Joplin, MO

The AmeriCorps volunteers have set a deadline of Jan 31, 2012 to apply for demolition assistance. Skilled volunteers have been assisting homeowners with demolition of tornado damaged structures, removal of concrete and tree stumps free of charge.
Homeowners who have not already signed up for assistance will need to sign up by calling 417-625-3558 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. before the Jan 31st deadline.
The deadline is only for sign up. Work will be completed in the future.

Good Bye 2011!! The Year of the Joplin Tornado!

2011 December Blogging Challenge. Day 31, Blog 24

2011 is winding down and in a few hours it will be 2012! This past year has been a rough year here in Joplin, Missouri.

The days preceeding May 22, the day the EF5 tornado totally destroyed about 33% of the town, is hard to remember. When ask about events before the tornado we all have to stop and really concentrate to come up with anything.

One of the 2 major hospitals (7 stories) is gone. Our high school is gone. One brand new middle school is in the process of being torn down. 3 grade schools are gone. One Catholic grade school is gone along with one Catholic church. 10 or 12 total churches were destroyed. A large super center Walmart was destroyed along with Home Depot, 2 Walgreens, Academy Sports, Wendys, 3 or 4 pizza places, Sonic Drive In, many convenience stores and the list goes on and on.

The final count of loss of life stands at 161. This figure alone is totally amazing. It is really hard to believe that more lives were not lost when viewing the devastation.

As relief workers poured into town they were all amazed first by the total devastation and second by the fact that in a two day time period all streets were cleared of trees and drivable. The interstates into town were filled with caravans of pick up trucks and heavy equipment all headed to Joplin. One of the Fema workers wanted to know if everyone in town owned a chain saw!

Walgreens was totaled, torn down, debri removed and rebuilt in about 6 weeks. Walmart said they would be open for black Friday but were ahead of schedule with an opening by November 1.

The Joplin School superintendent stated the day after the storm that school would start on time. This was at a time when no one knew where they could even locate a facility for the high school, middle school or the grade schools. It was a giant goal that was met to the wonder of all.

The count for the number of homes destroyed was around 7000 plus 1000 apartments for a total of 8000 'doors'. For us in real estate it was totally unbelievable!! By the end of the first week every available rental that was still standing was rented.

By the end of the second week every vacant house that was on the market and still standing was sold. Of course the first thing we had to do was take inventory of what listings were still standing and which ones were gone. MLS was not very dependable for a while.

Today, seven months after the tornado our city manager announced that building permits have been issued for 50% of the destroyed homes and businesses. A number of new homes have been built. Extreme Home Makeover came to town and built 7 homes in 7 days. That show will air January 13, 2012.

Habitat for Humanity has built 10 homes in about 2 weeks and plan on doing more. They have teamed up with Habitat from Tulsa.

The outpouring of help and support at times have been overwhelming but so very much appreciated. Our realtor community checked to make sure everyone was okay. A number of realtors lost their homes and one young man was killed protecting his wife.

Hundreds of cars were lost. The insurance would not pay off on those that were missing. People were looking everywhere just to locate their damaged cars. It was truly a nightmare with things happening that you could not even imagine!!!

We are slowly but surely getting back to business but I doubt we will ever be able to say we are back to 'normal'. One of the overworked phrases for this year nation wide is the 'new normal' but in our case that is what it will be for years to come.

Our hopes for 2012 is for peace, happiness, health and a calmer year. We have had our dose of a wild year and one is enough!!

Happy New Year to all the 'Rainers'!!!

After being hit with an EF5 tornado on May 22nd 2011 my town has displayed to hard work and community spirit that makes us all proud to call Joplin home.

I'll admit in the days following the tornado that destroyed nearly a third of the city including our business district and displaced over 9,000 people I, like most residents, was scared. How would people ever be able to go on with their lives after seeing loved ones ripped from their arms? I wondered what was going to happen to us and how we would ever be able to recover. If we were to recover, how long was it going to be before things felt "normal" again? It all seemed so unfair and like an impossible journey that lied ahead.

However, it became clear during that first week that we were not going to wait and see. Neighbors helped neighbors dig out and find places to stay. My Keller Williams office along with many, many other offices and agencies opened resourse centers for victims to get basic supplies, clothes and food. Help poured in from neighboring communities and from around the world. People were no longer concerned about their daily lives and desires, they were concerned about those around them.

The fear turned to hope and within weeks we began to see areas that looked like war zones start to be cleared. Home sales soared and new construction began in the summer following the storm. Extreme Home Makeover built 7 homes in 7 days for families that lost everything including loved ones to the storm. Our city park was blessed with a new playground and our schools that were destroyed pulled off what seemed to be an impossible task of relocating to temporary facilities and opened on time for the new school year.

Just over 6 months later many of our largest businesses have rebuilt from scratch and are now up and serving the community again. 85% of our destroyed businesses are rebuilding or are committed to rebuilding. New homes are sprouting up in the midsection of our town that had it's homes completely removed with little more that the foundation remaining.

Everyone gets a little sentimental at this time of year as we reflect on our lives. All I know is that my community has proved to me and the world that anything is possible through dedication and hard work. I am inspired by or residents everyday and am more thankful than ever for the many blessings in my life.

Loan Information for Tornado Victims

If you recently lost your home to the May 22nd tornado in Joplin you may want to talk to your lender about a FHA 203h loan. This loan is available for victims of natural disasters where the President has declared it to be a disaster area. This is a 100% loan offered to rebuild or buy a replacement loan. For more information about this loan talk to your lender or go to http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/housing/sfh/ins/203h-dft. There are several banks and other lenders in the area that have already stated they have access to these loans. If for some reason your preferred lender can't get you information on this program please contact me and I'd be happy to put you in touch with one of the lenders that we have a great relationship with and I'm convinced will take very good care of you.

I’m really not quite sure how to even begin this little story. It certainly isn’t a plea for sympathy nor is it the seizing of an opportunity for a hot blog topic. If it were, I’m a little late. As some of my friends here on Activerain know my oldest daughter lives in Joplin, Missouri with my three grand kids.

Tawnya is a single mom working two jobs to make ends meet like many of us in this recession. She works for the Joplin Globe Newspaper (need I say more) which has severely scaled back this last year. She got a second job at Walmart. Normally she would have been working last Sunday but by chance (as you might call it) she had the day off and was home with the boys, Jakob and Tannyr. Tyffanie was across town at the mall when all hell broke loose and the Tornado hit. Walmart was a total loss.

We weren’t able to reach them for a few days with all the chaos that ensued and because most communications were down. Thank God for social media. The first little bits of info about them started coming over Facebook.

S. Florida Ave in their neighborhood after the storm.

People were making signs out of anything they could find and putting them at intersections. With all the familiar landmarks gone, you had no idea what street you were on. It all looked the same.

Fortunately the entire house wasn't blown away like so many around them.

Bless my grandson Jake. They ran for the bathroom to ride out the storm. He told me a horrendous story about trying to get the door shut but everything was moving and stuff was flying all over the place. After several attempts he wrestled it closed when a large section of the roof came off and debris was crashing into the hallway.

On the left, the roof is gone. Tawnya said in an email how thankful she was that the neighbor’s car stayed in the garage and didn’t land on their house.

Although the home is a total loss they did get some of their belongings out and into storage. Jake took a car load of clothes to the emergency shelter for the less fortunate and has been volunteering all week searching homes for survivors and helping out where ever he can.

Jake out front trying to comprehend what just happened.

I am so profoundly grateful my family is okay, safe, and staying with friends. What a powerless feeling to be so far away. I’ve survived some pretty amazing things in my life, but I can’t begin to fathom what this must of been like.

Via email - May 27th... "I am counting my blessings everyday that me and the kids are alive. It was by the grace of God! His hand was over us for sure and I believe because he has bigger and better things for all of us to do."

Love you all,
Tawnya

Amen daughter of mine. Amen...