door but admire his desire to do everything he thought he could to protect others
My heartfelt respect and a pure respectful bow to him. He was the guiding light that the tornado blocked, and was a great man.
I was just thinking had he just hid with the others he might’ve lived. heroic act regardless
@@poindextertunesMe too, it makes me so sad he doesn’t even know he saved those people 💔
Well done video. I was a student in Saint Louis at the time this happened. I saw Mike Bett’s reporting that day and grabbed a buddy of mine, loaded up our truck and drove the 5 hours to get there and help. I’ll never forget seeing the damage around the High School, or the hospital, or any of it really. The endless pictures, belongings, clothes, warped metal and fragmented wood, all of it. Before we left we helped a disabled couple pack up their home into a moving truck. While we were loading up a man with a bagpipe stood at the corner adjacent to the high schools sports field and played “Amazing Grace”.
I will never forget it.
I know that considering the life alter event this video covers this may seem miniscule, but your comment and what you did is life changing. I'm a medical professional and people like you, actions like yours, are what I strive to do/be for my patients. You're a hero in my book and stories like yours are what I keep in mind to help me to do everything I can for my patients, even if it is just cleaning up the wreckage.
@@jenj542 thanks for the kind words! keep doing what you're doing!
This tornado was, for me, so upsetting that I try not to think about it.
It was the first time I saw a professional storm chaser (Jeff Piotrowski) break down sobbing when he came across bodies and realised just how many people had died. For a 21st-century tornado, such a high death toll (about 158) is unheard of, given the improvement in early warnings.
This tornado easily ranks with the Tri-State (1925), Xenia (1974), Andover (1991) Jarrell (1997) and Moore (1999; 2013) storms as twisters straight from Hell.
dieterdelange9488, a tornado recently tore through towns Southwest of WakeCounty NC, heavily damaging the Pfizer Plant, injuring 16... The Tornado Warnings weren't issued until 6 minutes before the storm blew in... That is nowhere near enough time to seek adequate safety.... And it was registered an EF-3.. The last major tornado to tear a Path of Destruction through Raleigh to Franklin County NC was the F-4 in 1988...
Being in the tornado warning era I never thought I would see a tornado kill over 100 people.
Wowwww I didn't know Jeff cried on video. I hope he's ok now after that.
It was on his joplin documentary near the intersection of 20th and iowa
@@betterthanmost9549 ah ok thank you!
The destruction left behind the EF-5 Joplin Tornado looked like a complete WarZone.... Seeing this horrifying storm play out on live television was absolutely heartbreaking...
For real. Joplin's destruction is a great example of the clear distinction between an EF-5 tornado and all others.
@@FrankReynolds182 it looked like Halifax after the Mont Blanc exploded...
The woman praying in the gas station is the purest Midwest American experience. As a midwesterner myself, I know this is 100% what I would be hearing (and doing) in a situation like that. She was a voice of lucidity when hell swallowed them whole and I found myself clinging to her prayers through the video.
Not to be rude, but praying doesn't make any sense. Since those people survived, others often say it's a miracle and her prayers were answered. But what about the 150+ who did die? Did they not pray hard enough? Why weren't their prayers answered?
@@EmeraldBayMovies Woof. Friend, that is a long and complex set of questions that I don’t think ANYONE can objectively answer. Your concept of miracles, prayer, and what makes sense is entirely up to your perspective and your relationship to a god as you know it (if you choose to).
All I can say is that I’m not a really religious person. But as someone who has prayed like that before (for me, it was the seconds before a car accident when I realized what was happening) I was comforted by the idea that maybe something out there was with me in that moment, no matter what happened.
@@EmeraldBayMovies It makes perfect sense when you grow up in this kind of culture. Objectively, absolutely nothing any of those people did could have made any difference. Screaming, cussing, praying, crying, none of it would have an impact on the tornado, but most people would scream into the void anyway. When you're in that situation, you know that there is literally nothing you can do, and you grew up believing in a god or gods who listen to your prayers and may intervene on your whim? You will think this is now in God's hands. There is nothing I can do and I need supernatural intervention for myself and these others to survive. It is a pure fear response and somewhat of an understanding that the situation is no longer in your control, ie, it is now in God's hands. How you perceive why others died depends on your personal theology, but it isn't uncommon for phrases like "it's up to God now" or "God has a plan" to basically mean there is nothing us puny humans can do. We are at the mercy of supernatural beings who will either allow us to remain on Earth or take us to the afterlife.
The real hero at the gas station was the young man who had the calm presence of mind to get everybody into the beer cooler and, after the storm had passed, help them get out of the wreckage without serious injuries.
I had to be sheltered in a hyvee fridge once with about 40 people, during a tornado watch, it wasnt nearly as close or strong but nobody was praying, looking back it was actually kinda surprising. I was just being smug with my mom and little brother because I had chosen to wear a jacket even though it was 75+ degrees outside, and it was cold in the fridge.
I love this video.
Something that's hard to quantify unless you lived in the area, is how substantial the impact was of this tornado on the entire region. My family lived in a small town about 15 minutes of south of Joplin. We didn't get impacted directly by the tornado, but we had to leave the area all the same.
Joplin was essentially the lifeblood of the area. It's where all the big stores were, it's where people went to work, it had the only mall and all the entertainment. After the city was destroyed, life was very difficult for a lot of us who depended on Joplin for regular living. We relocated down to Arkansas, as did many others in the small sattelite towns.
The Joplin tornado was a grim but important reminder how quickly life can be flipped upside down or even lost altogether. Take every moment of peace and enjoyment you have.
Great work, bro.
I hope Northwest Arkansas was an option for families who were able to come here afterwards. I cannot imagine going through all of this horror and the after affects.
I actually lived in Northwest Arkansas at the time, but a couple years later, my family moved to Joplin. It was still recovering at the time, but given that it had only been two years, I think it’s progress was admirable. These days, I think it’s recovered pretty much entirely, but the memories and loved ones lost will never be replaced, of course.
Neosho?
Anderson, so just a bit south of Neosho (after they built the interstate at least)@@redraptor9688
@@travis4694It is tornado Alley, I hope more shelters and protection was built. Homes shouldn't nmbe built out of particle board should be concrete with good basements
I was a responder to this tornado and will never forget what I saw. The destruction is almost impossible to describe. Boards impaled into trees, cars and trucks swept into piles 60 ft tall. Some vehicles were smashed unrecognizable
I can’t even imagine what it would of been like. I’m from Australia 🇦🇺, thank you for helping those folk.
The young man who graduated just hours prior, how tragic. He was just beginning his life 😔😭 And the heroic pizza hut worker, and all those patients on the ventilators and the nursing home that was leveled. Everything mentioned. What a catastrophic disaster. I'm sure everyone has a unique story, and so sad the trauma endured caused 18 additional deaths. Unbelievable. 😢 The Joplin community is forever in my ❤️ knowing what occurred there. The butterfly is a beautiful symbol of tribute & representation.🦋🫶🏻
Thanks for this video and for detailing this tragic event. Rest in peace to the victims. 🕊️
the gas station video is terrifying, “I don’t wanna die!”. The people of Joplin will never forget this tragedy
We never will, never get over the nightmares.
7:05 the way the weather reporters were just saying “we don’t have any reports of a tornado on the ground” then they pan the camera and see the monstrosity of this tornado and the woman says “eh-“ noticing the humongous twister, right before they lose signal, sends chills down my spine..
The gas station video makes me feel something that very few videos make me feel. It's ethereal. Something you can't possibly comprehend being in that situation until you're in it. Something that makes me sad and frustrated is how probably a good amount of injuries and fatalities could have been prevented if the homes were better constructed. An ASCE Paper notes that most of the damage was caused by winds of 135 mph or less, and if roofs were fitted with hurricane clips, the damage could have been mitigated. While I'm religiously agnostic, the Butterfly mythos fascinates me, and I find it an inspiring symbol of the spirit of Joplin's citizens.
Amen
Amen
I don't think you get it.
It doesn't matter how those houses are constructed. If it's hit dead on it was like a nuclear bomb hitting those places. The most insane footage came from this tornado of all time.
Take the sad and frustration and direct it toward local elected offices to reform and do better. Together we can drive necessary change and create more affordable housing, get people off the street who'd stand no chance against these storms, hurricanes especially.
Duquesne lost several homes also, just east of joplin and a couple of souls. I was at home there croutched down in the hallway as the storm ripped my rental home apart. Miraculously I was left on the foundation without a scratch in total darkness, crawled under a door trying to get out of the hail. When the rain cleared, managed to get into my mangelled car and my dog jumped in with me in the back seat relieved that he was ok. It was a sobering experience never want to relive. I thank God everyday for protecting us. My landlord whom resided next door with family were all ok also.
Wow man what a story. Thank God you survived with no severe injuries. Did your whole roof and walls get ripped off?
@@Dahn.Baern. yup. Leveled. Roof was gone, couldn't be found. Walls crumpled.
@@robboyer3722 Incredible. Glad you made it out ok
God put you into that situation though... I wouldn't thank him if I were you
@@asqmate why do some ppl always blame God for random events that happen? A tower falls and crushes evil ppl and the good also. God is no respector of man. Stop.
This day was the hardest for me. I was in that gas station that got hit. the sound it's self was scary. To this day, even talking about this day hurts because of all the people that lost their lives.
I am so sorry you went through this, and I am glad you are ok. Did everyone at that gas station make it out ok? That was truly so hard to watch and listen to.
@@reeham8205Read a report, said no one was injured or killed!
I'm sorry that you had to go through that *Joplin Trauma* and I hope you're able to find some sort of peace..... ~ JonseyG 👲💖
@EchosOfWhiterun_5555 thank u!
@@AshGD_GD You're quite welcome... ~ JonseyG 👲💖
Man, i remember when i was in highschool, we were on a field trip heading back to our school, and were passing outside of Joplin. From our angel, it just looked like a massive wall of darkness, blacker than space. We could see pieces of the city flying around within the black wall, and we realized it wasn't just a massive dark cloud but a tornado that was plowing the very earth. Our bus just had to stop and wait for it to pass by. We were lucky, it just passed in front of us and shook the bus, but after it passed we were able to continue on our way. As we passed along it looked like a nuke hit the city in the distance, it was insane. It went from a large sprawled city, to looking like a plowed field. That tornado was utterly insane, it was shrouded so well, and accompanied by its massive wide shape, that until you see transformers going out inside the cloud and debris being flown around, you would think it was the distant storm meeting the horizon, but it was the tornado all along, and it was so much closer than everyone thought. That's where i learned, if it isn't moving, you're in it's path.
Man, that must have been totally horrifying. To know that you were in its way, and yet, you still survived.... Wow, what a ride!!! Knowing people still talk about this must kinda give you shivers.... ~ JonseyG 👲💖
That has to be the scariest thing you experienced.🙏
The kid in the gas station saying "I love you, I love everyone" had me in tears. It felt like he thought that was the last words he would say.
Yeah, that's the part of the video where I broke out in goosebumps from head to toe. I can't even imagine.
He posted a comment on this video, pretty easy to find. He gives a brief overview of what happened
Same. just awful hurts my heart
@a1mb0t96 he stated in his comment that he was not the kid saying he love everyone he said he didnt speak the whole time
That moment is when I broke down in tears. The fear, they all thought they were going to die. What a gut wrenching, and hopeless feeling.
My wife was in the St John's Hospital on the 6th floor when it hit Joplin. She survived but it scarred her for life.
Oh my gosh, that's terrifying! I have watched a multi part video series here on RUclips which talked about the experiences of the staff at St. John's Medical Center during the disaster and one particular story that stands out in my mind is that of Carey Miller. Carey was working as a nurse in the Maternity Ward of the hospital and she was protecting a new mother and her baby along with the help of the woman's husband and father of the baby. When the tornado blew out the windows in the patient's room the high winds caused the patient's bed to violently bounce up and down. Carey screamed over the howling winds at the mother to give her her baby and she ultimately placed inside of her jacket; saving the life of the baby. After the tornado had moved past the hospital (and as stated in this video destroyed the 501 Elks Lodge and the Greenbriar Nursing Home) Carey opened her eyes and brushed dirt off her face. Her first thoughts were how she could get the mother, husband and baby to safety and how many of her fellow staff members could help her. Carey was also extremely afraid of a fire erupting and she said that she had no desire to lose her life in a fire on the eighth floor of the hospital. Ultimately, Carey and the other nurses and doctors at St. John's were able to evacuate the patients.
That recording from the gas station triggered the most emotion I've ever gotten from any piece of media probably ever. I nearly was in tears feeling the helpless ness those people must have felt.
I was not ready for that. Wow
I've been living in Joplin for about a year now, and you can still tell where it was by how new everything is. But the city has built back stronger and better! It's rather impressive, really
the resilience of humanity when struck by disasters like this is beyond impressive. i know i would do anything i could to help others as an Oklahoman during these times.
I'd like to move to joplin
@@mgaeeeee9150 it's not bad here. It's big enough to have everything you need, but you can also go driving for just a few minutes and be out in the country if you want. The crime rate is pretty low, and the housing prices are below the national average
@@redraptor9688And how much protection was built now after that monster typhoon blew Joplin apart was built? Is there more shelters?? Are the homes built better or built back out of sticks and particle board? Homes in Toronto alley should be built like homes in Europe out of concrete and deep basements. I heard people were sucked out of basements that's why I say be prepared because you guys are in tornado Alley be safe this time!
@@m42037 the tornado caused them to raise their building standards and codes. They are very strict with it now
I was in Joplin in May of 2015 and did not know of this event. A strong storm came through and I wondered why people seemed freaked out more than "normal" during a storm even though it was quite intense. I did a bit of research on this tornado and then I understood.
How could you not have heard of this????
It did not make the news where I lived in Mexico!!!!@@tomlorenzen4062
@@tomlorenzen4062Chances are that he is from a country that didn't cover the Joplin, Missouri tornado.
I think so because everybody in the *United States* must have heard about this at some point in their lives.... It's really *HARD* for most people to have *NOT* known or heard anything about this!!! ~ JonseyG 👲💖
I was raised by a survivor of the '79 tornado outbreak in Wichita Falls Texas, so I've lived like this my whole life. A tornado warning may as well be the blitz for me. I find myself watching myself don my full airsoft kit as if it's an out of body experience, and my only wish is to be in a good enough condition to help everyone deal with the aftermath.
My dad, a firefighter, was called in to work this day due to the tornado. He hasn't told me much about what happened when he went to assist in the search and rescue operations, and I plan to ask him someday if he feels comfortable with it, but he told me that it was horrible enough he had to go to therapy, and I'm sure still has issues with it to this day. It was truly a disaster, possibly a once in a lifetime occurrence, but I truly hope that nothing bad happens anytime soon. Luckily, the EF1 that struck Joplin on May 6, 2024, the Monday of the week I wrote this, did only minor damage, with some houses taking damage, a semi tipped over, billboards bent over, and other damages.
That EF1 tornado happened the day after my birthday.
I hope your father is doing alright. He was a hero to so many that day, I hope despite all he saw and endured, he knows that.
I live near the Carolina alley, which is less known, and we just got hit by an ef-1 or ef-2 and my local Arby’s got destroyed as well as a used car dealership. Our Walmart had the tornado o right between it and a dollar store.
I was in Joplin when it happened. That day my town changed forever.
I'm *GLAD* to know that you were able to *SURVIVE* and I'm very relieved that your *TOWN* is now once again *THRIVING* as well as it could, given the circumstances of that day!!! ~ JonseyG 👲💖
You cannot begin to imagine the strength of a storm like this until you've lived through one. You will never forget the sounds or the screams during or the cries and look of bewilderment afterwards.
Yes. I know that firsthand.
You should do more long videos. This was fantastic! The angels and butterfly people always get me...I get chills and tear up every time. Bless their hearts.
The Angels saved my wife at the St John's Hospital.
I hope more shelters are built now, this could happen again. Tornados will come it's tornado Alley everyone should be prepared for another tornado
That was a wonderful video, it really broke my heart for all those people who passed away and especially those children crying as the tornado impacted the FastTrack gas station. I cried so much 😭 😢 R.I.P to all of the victims 😢
U right Undertaker
When I hear that lady crying out to Jesus, I get choked up. Every time.
Taker: You are so right and I love your icon!!! ~ JonseyG 👲💖
Survivor here, while only being 5 i still remember it vividly to this day. My home was in the outer bands of the tornado and me and my mom along with our dog had to shelter in a hallway that was very exposed, we were lucky as had we been in the core of the tornado i would not be here today. As part of the class of 2024 the scars are still here mentally as whenever a bad storm comes through i do get slightly anxious but the storm fueled my interest in tornadoes
I live in northestern Oklahoma, but I remember this storm very well. My family had gone to see a movie this day, I don't even remember which one, because after the show we stepped outside and the whole sky was nothing but a wall of billowing white clouds to the north-northeast. I mean it was blue sky above us, but those clouds FILLED the sky from horizon to horizon and seemed as if they should have been overhead for being so dang tall. I've never seen anything like that storm system before, nor since. All of us just knew something wasn't right about that storm. Found out later that day that it'd torn through Joplin, and that some extended family had just left the strip ten minutes before the thing hit.
Few weeks later my mom and I went out to do volunteer cleanup. Even after days of work already being done, I've never seen such distrction.
Saw a two-seater crop dusting plane twisted and tossed like a matchbox toy. Half of houses were completely gone. I got to listen to the woman who's yard were were cleaning and how she and her dogs managed to survive inside despite how damaged her house took. Her only warning were her dogs wanting inside so desperately, and they barely managed to make it into a closet before her back door blew in. About mid-way through that work day, we all started smelling rotten meat out in the field behind the house, and us volunteers had to be ushered away so the police could check just to make sure it wasn't a corpse. Thank God it wasn't, just a freezer full of food. We work our tails off from morning to late afternoon, but I left feeling like I hadn't done anything at all the amount of debris was so massive.
One of the most sobering experiences of my life, volunteering that day.
Man it is C R A Z Y that it formed so fast it made it into the city virtually undetected. It's like it new what it was doing. Chilllls.
That’s exactly right.
I saw the video that showed that it took only ten seconds to go from a rope stage to a wedge stage.
Right! Caught off guard. Makes me think of the El Reno tornado that killed so many weather professionals. Mother Nature does what she wants
@@susanwahl6322yeah! I believe that there are only 2 videos in existence that show the tornado kind of form and take shape and immediately make ground contact as a violent wedge. This tornado is strange, it creeps me out, and I find it so morbidly fascinating. I kind of wish I didn’t.
@@champton911 not really. I’m not trying to be right or anything like that. I’m just inviting you to look at the differences in these two tornadoes. The El Reno tornado was this wild multi vortex system that was seen coming from a long distance and time frame away. This Joplin, Missouri EF5 tornado was some diseased, black abyss that only wanted to kill. Really I’m not being hyperbolic, if you are new to tornado research, you will see the differences in the two tornadoes. They are equally wild. But the Joplin tornado… just… jeez.
This tornado occurred just 10 days before a damaging tornado in my state would spark my interest in weather (Springfield). Joplin, one of the most damaging tornadoes ever recorded. The amount of damage it produced was incredible. I can't even imagine what the people impacted by this tornado felt going through it.
I think it’s pretty cool that you included the mental health aspect of it after the tornado and how that affected ppl later on
Instant tears hearing the man in the gas station saying, “I love everyone. I love everyone man. I love you.” I was so young when the Joplin tornado hit. I’m a Hoosier and we’ve only had a handful of rough tornados in my lifetime in Indiana, but I remember hearing about Joplin and seeing all the news feed so clearly. Watching footage now gives me the same gut-wrenching feeling I had all those years ago as a child. I cannot imagine the lasting heartbreak the citizens of Joplin. I wish nothing but peace and healing for the survivors.
I haven't heard about the micosis outbreak before, it's astounding how much can happen just due to a natural disaster
It also makes you wonder how many times this type of outbreak has happen before after a powerful tornado has gone through an area and wasn't report on, because nobody recognized it. Also this micosis fungus likes tropical regions, so how in the heck did it survived in MO, which most of time isn't a warn state, and was never mentioned in the sates of AL and/or MS, which have a much warner environment that MO and has a greater history of much more powerful tornadoes.
@@meghanhause9435right?! Surely that happened there too if it did in Missouri
Yea did they live in close proximity or is it suggested the tornado itself spread it? I know the lead was from the mine or so I'd surmise
@@meghanhause9435not warm as in not Arizona warm or? Because Missouri is hot and disgustingly humid a lot of the time, especially in late spring and throughout the summer.
It's been in some other videos, but yeah just another layer of shit on a terrible situation
Reading personal accounts in comment sections about tornadoes always brings tears to my eyes
I was going to college at MSSU in 2011 and I'll never forget the fear I felt that day. I wasn't in Joplin at the time the tornado struck, but I had many friends that were. Calls wouldn't go through and I couldn't reach people to find out if they were okay. I remember crying in front of the TV, terrified of what might be happening to the people I loved. Two of my college friends were inside the Fast Trip gas station, along with their dog. Even now, I still can't watch that footage and had to skip through that part in your video. I didn't take tornado sirens seriously until the May 22nd tornado. Now, 13 years later, I'm always watching the weather and the first to seek shelter. Thank you for your respectful, informative coverage of what happened.
This was my grandmother's childhood home. Watching this on TV from Maine was absolutely devastating for her. We visited in 2016 and she showed me where she used to ride her little red bicycle to the local diner to get a coke and ice cream as a 10 year old. She also showed me where she went to school and where she lived. Her home was spared but much else was destroyed or rebuilt.
i was in the Joplin tornado, me, my mom, and my sister were on our way back from her cheer meet. we had to pull over and go into a gas station. this video has showed me that the gas station we stayed in would haven't withstood the sheer intensity of the storm. my older brother had his home demolished seconds after he reached his basement, narrowly avoiding almost certain death. me and my family were lucky, but others weren't, rest in peace to everyone who had lost their lives.
This was a beautiful and respectful video, thank you. You did a wonderful job covering the aftermath - no one has ever mentioned the illnesses afterwards as a result of the debris and damages, I had no idea it was even a thing!
I have been obsessed with tornadoes for as long as I can remember, ever since I got a copy of Twister: Fury on the Planes when it first came out. There are many great channels on RUclips covering this topic, but only yours has that magic, combining modern analysis with that “old timey” feel of the documentaries we grew up with. I wish I had a million dollars to give you, but alas, I am poor. Instead, please take my word that yours is the best tornado channel on RUclips, by far. And that is saying something.
This was a really moving piece. I was particularly struck by the story of Christopher Lucas. He was a real American hero. I hope I’m never in a situation like that, but if I am I hope I can be so courageous as to rise to the situation like he was.
I've stopped and eaten at the rebuild of the Pizza Hut on Range Line road, they put a plaque up commemorating him.
I think the reason why there were so many deaths is due to poor structure quality and lack of public storm shelters, and also the fact that it was such a powerful F5. I do believe people don't take storms as serious as they should, since it's so rare to actually get a tornado. But those other reasons I think more of the issue. I live in Missouri quite close to Joplin, our infrastructure in Missouri is crap. Like a simple thunderstorm will plunge us into the dark age without electric, like the entire area, hundreds of thousands without electric. It literally just happened to us a couple days ago, and it was out for almost 2 days. I think every town should have at least a few public storm shelters. There just isn't anywhere to go in so many of these poor towns here. I myself live in an upstairs apartment. No basement or shelter here. If a tornado hits I'd be 100% screwed, unless I like went somewhere long before the storm got here. But so much of the time you don't even know a storm will produce a tornado until the sirens start going off. And then here we're also hit by storms every single day(especially this time of year) and I watch the radar every time, they're always big and Purple/Red on the radar. But it's like daily or every other day that these come through, so I think that does desensitize the public here a bit to it, they just can't tell really if it will be bad enough since we're always hit by them anyway. Really sucks tbh. Also! Love your stuff dude your vids are absolute Top Notch, like your channel should(and will) have hundreds of thousands of Subs 💯
Liberty utilities...yep
Storm was very wide and rain wrapped, ppl couldnt see it, probably why they didn't take sirens seriously. the siren warnings were less than 5 minutes on the west side of town, struck quickly. I was in a suburb of joplin, east side in Duquesne had about 10-12 minutes warning plenty time to take cover in my hallway.
All of that is true, plus the fact it formed so quickly and became so powerful right on the edge of town means it was on top of people before they knew it. Storm basically snuck up on a town. Tragedy but hopefully with shelters and stuff like you said it can be prevented
@@djhosfelt9993Liberty utilities didn’t exist yet in Joplin. At that time it was empire.
The 18 suicides really bothered me. Those poor people survived but couldn’t deal with whatever they had going on and decided to end their lives. So sad.
I live in Joplin and this is the 1st I heard about the suicides.
@@lizogden2458 Suicides are common after natural disasters and usually aren't discussed. Parents lose their children, children lose their parents, people lose their partners, jobs are lost, your livlihood is in rubble. The grief is devastating and can't always be well managed when the aid teams are trying to supply food, water, shelter, and medical aid.
The only famous example I can think of is a little boy who survived the Plaza Towers elementary school direct strike in 2013. He died seven years later by his own hand despite therapy. All of his classmates who were beside him died. He was only seven when it happened.
@@Vippy-y6t says the subhuman living in his mom’s basement having never gone through anything.
@@lizogden2458surprisingly too common. I know both Moore tornadoes, 99&13 there were at least two in each tornado that took a direct hit that also committed suicide after the tornado.
Why did they commit suicide
When Joplin happened, I was in training for our local CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) here in SE KS, about 2 hours drive from Joplin. We were planning to deploy out to help, and while I was not eligible to deploy as a member of CERT, I was also an amateur radio operator, and they were planning to take me along in that capacity to help with communications. However, we had a train derailment in our county the next day, which required us to cancel the deployment to Joplin. Also, that evening another storm rolled thru our area, which required us to stand up our own storm watch team. I do remember hearing about all the emergency responders who went to Joplin to help, and I salute every one of them!
oh my.. only 6k subs with documentaries LIKE THIS????? bro u need ATLEAST 100k. keep it up man.
I live close to Joplin and have seen every report and documentary about that deadly day. Your video ranks towards the top of my list as you have covered so much of the story in a compact time frame. Great story telling thanks so much!!!!
My best friend lived in Carthage, but worked in Joplin when this tornado hit. He had just started a new job at AT&T on the north side of town. The Academy Sports he had just quit a few days before (located on Range Line just north of I-44) was wiped off the face of the earth.
I remember him calling me in tears after he spent the day sifting through rubble looking for survivors. He told me about how he pulled the lifeless body of a little girl who couldnt have been more than 8 or 9 years old out from under what was left of a house. She died when the brick wall of her house collapsed on top of her. Just remembering that story gives me chills.
My Aunt and Grandma were driving back across country and stayed the night in a hotel in Joplin. They decided the next morning not to stay and get food or anything and just get on the road and go. Within hours the hotel they were staying in was entirely levelled. Thankfully they were many miles down the road by then.
What hotel would that be? I don't recall any hotel getting destroyed.
@@lizogden2458 its been 13 years. I dont remember. My Dad followed through the next day to go meet up with them and the one the stayed in was gone. May have been a motel.
Reading about this tornado brings tears to my eyes. Can’t believe this was 12 years ago, Can’t imagine what everyone in the city of Joplin went through that day. I’m so terrified of tornadoes.☹️
From 2005 to 2011, I lived in Joplin, Missouri. The tornado was why we left
The way that old woman started staying "Jesus Jesus Jesus." You could just hear the Fear from everyone there. I could imagine going through anywhere near something as crazy as that.
Joplin was just a monster. Now given a deeper dive into the storm, i was just speechless and given goosebumps every frame of the video.
Thoughts and prayers.
Humans don’t just fight and get violent when they get scared. They also call out for each other, call upon God and come together. That gas station audio, though terrifying for those involved, is actually kind of beautiful.
I remember when my church went on a mission trip to Joplin that July to help aid and clean up. We went to the museum, and we were all in tears. It’s still shocking and tragic.
It’s an incredible story on how Joplin bounced back after that tornado. The people were resilient and wanted to rebuild their lives. It’s nothing short of an inspiring story
R.I.P. Will Norton. His last tweet said "I graduated today!". If I remember correctly he wasn't found until 3 days later. May 22nd is also my birthday. I think of Joplin every year.
This has probably been the best documentary I have seen so far. Very respectful and you have been the only one that I have seen so far to cover about the butterfly people thank you for this , it gives everyone hope that even when bad things happen good is still here.
I watch a lot of these kinds of videos, but you have a genuinely beautiful and effective storytelling style and talent.
The way you share the stories of the people affected and include so much humanity in a respectful and honorable way is remarkable. Sadly so many other channels just seem to gush about the storm, and its death toll and devastation in what seems like admiration.
Your work is a breath of fresh air. You have a wonderful talent. Never stop.
@6:35 " we don't have reports of a confirmed tornado on the ground..."
*immediately shows an obvious tornado.*
They noticed almost immediately after saying it
It’s because of how fast and quick it formed. There’s a video of it forming where it’s just a tiny little skinny tornado and then literally in one second formed into this massive black wedge. And then only minutes later it’s arriving into the city as this monstrous thing that no one could see because of the wall of rain going on blending it in
@@adamsbriee6330 Your ignoring the fact that it was ALREADY confirmed on the Ground before it became a Wedge and how ignorant and oblivious KSN is being. "We have confirmed reports of a Funnel cloud.."
@@Tornado1994 *you’re ignoring the fact that them seeing it on the tower camera was only minutes into the tornado. Like 3-5 minutes in. JOPLIN F5 formed within seconds and already was hitting people as a wedge before anyone knew what it was like. There was reports that day and sirens had gone off, but no one knew what it was really like. It wasn’t only the news channels fault. It was many peoples. And also having a tornado that acted just evil-y from jump, where most you are able to have time or see it, it starts small, isn’t on a busy day. You can see it hit where Will Norton was driving in this video, which was moments into its assault on the city.
@@adamsbriee6330 Why would ANYONE ignore Sirens? Also "It formed within seconds is a lame excuse". Issuing a Tornado Warning INSTEAD of a Tornado Emergency 5 Minutes into a CLEAR Supercell with aggressive Rotation is very poor protocol. Doppler,Hook Echo, Weather Spotters and Accurate reads of Storm Direction, ALL of those factors count. When you make excuses for them, you act as if lives COULDN'T be saved and that Joplin's Residents were Sitting Ducks. They weren't. Were People In Joplin just plan indifferent? Why the Hell wasn't anyone using a NOAA Weather Radio?
Time was Wasted, Sirens were ignored, and KSN FAILED to properly Follow, Keep ahead and Analyze this Storm. I hope someone got fired over this.
I lived in NW Arkansas at the time. But I was at a casino on the shore of Grand Lake in NE Oklahoma. About 25 mile sw of Joplin. Minutes before the EF5 formed in Joplin the supercell expanded to a massive size covering the area we were in. The rain that hit was the heaviest I have ever seen. Within 2 minutes water in the parking lot was running over 2 feet deep. It only lasted for around 5 minutes. At the same time as the rain three small tornadoes formed in a cluster on the lake a mile and a half from us. They were also short lived. After that passed we got word that Joplin was getting hit. It was the saddest and scariest night of my life. The area of NE oklahoma, NW Arkansas and SW Mo. Is very hilly . All the small creeks flooded over the roads and stayed up most of the night.I tried leaving for home in NW ark. around 6:30 it was after 4 in the morning before roads were clear to travel home. As the sun was rising the next morning I sat watching the aftermath on TV.Like everyone in the area I sat watching and crying all day. praying and feeling helpless. Wanting to help somehow. Until you are near something like this it may be hard to fully understand.My hope is that you never have to experience anything like this. Stay safe and alert.
You know it's serious when storm chasers in the area were literally screaming over radios "Dont stop, get the hell out of here!"
Dude Christopher was such a hero. I feel so bad for his family and ik he mustve felt terrified at that moment and the other victims..
I rarely, if ever cry, while watching a documentary about tornadoes as nobody ever talks about the people who had lost their lives. But this one got me in the gut.
I don't know anybody who had to experience the horrific nature of tornadoes up until maybe since January as my partner now lives in Oklahoma. I grow anxious and jittery over her whenever i know a severe weather event is going to happen.
To even be IN a tornado warning and to know and think that this may be your final day alive is more horrifying than anything i have thought of in recent memory. Bless those who had passed and those who had to experience the aftermath of it all.
I forget this happened in April I’m an Alabama native and the event on April 27 will forever be engrained in my mind. I was in the fourth grade. We had a tornado hit children’s harbor just a mere 20 miles out of town. But I remember vividly seeing coverage about the Joplin tornado and it’s also permanently engrained in my mind
Joplin's tornado was on Sunday, May 22nd (2011).
March 4, 2020, Nashville TN, 1am. We took a direct hit from an EF 3. It snapped power poles about 10 feet off the ground, tore trees out of the groun, destroyed 5 houses next to me, and did 100,000K worth of damage to the house.
I too grew up in tornado country. I too began to ignore warnings. I too felt invincible from some "stupid tornado."
Weather forecasters gave us a "4% chance" of tornados.
I was awakened by what I thought were neighborhood kids tossing rocks at the house. As I was looking out the window, wife said "hear that?"
Then it dawned on me, and we raced to our safespot.
Buck nekkid, as the tornado roared overhead and the roof started to lift I threw myself over my family and dogs and held on like a sumbit*ch. The suction was so strong I could feel my grip weakening, then as fast as it happened, it was over.
Except for the damage.
Today we don't eff around. When there is even a watch 100 miles from the house we start preparing. Long track tornadoes are no joke, and they can be on you in a hurry.
We also have some serious ptsd from the entire event, and I can understand why people struggled afterwards.
Tornadoes are fairly common in TN and we also know how important it is to help with the cleanup.
Just don't go barging into neighborhoods unannounced unless it's just happened. Usually law enforcement is blocking access, that's the person you want to let know you're here to volunteer.
Todqy we remain beyond vigilant and if one hits within 50 miles, we're in the car, water, toilet paper, beef jerky, duct tape, clothes if we can get them, and we also do running for folks because they often don't have a car any longer.
If you've ever tried to navigate through a tornado-wasted area, prepare to spend some hours going a couple of miles.
This is a powerful, frightening, and superbly done accounting. I cried through just about the whole thing. If I watched it again, I'd cry harder .
Thank you for sharing it.
Great Video !
I love how well put together this is
Hello, Im Ren. I had a cousin who lived in Missouri during that time, she has a brother, and 2 younger siblings (sisters) She came to Louisiana about 3 years ago, she told me that the tornado stripped her house completely clean, She always said "A tornado is never a joke" after the story, about 3 months ago, a Tornado touchdown near convent, but tahys what i am talking on so back on topic: She was hiding in her basement during the tornado, but her foundation was stripped so bad it looked as if the tornado had a traget on that house, her brother had a whole tree branch land about 4 inches from his head, he had a cut on his leg, after the tornado, she went out and looked at her city on horror as the tornado Ruptured the town, she is traumatized and has been ever since...
Such a scary tornado.. just because of how vast the damage was so so so much land just eviscerated for miles on end. I can’t even imagine how surreal it’d be to see that in person. My city is way smaller than Joplin so it’s crazy to think about the fact that an entire town can just get swept away in an instant..
Search for the flyover damage survey of the moore tornado...
Ariel view of ef5 tornados path moore, thats the name of the video
@@mattb6646 oh yeah I’ve seen it.. miles on end of destruction.. it’s so insane to me. And Greensburg is another example, that town literally got swept away and had to restart from literally nothing
@@dillyboyq The Greensburg EF5 happened after dark, too. 😬
one of my mom’s friend’s from college worked at St. John’s in the NICU. she shielded herself over 6 infants in their bassinets and none were injured. an absolute miracle.
Whoa! There's a four part video series here on RUclips on how hospitals can be ready for disasters and it featured testimony of staff members at St. John's. One such person featured in the video was a woman by the name of Carey Miller. Carey was working as a nurse in the Maternity Ward of St. John's on May 22nd and was sheltering in a patient room with the mother, her baby and the woman's husband. When the tornado struck the hospital; Carey explained that the patient's bed was flopping up and down inside the frame due to the strength of the wind after blowing out the windows in the patient's room and she was telling the mother to pray. During the period of calm; Carey told the mother to give her her baby and she hastily stuffed the baby into her jacket, which no doubt saved the baby's life as after the tornado had moved east to attack the 501 Elks Lodge and the Greenbriar Nursing Home, Carey looked down into her jacket and saw the baby was still alive and uninjured through what she could tell as the storm blew a lot of debris into her hair. Soon afterwards; Carey began to fear the possibility of a fire erupting and she explained that she didn't want to lose her life in a fire on the eighth floor of the hospital. Though she soon pulled herself together and with the help of the other staff in the Maternity Ward began evacuating the mothers, their babies and the spouses of the mothers. A pediatrician by the name of Dr. Sherry Smith arrived with a van that she had loaded with supplies to help with treating the babies and the mothers. I was only sixteen at the time and I live in Ohio; but I remember watching The Weather Channel that Sunday night and saw how Mike Bettes had broken down sobbing on air while he was reporting live on the scene outside of St. John's. This showed people outside of Missouri who were watching The Weather Channel that Sunday night the severity of the disaster if it could reduce a seasoned meteorologist such as Mike Bettes to tears. What they may not know is that following the disaster Mike adopted a Golden Retriever who had been left homeless in the disaster and named her Joplyn. Aww! Sadly, Joplyn crossed the rainbow bridge in 2022. While I was understandably saddened by this because I love dogs; I reconciled my sadness by reminding myself that Joplyn had lived a good life filled with love and affection. On top of that; Golden Retrievers are truly sweet and loving canines.
I’m from Moore and I was there for Joplin too. We were on I-44 and I wasn’t as gracious as the people saying I love you. I was screaming “I hate you” to my husband because I had begged him to pull off the road and take shelter. My perceived last moments were blaming him for my death. We’re divorced
lol
To speak about the ptsd, mental health, suicide and family violence truly speaks words that so dn many don't think about!!! Thank you for that amd thank you for speaking on the other "late" killers like dirty stuff that got into wounds and everything else! Thank you
I was raised by a survivor of the '79 Wichita Falls Texas outbreak. This is a way of life for me. I've been misdiagnosed by a friend with anxiety depression, and OCD, but it's on the same stimulus level as combat for me.
I was in Joplin the day after the tornado as a part of the relief effort. It was an absolutely horrific experience just seeing what that tornado did with my own eyes. They were still doing search and rescue operations when I got there. However, they also had cadaver dogs to find the bodies of the dead, as well as body parts. I actually saw several dead bodies, and numerous body parts. It's not an experience that I like to talk about. Just seeing human suffering, devastation, and death on that scale was a traumatic experience. I had occasionally nightmares for years about that tornado, as well as nightmares of the barking cadaver dogs searching through that rubble. I'll never forget what I saw in Joplin!
acouple miles away from mine and my grandma’s house, so lucky we survived 🙏
Quick note ... St. Johns was not moved off its foundation (confirmed by Joplin Emergency Manager Keith Stammer). The top floors experienced a torsion load and twisted a few inches, which deformed the concrete/steel structure. That compromised the structural integrity of the building, necessitating its demolition over the next year and a half or so.
An excellent job on this video. Your approach is professional and considerate of the human loss and pain. It might be a good idea to educate and stress heavily the importance of taking the warnings seriously and take cover. I know it's easy to get complacent with so many warnings turning out to be nothing much, but the death toll would have been significantly lower had people taken cover earlier. This was terrifying and so heartbreaking.
Very well said. You bring up a very good point about complacency. When you live in Tornado Alley it is easy to become desensitized to them. You get so many warnings every storm season that you begin to either ignore or take them much less seriously than you should.
Tornados have always fascinated me. I was the type of kid who wanted to be a storm chaser. I love to research this stuff. It intrigues me how much damage natural events can cause. I've never been able to see a tornado in person (thank the gods for that) but I've been researching them since I was young.
This tornado is so haunting. This may sound bad to say, but it inspired me as an artist to write music. Watching the footage of such a deadly tornado approaching, which was unbeknownst to everyone moments prior, is a living nightmare.
Take inspiration wherever you can get it hope you wrote some good stuff. Songs in my band were inspired from all kinds of things, war, politics, natural disasters of all types etc…strong emotions move us to do this
The tower camera footage where the news people realize the tornado is right outside of Joplin is chilling.
I’m amazed at how the hospital was directly hit but still stood and didn’t crumble under pressure
Tornadoes are majestic forces of nature but when they are destroying people property and killing innocent human life. It’s not so majestic even tho 90% of tornadoes will only ever rip trees and fields apart.
My love for natural disasters and how they are created is something I find so incredibly interesting!
great documentary!
Love from Sweden
You deserve so many more subscribers. Excellent work on such a heartbreaking story of tragedy and resilience and recovery. The hospital being hit was also a big part of the reason the death toll was so high. People were showing up and being sent to the hospital across town.
Former resident of Joplin here, now residing in Henderson NV. My home was basically slabbed, lost everything including my only vehicle. I commend the residents that rebuilt, but I just could not return.
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Thank you Christopher for your bravery
My grandparents survived driving through Joplin, somehow. I live back in Michigan. They were visiting family and my dad said there was very bad weather and grandma and grandpa were trying to drive home and to pray for them. I was about 9 or 10. They made it, thankfully.
Checking in from Pittsburg, KS, to the NW of Joplin. People had been talking all day about how many storm chasers there were in the area, so it was known that the weather could get bad. The problem was that it went from unconfirmed funnel clouds to a monster wedge in mere seconds, and to the south of where the initial warning was issued because of the merger.
The biggest difference between then and now is that storm chasers can communicate when a tornado drops in mere seconds via modem cell phones and social media.
I should also add that the people of Pittsburg consider Joplin to be our "big sister" city. We love Joplin. The ties between the two cities are very strong, and it hurt our souls seeing the people of Joplin suffer so much loss.
That music at the start had me going "If you like to see the strange, dark, and mysterious presented in story format...!" followed by various ways to be discourteous towards the like button.
Anyway Joplin was such a terrifying event, and a little close to home. There is no possible way to explain how that city was left by the tornado. Absolutely horrendous.
Ive always been interested in storms, especially tornadoes as long as i can remember. This year, i realized that many terrible storms happened in the year i was born, 2011. I decided to research these storms and make a slide show about them, and 2 of the topics was the Joplin EF5 and the Alabama tornado outbreak, which doesnt get nearly as much recognition as it should. I ended up getting an award by my teachers since i showed them the slide show. It made me so intrigued by specifically the 2 Joplin tornadoes (2011 EF5 and 2019 EF4) and i watched documentaries and videos on them, this being one of them, so thank you for this info😁
Not sure exactly why but hearing the woman praying in the cooler as the tornado was on top of them really made me tear up. Was not expecting that -- incredibly moving.
That gas station audio is horrifying. That is the sound of people that 100% believe they are in the process of dying. Thank God it turned out all right for them You can even hear somebody right before the tornado hits say I don't want to die
Your documentaries are some of the best I have ever watched. Keep up the good work!
Had an F2 Tornado go over my house once and I still have severe anxiety and panic attacks when there’s the possibility of a tornado, I can’t even imagine what all of the people who lived through this event went through and are still going through, nature is so terrifying
That's why we should have respect and be prepared for tragic events! I wonder if many shelters were built now or is the towns all like they were before? Joplin is part of tornado alley
Staying in Joplin tonight on the way home from a trip. Proud of how much the city has built back since the tornado. Hits different when you're at the place instead of just hearing about it from afar.
I live in joplin. Primarily Webb city but lived through this. I remember rushing around in a truck picking up as many injured from the st John's hospital area
Great show. I can also recommend Trey (convective chronicles). He also did a great breakdown of this horrific event. Cheers.
I helped clean up after the tornado and it was an awful sight but I heard so many amazing stories of survival. One guy was home with his newborn while his wife was out and he got in the tub with his child when the tornado hit. It picked up the tub amd threw it. The tub landed upside down and became a protective shell until the tornado passed and the debris finally rested.
At the time of the joplin tornado, i was in my house with my house with my sister and my parents, and i can not nearly describe the sheer horror that i felt with the glass shattering and the bricks falling on my head. At the time i was only 13, with the injuries i had after flying almost 20 feet into the air, were a fractured skull, broken ribs, and one of my legs even ended up having to be amputated because of the infection. I hope nobody else ever has to go through something like that again. Love you guys.
How the heck could the new anchors not see the shape of the tornado in a distance with a power flash looking right at it? That's incredible!
I was thinking the same thing, like you can clearly make out the right side of the wedge and it took them having it fully in view to recognize
I’m not trying to knock them and saying they suck but man is that wedge painfully obvious
They were in shock because at that moment a tornado wasn't reported, they were also just news anchors and probably thought it was just rain
I don't think they knew what was happening. Usually tv stations use the least capable people to cover the weekends. At least that is how it is in my hometown.
i’ve watched 2 of your videos and they are very in depth and intriguing, you’ve earned a sub from me 👍
When the news station saw the tornado I couldn’t help but notice the weather lady had a horrible choice of words, “if you go outside you probably won’t be able to see this”. All I’m gonna say is if I heard the local news station say that I’d go outside and see if I could see the tornado. It’s like when someone says don’t think of a pink elephant you immediately think of that pink elephant.
I think James spann said it best, might have been someone else tho. “Do not go outside and look at this storm, you need to be in your storm cellar or basement, you will not survive if you are not below ground”. That’s a fucking warning, not “hey don’t go outside you might not be able to see the tornado, or maybe you can….”
I've seen the entire news segment and that news team handled the situation terribly over all.
i wouldn’t doubt James Spann said that but i know for a fact that Mike Morgan here in Oklahoma said that during the Moore 2013 tornado. he gave it to the people straight and honest. he told everyone you will NOT survive if you’re in a home. it was either a basement, storm cellar or out of the way. anything else was not going to work. i was young watching the tv at my house and to this day i remember those words so vividly.
Gary England would have said the same. (Jan Griffiths).
@@KaileyB616 i totally agree with you