Choosing to Overcome: The Joplin Effect | Remembering the Joplin, Missouri EF-5 Tornado

[@yankee_tango]

I was a truck driver, during the time of this Tornado. I was in eastern Oklahoma that day having picked up in Tulsa earlier. I was headed that direction and was going to call it a day at the Flying "J" truck stop there in Joplin, Mo. I saw the storm out ahead of me and it just looked mean in my eyes it was raining where I was though now I cannot remember exactly what city I was in. I was on I44 heading east and pulled into a service plaza to use the restroom and get something to drink. My phone started with the emergency sound and I looked at it, I then headed to my truck and switched on the WX frequencies on my CB and listened and headed out about 45 - 50 minutes later I crossed into Mo. and the scale was closed and I saw some debris around. I guess this was around 5:45 pm. I pulled off at the Petro at exit 4 and parked. I called my GF at the time and asked her if something had happened, she told me about the tornado and her and her son were safe and road it out at her mother's home. partial roof loss is all she had there. The mobile home trailer she lived in was not damaged which was a god send. I can remember the smell of the air, smelled of wet earth and death. The death smell is something you never forget because you know people died during this storm. I learned to watch the weather closely when I drove trucks and my own deducing skills have kept me out of harms way when it came to Tornados, Derecho's, and Hurricanes. I would see the weather ahead and just watch it and decide whether to drive into it, around it, or park it up for the day. Life is too precious to risk it for some freight, I paid many a fine for being late but I got it to them safely and in one piece.

[@mariagraffelner5216]

Your mind & heart are in the right place as a Commercial Driver. I’m a driver too & though I may never meet you, I THANK YOU for your professionalism! ❤

[@yankee_tango]

@@mariagraffelner5216 Thank you. Please remember to always look out for the other drivers out there. There are some seriously bad driver in general on the roads. Should we ever meet we will sit down and share stories of course. Stay Safe Driver as always.

[@KittyGonzalez-bc8ee]

Tornado 🌪

[@FrankReynolds182]

So, I'd like to share my personal story with the Joplin tornado. In 2011, I lived with my mother and sister in a small town called Anderson, MO just one county south of Joplin, probably a 20 minute drive or so away. Anyway, to anyone who lives in that area, you know that Joplin was essentially a second home. It was really the only "bustling" town in that area, it had all the restaurants, the mall, video game stores, movie theaters and so on. Essentially, Joplin was where we all went when we wanted to do something fun. I remember the day of the tornado was a Sunday and after morning church I had plans to drive up to Joplin to go to the giant Vintage Stock (video game store) they had up there at the mall with a friend who lived in one of the neighborhoods up in Joplin. However, I was 18 at the time and not the best friend, so I ended up cancelling my plans with my friend to hang out with a girl I liked instead in Arkansas. Not only did that selfish move keep me out of Joplin for the afternoon when the tornado struck, but it pissed my friend off so much that he ditched town that day too to go do something with some people in a different town. I remember there were awful storms in our entire area later that afternoon and I was shocked by the footage I saw on the news. Buildings I visited all the time, like local restaurants on rangeline, car dealerships, Walmart, Home Depot, Burger King and even the hospital that i had stayed at multiple times growing up were gone. Not just damaged, not just in need of a rebuild, but GONE. Not even recognizable. Not to mention, my friends' house was over in one of the neighborhoods by the hospital. The concrete porch in front of their house had been thrown into the second story and the house had to be demolished. Luckily, neither he nor his mom were home, but the aftermat did result in them having to move away with family in California. Long story short, even survivors lives were never the same and it impacted not just the citizens of Joplin, but everyone who lived in that area. Even my family moved farther south afterward because we needed work and grocery stores, which Joplin couldn't provide for some time. It's awful to say it but I'm so thankful i was a bad friend that day. If I had kept my plans to hang out in Joplin with my friend, we probably both would've suffered far more. Just one of those wild coincidences I'll never forget, along with one of the most devastating images I've ever seen, still burned into my brain to this day.

[@TaurusMoon-hu3pd]

I go to Joplin for my Vintage Stock trip. Awesome store. Glad you are ok.

[@RachelStAndre]

Thank you for sharing your story. It’s crazy how life is full of coincidences.

[@grmpEqweer]

Raging hormones, possibly saving 2 lives.

[@catsinwonderland7473]

33:19 those guys saying “I love you guys, I love you, everyone” just melted my heart to its core. you could tell those people were so grateful to be alive

[@RedRoseSeptember22]

It felt like the end and it made me cry :(

[@fiorettiduseigneurcapybara2492]

@@RedRoseSeptember22fr , what’s sadder was they were unsure if they would survive :(

[@SteveWillNotDoIt1984]

He only knew a couple of them too

[@gozorak]

For me, one of the most haunting moments comes from the in car video on Connecticut Ave. As the car and its occupants escape the danger area we are left seeing people waiting in line at fast food drive thru's completely oblivious to what is about to happen.

[@Bigjohn1126]

I think the one thing that shocked me was how it went from a rope to wedge in a matter of seconds.

[@jennteal5265]

35:50 The reason why Mike Bettes started crying as he did was because at that moment, he realized that he was looking at someone who'd passed away to the side of the cameraman. This was truly heartbreaking. Edit: To put it into perspective. While Joplin produced 3 million cu yds of debris, the World Trade Center produced about 500k cu yds of debris. More recently, the 2020 Derecho that wrecked Cedar Rapids, IA produced about 4 million cu yds of debris but that was an entire city of about 200k, not 49k.

[@stormchasermary7593]

The thing that makes me cry is that a person was near some debris

[@fluffyfluffballs7108]

I was just looking for this comment as I was going to type it if not. Heartbreaking

[@michaellovely6601]

I can't imagine what Mike Bettes was feeling when he was covering the aftermath of the Joplin, Missouri tornado. What made me smile is that Mike adopted an orphaned Golden Retriever and named her Joplyn.

[@samsterling1462]

@Jenn Teal: That is not true. I was on the scene doing search and rescue and was near the weather channel mobile command center as they were filming that shot. They did like 5-8 separate takes of him walking up the road, and just picked the one that looked the most realistic. He "cried" for every shot, and you could hear them discussing the angles they wanted, and how they liked each take. What's worse is, the redneck sounding guy he interviewed right after that shot of him "crying" was a paid actor. He was walking alongside the camera crew the entire time. It really left a sour taste in my mouth about The Weather Channel. Here we were lifting up house frames and shattered drywall looking for any signs of life, and they were perfecting their choreography. I was witness to the ugly side of show-biz.

[@samsterling1462]

If you want real emotion, go watch the clip of the people stuck in a gas station beer cooler as the tornado directly hit them @ 33:00. People crying out to God, and telling perfect strangers they love each other, not knowing if they'll ever get to tell anyone that ever again. That was an incredibly moving video, even though it was pitch black most of the shot.

[@richardkoch8752]

My Son is a MO Hwy. Patrol Master Sargent. He lived about eighty miles away from Joplin at the time. He was dispatched and arrived at Joplin that night. He spent over a month in Joplin assisting in search/rescue. He has told me that he thought he would here in the Midwest never see bodies laying in streets and yards. It had a profound effect on him. His duty in Joplin also included working at the Morgue for the victims.

[@Emjay_blackdogranch]

I’m from the area and was a flight paramedic at that time. I transported some patients in the following days, and it will haunt us all. One of the nurses I flew with lived near St. John’s and just happen to be at work. She took her beloved dog with her for some unknown reason. She lost everything but him. We were grounded the day of due to the SigMet, and we spent most of my shift in and out of the tornado shelter(we were east of Joplin)

[@brittanybaucom9786]

Thank you for your son’s service!

[@JustinLHopkins]

@@Emjay_blackdogranchWeren’t some of the victims flown to hospitals in Wichita? Or am I mistaken?

[@LynxStarAuto]

@31:23 his mom gave a very heartfelt interview in a documentary I saw about Joplin. She is at peace with his decision, and proud of her son. Her faith is very strong. It shook me up ngl.

[@mrslindsay]

Omg that's so beautiful. That is the part that made me cry. We need more everyday heroes.

[@jessicabutler7925]

Do you remember the name or who created the documentary? I’ve never seen that and it feels like I’ve found every tornado doc on KZbin

[@Katmai_Bear_480]

@@jessicabutler7925 I think it was this one: Tornado Alley - Real Time Tornado: Joplin, Missouri kzbin.info/www/bejne/bJ-7aH1ulNKNpqc

[@anthonybrock9435]

Carly Anna, I am from Glasgow UK but now live in Joplin proper. I'd literally just moved here in Oct 2010, so I had a minute to get to know the town. I want to say two things. One, your bio of Joplin tho brief, was both touching and incredibly detailed. Thank you for that. Two, I sustained a direct hit at near ground zero. I wish there were another platform to share the full details of it but I'm not on (much) social media. The home I was in was almost the only thing in my neighborhood left standing, tho damaged. (Just northeast of St John's hospital). I still have dreams about the sights, sounds and smells I walked out into that day. {Note: Apparently Joplin had an EF3 in May of 1971 (the 5th, I believe) that is prominent in local history}. I'll end with this: Next to Mr Pitrowski's this is hands down the finest, most detailed and spectacularly empathetic piece I've seen on what we locals refer to as the "22 May Monster". Carly Anna, this storm felt more like an (evil) entity than a "meteorological event". Thank you so much for this, Dear. As we say goodbye in Scotland, Haste Ye Back, Carly Anna ! 🍀🌹🍀

[@samuelraytheweirdcontentgu8551]

You lived a nightmare I could never imagine that

[@olbailey8606]

Thank goodness you were ok.

[@dannyllerenatv8635]

You were at ground zero while the tornado was at maximum intensity. I cannot even imagine what that must have been like.

[@mrclarinetnerd]

This may be two years after you made this comment, but my dad helped with search and rescue, as he was, and still is, a firefighter with Joplin, now a Bat Chief. He doesn't bring the day up much, if at all, but he has mentioned that he had to get therapy from the sights. I hope Joplin doesn't experience something like that ever again.

[@oceanasong]

The best footage/documentary that I have seen about the Joplin tornado is by storm chaser and videographer Jeff Piotrowski. If you have a chance to see it I highly recommend it. You do a great job covering all aspects of tornadoes and the aftermath.

[@carlyannawx]

Yes absolutely!! Thank you, I reached out to license it but I think he’s probably busy. I agree it is incredible and so raw, once in a lifetime storm to capture

[@CherrrrBear]

She recommends it in her description if you read it :)

[@CherrrrBear]

@@carlyannawx how would you license it?

[@lindsayschmidt2177]

@SimplyCher I think she just means so she could use it in her video without getting a copyright claim or strike

[@silence__speaks9882]

This particular tornado haunts me. My grandparents (Who are bikers and lived in Oklahoma at the time) have two friends who they used to ride with whom lost their two grandbabies and son-in-law at the Home Depot. It was such a tragedy and I think about them all the time. Thank you for being so respectful and informative.

[@superman8372]

One of the scariest parts is the sky was so dark for daytime . The monster took the sun away

[@Hold_Fast_Clanmcleod]

That’s one thing that shocked me so much about the footage from this monstrosity. Very similar to how the El Reno tornado blocked out all the sunlight in the sky it was so massive

[@B_COOPER]

Another very terrifying thing to me is the very animated look of it when it touches down.

[@RuanAntunes7]

I’ve noticed that with a lot of these Supercell storms in the US where it gets so dark it looks like it’s night time during the day. I’m from South Africa and we don’t get storms like that here…. We get some pretty bad weather as well but it still doesn’t even come close to this. It’s absolutely terrifying and I can’t even begin to imagine how scared I would be to experience something like this in person.

[@GottaWannaDance]

​@@B_COOPER The timed footage from the funnel to wedge in the initial video was less than 30 sec. Just incredible.

[@GottaWannaDance]

​@@B_COOPER I can't imagine how I would make a healthy decision in that time frame.

[@zisaletter4602]

one thing i get from these clips and vids that maybe is not evident usually is how good people are. They're so good. Everyone immediately goes - we have to help each other. We have to make sure everyone's okay. We have to help people get to safety, we have to help people out of danger. It's genuinely heartwarming.

[@Roryehatcher]

It’s choking me up.

[@dianefarley37]

The butterfly people accounts that Joplin survivors tell are heartwarming and bring me to tears. God is always with us!

[@JustinLHopkins]

@@dianefarley37Please do not say “God is always with us.” It just shows how aloof you are to the world around you. Is God with the three million children who die every year of starvation? Is God with the children in Ukraine who’re being raped and murdered by Russian soldiers? Is God with the Rohingya people who’re suffering systematic genocide? Was God with the 6 million Jews, LGBTQ and other minorities when they were sent to the gas chambers? The Second World War killed 3% of the human population. Where was God then? The point is that you’re in the comfort of your home in the wealthiest nation in human history, so you are in a position to say God is with us, but many people are suffering unimaginable horrors that Americans couldn’t even fathom. Be thankful that you’re privileged enough to believe God is with you because a vast portion of the world doesn’t have the luxury to say that.

[@Antarctica5822]

This is terrifying. My teacher is from Joplin and she was in another state when this happened. When she came back, she didn't even recognize the city she came from.

[@BrainCleanser0]

I remember watching the emergency manager of Joplin talk in a video on KZbin in a seminar he gave. The part that stuck with me the most was a story he told about a woman who came to him after the fact and said that he shouldn't have turned off the siren and he goes. We never did. And it turns out the siren had gotten ripped out of the ground and they just. Straight never found it

[@jennteal5265]

Yes! That video is called 20 Minutes in May. I've never been so spellbound by a power point presentation!

[@BrainCleanser0]

@@jennteal5265 ah! Thank you for telling me the title. I've been wanting to rewatch it!

[@wieldwords]

Thank you for recommending his talk. Absolutely fascinating.

[@scootermom1791]

Wow!

[@RedRoseSeptember22]

That's chilling :(

[@jonhiggins2012]

I manage a fast food restaurant and that's hard to hear about the pizza hut manager because he did exactly what I think I would've done and I realize I probably wouldn't survive that. More people should know his name.

[@Og-Judy]

Yet all the people in the beer cooler at thee gas station on 20th and Duquesne rd all survived. Nobody wA sucked out. Go figure.

[@acgarner3107]

@@Og-JudyThe door at the Pizza Hut was broken. The Manager who was killed repeatedly asked for it to be fixed & the pos never fixed it

[@alec3979]

Joplin is one of the scariest looking tornadoes imo. Something about how it grew so big so quickly, it got super dark, darker than a lot of other tornadoes. A big dark rotating mass. Conversely, Rochelle is one of the most beautiful tornadoes. The videos I've seen on it it looks super white and clean like a cloud.

[@26michaeluk]

I literally said the same exact thing about it scaring me more than any other precisely for the reasons you mentioned.

[@alec3979]

@@26michaeluk haha yeah it looked like it was swallowing the whole sky at one point. I don't wanna look out my door and see a neverending dark sky rotating towards me. 😅

[@michaellovely6601]

What made the Joplin, Missouri tornado so deadly is that it was hidden in very heavy rain.

[@26michaeluk]

@@michaellovely6601 that and it went through a heavily populated area.

[@patrickcross1571]

Tuscaloosa always struck me as a particularly menacing-looking tornado. The size and intensity of it are apparent even from far-away vantage points, and holy fuck those horizontal vortices; thing straight up looks like a Lovecraftian abomination.

[@stlmopoet]

My son and daughter went to Joplin from St. Louis after the tornado to help with cleanup. They were just teenagers. Very proud of their work.

[@clg1475]

The image of Mike Bettes crying in front of the shattered homes, the firetruck, the hospital. . . . I feel like it's one of the most heartbreaking pieces of weather coverage ever broadcasted. No camera and no words can capture how unbelievably destructive this monster of a storm was.

[@thegiant573]

This one is my #1 scary tornado. So big, rain wrapped and EF5 makes it so scary.

[@WanderingRoe]

One of the best Joplin documentaries I’ve seen. Staggering, and impossible not to cry while watching this. I have no doubt that the Butterfly People were angels. Thank you for helping to create more awareness about the PTSD that survivors have to live with, also for turning statistics into something more real and human.

[@JustinLHopkins]

So angels decide to show up in Joplin but they ignore the three million children who starve to death every year and they’re certainly nowhere to be found in Ukraine while children are being raped and murdered by Russian soldiers. I didn’t see any on 9/11 either. Maybe you simply want to live in a world where angels exist to comfort you but for most people living under reality, angels never seem to show up when desperately needed.

[@RiparianZoneJunkie]

At 23:30, the sparks from metal debris hitting the concrete is absolutely insane.

[@tico78742]

Hard to comprehend wind that strong.

[@atsaniindigo4843]

Thank you for making this. I was in Joplin the day of the tornado and was to the diamond Missouri exit when the tornado hit. My aunt was in the pizza hut when it was hit and survived. My friends dad was the daughter of the pizza hut manager. My aunt survived. I have gotten PTSD and anxiety from this storm. I would go to sleep and have nightmares about the tornado. I am an adult and I still get nightmares from the tornado. One of the things that suck with me was a few years back when my dad pointed and said "That used to be my school" it was a blank lot. . . Thank you for making this I appreciate it more than you could ever realize.

[@johnheald9419]

I went through a Cyclone in Australia in 1973 in December the actual date escapes me. I was at the Harold E Holt communication station on the North West cape. We spent 2 days in the EM club with the sand bags 3 ft high, always ready the to make it higher

[@melissajohnson2935]

2011 taught me to never blow off a tornado warning again. Not just because of this tornado but during that April outbreak we had several in Louisiana as well..thankfully nothing like this. But one passed directly behind my neighbors house across the street and I will never forget that moment. We're very use to bad storms but there was a split second that I realized that something was different. Everything went still and quite for a second and then I heard it. Very scary!

[@Thicc_Cheese_Dip]

Same. For me it was 2011 and 2014 that reenforced my family taking tornado warnings seriously.

[@redginaldsanders6122]

Melissa: When you were home that day and heard it grow "Still and Quiet for a second" and Then you HEARD IT!! Wow!! That had to raise the hair's on the back of your NECK, a little!! You see I'm Fascinated with Tornados while Simultaneously being terrified of them. And you're absolutely correct: NEVER blow-off a Tornado warning........ Never!!

[@dannyllerenatv8635]

I haven't personally been in a tornado living in South Florida, but we do get our share of supercell storms from time to time and those things are terrifying enough! The sudden drop in pressure, your ears popping, the ground being rather warm but the wind is cold, the bluish, greenish skies, the wind all going in one direction, the spinning clouds, that's terrifying enough. But when they drop a tornado? I don't even want to fathom what that must be like. While I am a tornado and severe storm enthusiast, twisters are also one of my biggest fears.

[@grmpEqweer]

​@@dannyllerenatv8635 The green or black sky, the wall clouds, really raises the hair on the back of your neck.

[@JustinLHopkins]

@@dannyllerenatv8635I do love the evening thunderstorms in Florida, but what I find incredible is the downpours of rain. I’ve never seen it rain so hard in my life.

[@SadisticSenpai61]

They've started sounding the sirens in my town when there's winds over 70 mph. I think they've adapted to the idea that when ppl hear the sirens, they immediately check the weather to see what's going on and have adjusted accordingly. Phone alerts and radar apps are also very helpful in getting ppl important info as quickly as possible. And I know for me, if I hear sirens and it's clear and sunny out (and not during the weekly testing)? I whip out my phone and I'm pulling up my radar app as I head away from windows and prepare to get my partner to cover (he's disabled). When sirens go off on a clear sunny day? It's gonna be bad. Really really bad.

[@JustinLHopkins]

If it’s clear and sunny then there is no storm to take shelter from. What exactly do you mean?

[@SadisticSenpai61]

@@JustinLHopkins That means a bad storm is coming and you need to get your butt to cover. It also means you're damn lucky to have that much warning.

[@tamaraandrew2507]

Excellent job. You touched nearly every aspect of this traumatic event. Many of us "Joplinites" were shell shocked. The one thing not often covered is survival guilt and compassion fatigue. I worked in the mental health field as a Child and Adolescent therapist and encouraged children and families to process their experiences in many ways different ways. What we heard was horrific and had a lasting impact on us. I personally lived a few blocks from destruction, but the therapy center where I worked was destroyed. I can attest to the impact this event continues to have on the people of Joplin. However, the response of the people of Joplin, thr region, the State. The Country, and yes, the World, helped us to rebuild and become JOPLIN STRONG. Thank you for your thorough and well organized coverage of this tragic event.

[@RedRoseSeptember22]

I love the butterfly theme in Joplin too now :) it's beautiful and emotional, I truly believe the "butterfly people" were Guardian Angels. ♥

[@dawnbonner6497]

I was born in Springfield, MO and lived in Neosho, MO about 30 minutes away. We spent a lot of time in Joplin, being the largest town around the area. As soon as I heard the names of the streets involved I just knew how terrible it would be. Little older homes without basements in the area, not to mention the large amount of businesses in the area. It was even worse than I could imagine. My son's best friend lost his aunt and sister, a co-worker lost her niece. Terrible day.

[@lowsonoma941]

The video from inside the cooler at the gas station has always messed with me. It brings back so many memories of hiding in the hallway during Hurricane Andrew in 92. The sounds, the darkness, screaming, crying and praying.

[@onlyonecaca]

I remember Andrew too. I was 6 years old. Worst hurricane I've been through.

[@lowsonoma941]

@@onlyonecacaI was 6 too. Where you in homestead?? Our house was kind of by Campbell Drive Elementary school. That storm still to this sends me into in absolute panic when a hurricane comes near me. I’ve had full on mental breakdowns. I always try to evacuate now. Nothing on this planet can make me go through that again.

[@onlyonecaca]

@@lowsonoma941 I have lived in Southern Louisiana (about an hour from New Orleans) my entire life.

[@starffruit]

as a child, i was fascinated by weather. as an adult, i still am. i’ve watched many documentaries about many storms, including the joplin 2011 tornado, and the outbreak it spawned from. take it from a fellow weather enthusiast-your documentaries are incredibly well made and i take great enjoyment in watching them. i was 9, going on 10 when the joplin 2011 tornado touched down. i was home from school, anticipating summer break, and i was watching the weather channel after getting home because i was curious about the outbreak taking place (i live in ohio). i watched the coverage of the joplin tornado-i watched as storm chasers filmed its formation and path of destruction; i watched it grow, i watched it on radar, and i witnessed the aftermath, live on television. i watched mike’s reaction to the damage and wept with him. jim’s emotion and interviews from the day after-i wept with those directly impacted, and the people i looked up to, the meteorologists i watched every day, seeing the aftermath of this horrible storm. it was oddly traumatizing in a secondhand way, and it made me much more anxious about the weather in general. since then, i have been very serious about sheltering whenever there is a tornado warned storm affecting my area directly, because… you’ll never know if something like this could happen again. i won’t take chances-not when something like this could happen, in the worst case scenario. thank you for covering this tornado in depth with such high quality and respect. i’m very much anticipating watching more of your documentaries when i have the time to do so.

[@briannefultonmiller2956]

I was in Neosho, MO that day, which is about 15 miles south or so. It was brilliantly beautiful that day. The edge of the storm system came in quick over us, too, and I’ll never forget leashing my dog for a bathroom trip in sunlight and making it outside to be surrounded by the most rapid lightning I’ve ever seen a minute later. It went as dark as night. I knew the tornado was the worst-case scenario when a friend whose husband owned a funeral home said on Facebook that people were bringing bodies in on doors in the back of their trucks. So heartbreaking and horrible. So much trauma for so many people. So many people still struggling. When friends in the midwest brag about sitting on the porch during a warning, I just think “You didn’t live close enough to Joplin.”

[@patrickcross1571]

I'd heard accounts of debris falling from the sky miles away from the storm; one news anchor in the TWC documentary mentioned an account of X-Rays from the hospital being found in Willard. Did any come down near your area?

[@Thicc_Cheese_Dip]

Our family always took the warnings seriously. After 2011 and 2014 our seriousness about tornado warnings has been only reenforced.

[@Emjay_blackdogranch]

Same here. I don’t need to see it, I’m going to be doing my Tornado Turtle with a helmet on@@Thicc_Cheese_Dip

[@richarpadilla1891]

The Joplin tornado is probably the one who amazes me the most ! I personally know what a tornado is because i survived a strong tornado too ! i survived the 12-10-2021 Mayfield KY tornado working at the candle factory, my main task was making boxes for the candles. I still remember that weird night ,something was in the air before it happened, i remember having that strange feeling , under the rubble i was thinking "i'm not gonna make it ,this is the end " so i was patiently waiting to die !

[@Cindy-uy6ho]

Wow.... thank you for sharing your story! I'm so glad you made it through the tornado in 2021!!

[@frank-bmtz]

That pizza hut manager should have some memorial made in his honor. People like him aren't out there anymore. He's a hero.

[@chrisbryan1736]

He was a real life badass not many people have that amount of carelessness for there own lives to safe others he probably didn't know or hardly knew

[@rickgrimes9317]

My Glenn

[@trollerjakthetrollinggod-e7761]

Make a statue of him holding down the fridge door.

[@juliesczesny90]

Just a memorial of him, his wife and kids he loved, left behind. He valued life so much, that he tried to save others, unaware that he risked his own life and lost it, in the end. That's what heroes do.

[@juliesczesny90]

He wasn't careless!! He was CARING!!

[@davidyale75]

Thank you for all the amazing hard work you put into creating these videos. These stories must be told and you tell them so well. (And I knew nothing about the butterfly people… incredibly moving!)

[@davidyale75]

Also, I freakin’ love your cat! ❤️ Hope there will be more kitty cameos in the future.

[@TiffanyNajberg]

Thank you for caring about the ones that died and the families that were shattered. I am a serious storm nerd but I hate the toll they take, and sometimes it is really hard to reconcile a hobby and enjoying tornado videos when they hurt so many.

[@jakelievens9714]

I was only 8 when the tornado came though Joplin. I was living south of Joplin at the time. My house wasn’t hit, but my Uncle Bruce was at the Walmart that night. He got caught in his car behind the Walmart. He didn’t make it. Thank you for making this video, shedding light on this event, but also being extremely respectful. Thank you.

[@SadisticSenpai61]

Big box stores like Home Depot are built in a similar way to the Amazon warehouse that collapsed - they're very dependent on the roof being there to hold the walls up. Additionally, they rarely have good shelter areas. The bathrooms are the best they've usually got and it's frankly not that much and located at the rear of the store which can be difficult to get to in time when you're on the opposite end of the store. That design is popular among retailers where a "warehouse atmosphere" is something they think their customers would enjoy/expect because it's very cheap. It's also very dangerous in high wind events and especially during tornadoes. IMO, such designs should be illegal in the Midwest and the South (where we get tornadoes regularly every year).

[@scootermom1791]

I agree! The design may work for places that rarely get tornados, but there should never be a "one size fits all" building design like that. Instead, they need to be designed to fit a specific area's needs like being retrofitted for earthquakes in California and having underground shelters for tornados in the Midwest and southern states. Many (although not all) homes are built according to an area's needs. There's no excuse for shopping places not to be!

[@Emjay_blackdogranch]

You won’t get me near those places on a bad weather day. I check the forecast several times a day(a habit from flying), and won’t go anywhere without a good shelter if it’s a potential severe weather day

[@Jacob-od5yo]

Also being filled with pre made debris is a horror show

[@SadisticSenpai61]

@@scootermom1791 It is worth noting that in a lot of places in the South, the soil and/or water table really makes building underground either extremely expensive or basically impossible.

[@scootermom1791]

@@SadisticSenpai61 I wasn't aware of that. That's so sad! 😢

[@kaimarie7823]

I was in this tornado. I dont remember even hearing sirens, but maybe we were already in the closet when they went off. We didnt have the tv or radio on, so we thought it was just a storm. My friend said we should get in the closet and we were just like "oh so and so's being a mom, lets humor her" We were so so lucky. The house we were in lost windows, trees, and siding. But we were all safe. Just down the street, houses were gone. There was no phone signal so it took hours for me to let my mom know i was alive. I would randomly get enough signal to recieve all her worried texts and missed calls, but it didnt let me write back for hours. After that the news was saying there was a chance of tornadic activity the next night too. Thankfully it was just a storm. But the kids were so scared This is the best video i have ever seen on this topic. So in depth! And i really appreciate the way you lined out the timeline. And the inclusion of the butterfly people! Thank you for your respectful delivery ❤

[@RedRoseSeptember22]

I saw a comment from someone who'd been in this tornado that said it was actually closer to 250 deaths. Easily one of the most horrific tornadoes in American history :( RIP to all who lost their lives and I pray their families are doing better today. ♥

[@vivianp5962]

I live in Missouri, and remember this like yesterday. Yes closer to 250. Some people were never found, some ripped out of their cars, seatbelts still clicked, never found presume dead.

[@jimlthor]

I live in NE Okla and remember these few days, and the days before where we were being warned of 3 straight days of high tornado risks. I was watching channel 6 out of Tulsa and they had a helicopter flying over Joplin right after the tornado hit. Travis Meyer (our local meteorologist) was talking while the camera was panning over the devastation, and he said, "Oh, looks like they have a triage center set up here" and the camera quickly pans away. A few seconds later it dawns on Travis what we were just shown. It was bodies being pulled from rubble. He started apologizing, and you could tell it disturbed him. Also, screw FEMA. There was a small town in Arkansas that was completely destroyed named Cincinnati, by the same storms.. FEMA had said there was no disaster there.. apparently, since Joplin was a bigger story, they wanted to focus on that.. Screw every one else

[@Tornado1994]

@@vivianp5962 The EF5 Joplin Twister was a Catastrophe. The reason why it was is because Jasper Co,MO itself handled everything wrong and used VERY Ill advised protocol. First of all, The NWS had already relayed Very Dangerous Weather Conditions with a Moderate Severe Weather Risk that Sunday Morning and around 11 AM CDT attempted to clear a PDS Tornado Watch for Jasper Co, but the Weather Bureau pointed out that the Tornado risk was much higher east of Jasper Co,Missouri in the Ozarks, so they only approved a Regular Tornado Watch instead of a PDS one. 2nd, Residents in Joplin paid little to NO attention to Weather Reports. Sunday 5/22/2011 was a Day for Graduation, Church and a Day to be out and about, the Tornado caught most of them off guard. The Overall complete LACK of Urgency was a Recipe for total disaster and tragedy. 3rd. Jasper Co had ZERO Weather Spotters. Storm Chasers had to double in that job. The Jasper Co Weather Bureau had no spotters on Standby and assigned the Local Emergency Sheriff's office instead. But the Office wasn't properly and professionally trained in Tornado Warning Situations and TEs. 4th. Most Local Affiliates weren't use to Tornadoes. So KSN were absolutely uninformed and had NO idea what they were doing. During the Broadcast, the Chief Meteorologist was NOT on Stanby and was on his way to the studio, so his undertrained assistant relayed NWS incorrectly and unprofessionally, KSN also did NOT stay on Air to follow the Storm and relayed INCORRECT information including "Reports" instead of Conformation and Instinct, At one point she claims that "Tornado Warning Continues for North Jasper Co" while the Hook Echo is hitting South Jasper Co head on, and then the Reporter on standby incorrectly says "We have Reports of Funnel Clouds" While a LARGE Wedge Tornado is Literally RIGHT on Tower Cam Slamming directly into Joplin. The Horror and absolute Cataclysmic Tragedy occurs just two minutes later when they FINALLY realize their mistake and recognize the Twister: "This is a very Large and Dangerous Tornado. Very Large and Dangerous. TAKE COVER! TAKE COVER NOW" Panic, instead of Urgency. Since they were panicking, No instructions or protocol were given on how to take cover. So viewers watching were left like Chickens with their Heads cut off. 5th. Ill advised Warning System on the Part of the Jasper Co,MO Weather Bureau. All the EMS and Tornado Siren systems were Functioning and working as the first Warning was issued at 5:38 PM CDT and Sirens did blare, but they were mostly ignored thus shut off so by the time the Tornado had reached town at 5:43, they were reactived thus is was TOO late as precious time was completely wasted in saving lives. There wasn't enough Urgency or Attention drawn to inform Joplin Residents the Severity of the Storm. Also there was a complete sense of Complacency . Nobody was bothering to suggest or use NOAA Weather Radio. EMS had no plan or Warning Mechanism to handle the crisis. And their Stubborn refusal to clear a Tornado Emergency caused so many to overlook and ignore the Weather Warnings. I would absolutely agree that close to 300 people in Joplin died. The Official Death Toll is 162, but its undercounted.

[@zachbing1915]

At 26:36, you can see the mini mall in the background of the video. Thankfully those storm chasers made it out quickly because at 42:56, you can see the complete destruction of the same building and vicinity. It truly is so heartbreaking to see the complete devastation of so many people's lives. I truly pray for all those affected by this tragic day. Thank you so much for putting this video together with so much detail.

[@runsfromelk509]

I would normally have been working in that building, at a small clothing store next to the CiCi's Pizza. But less than 24 hours before the tornado I had left to California for my first vacation in many years. Sunday was Always my day to work. I still feel bad that a coworker took my place. Both people working there that day made it, but there were casualties in connecting stores. My house was just a handful of blocks away from areas that were completely destroyed. My Mother rode out the storm at a friends house she was visiting on Pennsylvania street that left only the hallway they huddled in behind. I watched the news in CA and felt the biggest emotional push to GO HOME. It was surreal seeing footage of landmarks in town you had always known now totally destroyed. Endless calls to friends back at home making sure people were ok. I still miss what it looked like before.

[@joelrichardson2894]

I remember watching this as it happened on live TV on The Weather Channel!!! They had Mike Bettes and his crew following it as it tore through Joplin and literally minutes after it went thru. The destruction of the hospital and the ENTIRE NEIGHBORHOODS around it completely blew my mind EDIT: Also after Mike Bettes and the camera crew were walking through the destruction in the hospital neighborhood, the camera pointed towards a man walking down the street holding his daughter in his arm (they apparently just survived the tornado). As soon as the guy looks at the camera and breaks the 4th wall he gives the camera the middle finger! Lol I felt bad for the guy and his daughter but damn that's the first I'd ever seen such a reaction from someone who just survived a tornado. I really would like to find that footage someday.

[@hollypate5343]

The entire video of Mike Bettes that day is on KZbin. It’s extremely long and heart wrenching but that scene you mentioned is in it.

[@michaellovely6601]

What surprised me is that following the Joplin, Missouri tornado Mike Bettes adopted an orphaned Golden Retriever and named her Joplyn. Sadly she died from old age this May.

[@olbailey8606]

I love that you covered the temporary housing. I’m in Australia and hadn’t heard about that before. It paints a clearer picture of what people deal with in the times after such devastation. I feel the Australian government could learn from this event.

[@billmorrison3714]

As late comer to your tornado series. I have spent a very larger portion of the last 3 days watching your videos. Well done! A lot of the footage is gut wrenching, our town of Ringgold, GA was hit by a EF4 tornado on April 27, 2011. Seeing your videos brings back stark memories of the damage to Ringgold. Thank you for your great work.

[@taemin444]

people standing outside while the sky is black and the sirens sounding never cease to amaze me

[@christipton7588]

Complacency is the leading cause of injuries in the world.

[@B_COOPER]

That’s just midwestern culture for ya.

[@cinzo7238]

I've watched many videos and documentaries on Joplin. This is done very well...thank you for putting in the time and work for this!

[@mort985]

I really love how you take the time to mention the city outside of the tragedy as well as going into the stories of those who were injured or passed, it reminds you how truly terrifying these events are and they’re not just stories for entertainment.

[@graceh.2193]

I’ve been on my yearly tornado video kick and the algorithm BLESSED me with your work. You do an exquisite job syncing up the wide variety of clips I’ve seen in isolation across KZbin into the chronological order- and your commentary is SO CALMING while being super informative and compassionate. 🥰 I don’t know why- there is something nearly evil about this particular storm. Whenever I’ve watched clips from survivors of this storm, it’s almost like the tornado was sentient in how it traveled across specifically such populated areas. The gas station clip is one I’ve known about for years, and their reactions in particular have really made me reconsider my own safety plans as a Midwesterner. I’m so glad they all walked out of there ok!!! Excellent job as always. Can’t wait to see you cover something like Moore 2013!

[@michaellovely6601]

I would love it if Carly did a video where she profiles the infamous EF5 tornado that tore through Moore, Oklahoma on May 20, 2013.

[@CaptainAricDeron]

Heh, same! Spring's on the horizon so my mind (and the algorithm) turn me toward thinking about tornadoes!

[@basicleighdisney5643]

I have watched so many documentaries on the Joplin tornado and every time I watch one I'm so overwhelmed with emotion. There is a lot of footage on this particular storm. So much raw footage exists on this storm which inevitably shows a lot of raw emotion. Absolutely gut wrenching stuff. It's hard to fathom a tornado forming so quickly, just outside a highly populated town, and on a weekend day where people are out spending time doing family activities. Then to think it dissipated not too long after exiting the town just makes my stomach turn. It is probably one of the worst case scenarios I've ever heard of. This tornado event is the one that breaks me the most. You did a great job in covering this, Carly, and even talked about things I'd only heard and seen for the first time, which is saying a lot since I've seen and heard a LOT about this particular tornado. I appreciate the time and detail you put into your videos so I subscribed! I also have been enjoying hearing your news reports on Ryan's lives! You're part of an amazing team that I cannot express how much appreciation I have for each of you! Thank you for all your hard work!!

[@Y2_James]

No matter how many times you see the footage from this tornado, it's still absolutely jaw dropping. A very heart breaking but incredibly well documentary.

[@Troy-kl3bo]

I just want to say you did a great job I live just south of Joplin. Thank you so much for mentioning Freeman health system they are a major hospital in Joplin like st John's is. If you are not from the area you would never know they were there. So thank you for telling everyone there is another hospital in Joplin they did so much and never got the credit that they deserve

[@M1N1SQU1RR3Lx]

i live in St. Louis, MO and I went down and helped during the relief effort with my parents. Seeing the damage at that age, I was 14, was truly unfathomable. I can’t imagine what these people experienced. I’ve been through a few tornadoes myself, but nothing this catastrophic. My heart still goes out to everyone affected by the Joplin tornado as well as others during this super outbreak.

[@Sid-ho6gj]

It's amazing watching the people's footage of horrific tornadoes like these, and you can just count the amount of "don't do that" moments from them that you always hear about on the news, weather channels, and on these tornado videos

[@genehasenbuhler2594]

My sister lived through the Joplin tornado! Her house was directly in it's path! They lost everything but thankfully not one of them was seriously hurt! We couldn't reach her for two weeks! Those were the worst two weeks of my life! When I saw the documentary I broke down and cried! It still brings tears to my eyes to think of what everybody went through that day in Joplin!

[@AdvisoryCookie]

I honestly love your channel I was a kid I was obsessed with tornadoes and now I'm getting back into it thanks to you. The Joplin and the Moore tornado have always stuck out out to me there was so much I learned in this video that I never did before. Such as the butterfly people and the recovery of joplin. I agree with you that injuries / deaths are over looked when a tornado happens or when any natural disaster happens. I feel like people those people who were hurt or died as just a number kind of loses the humanity. I never looked at how the people died or got injured I just looked at them as a number is awful. I think we should focus more on how people lose their lives in these type of events, I never knew about some of these stories until now which awful. I think knowing how people died in this tornado could help save lives later on, I hope one day in the future we look past that stuff. I'm glad Joplin managed to recover, It's still insane to me that the Joplin tornado happened over 10 years ago.

[@samarssmallchickery3930]

This documentary is excellent! I remember this so vividly as we has just been hit 3 weeks prior in Alabama - I remember being so heart broken for Joplin and then I remember being terrified this system would bring more tornados to us. 2011 was such a wild year.

[@melwin7777]

I watched this last night and I am so glad you made this video. So many people talk about the scientific weather aspects of that tornado, but the psychological and sociological effects continue to this day. I had moved out of Joplin a few months before the tornado to the Fort Leonard Wood area, about 2.5 hours away from Joplin. We were celebrating my daughter's 4th birthday when my teenage son told me that Joplin High School had been hit by a tornado. The next few hours were a blur as I tried to call my parents to see if they were ok. The phone lines were down, but I was able to get a text through to my stepsister to get her to go find our parents. She finally found them but their house was completely destroyed. Jeff Piotrowski was one of the first people from outside the storm to arrive in their neighborhood and the spot where he ended his video is just a couple blocks from where my parents' house was. My parents were unharmed but many of their neighbors didn't survive. Our family was lucky, but so many others weren't. But everyone in this town is affected by the tornado, whether they were in it or not. Everyone knows someone who died or was injured. Every day we are reminded of it when we pass blocks and blocks of new houses and empty lots where houses once were. But now everyone is aware of the weather and is no longer complacent when storms pop up. All of the schools now have community storm shelters and people pay attention to the weather forecasts. Thank you, Carly, for helping to spread awareness and making these educational videos can help people stay safe. I absolutely LOVE what you, Ryan, and the whole team are doing. It's comforting that there are people out there willing to get the word out when storms get bad because as we all know, sirens are not enough to make sure people survive tornadoes. Keep up the good work!

[@douglasgriffiths3534]

Many people have to actually see the tornado itself before seeking shelter. And live, not on TV. As a kid in Michigan, I went through 2 F2 tornadoes. I was outside playing with friends---school was out for the summer. I saw the first tornado, and another kid saw the second one 2 years later. Sheltered in the basement, in the enclosed stairwell. Many homes lost roofs in the neighborhood, but us kids were not injured at all. I live in AZ now, where tornadoes are very rare and usually very weak and short lived. We do have a root cellar where we can go if one does happen. No sirens though. I did learn that if a siren sounds, get to shelter. If it's a false alarm, it's OK. It just means you know how to respond properly, and save your life. (Jan Griffiths).

[@jankrygier1607]

This is in my opinion the definitive video on this tornado. Packed with information, humanity, and heart. I can only imagine how much work you put into this. Very much appreciated. A stellar finished product.

[@CallSignJammer]

Empathy is such an incredible emotion. That field reporter connected us all to that situation. Here I am in 2024 feeling like this JUST happened, listening to that. 😥😰 Butterfly People…guardian angels? ❤

[@LydiaTaylorMusic]

If they were guardian angels they sure didn't work hard or fast enough

[@debbieweeks6612]

My perspective living 200 miles south of that storm ...it was the eeriest day in my 61 years of life. The clouds were different than anything I have ever seen, it's hard to explain, but you could feel the sense of dread in the air. So much so I drove to my daughters and prayed over her home. I didn't tell her, I felt crazy because normally I pray at home

[@redginaldsanders6122]

God Bless you Debbie!! That was an incredibly SWEET Thing to do because the skies in the Afternoons' can change so rapidly and so quickly. Praying to our Heavenly Father is one of our most powerful tool's, as you well know.

[@daejeon0607]

20:45 This was the creepiest thunderstorm I've ever seen. I wasn't there, but nuhorizon did an amazing job of capturing the eerie calm before the storm. He seemed to know something big was happening, even though you can't really see. I wish we could hear better sound from his video, because heard some sound that he believed was the tornado.

[@bigt67]

I apologize to you for my question. You have taken all and turned into something emotional and something note worthy when it comes to storm safety. #1: don't ignore tornado warning sirens. If you hear one take a look at the weather in your era. Also, stay on top of weather warnings before hand. If they say Monday we will have a significant chance of devastating tornados on Tuesday, monitor the weather all day!!! You are a great asset to the weather community.

[@Mrs_Gorl]

Excellent job. Such a sad day, you did gave it the thorough yet respectful coverage it deserved. Congratulations on your channel continuing to grow.

[@lizzymcthrall9655]

You provided some really great information that i actually didn’t know about the Joplin event. I remember when reed timmer drove into Joplin in the middle of a chase and decided to stop and help people. That episode still gives me the chills.

[@AngelWhisper_7]

I think you meant Jeff Petrowski (sp?) Not Reed Timer. I don't remember Reed Timmer being mentioned but Jeff and his wife caught the Joplin tornado as it touched down and started destroying from Black Cat Road and 20th st (Or possibly 7th st) or something like that as it began destroying the Southwest side of Joplin AND they were 100metres away from that BEAST! His wife was freaking out telling him to back up. Some parts muted. Get I wonder why LOL. WELL he backec up AND his window gott blown out and after the tornado went further, he and Katherine (his wife) went into Search and Rescue mode and helped reassure a doggie was OK and it shook off the tornado lol! Then he came upon people who just crawled out from u der their destroyed home, and also dead bodies almost right after that. It was a horrible day for Joplin residents and their families but shocked the Nation (including Canada) with its absolute ruthless power. I'm so glad lots have re built bit so many Pepe were lost or lost loved ones. This event will never be forgotten EVER. Mag the people of Joplin, and people who rescued people, helped out, rebuilt, gave donations e.t.c. to help those in desperate need, You guys ate the HEROS AND WERE AMD STILL ARE SO VERY APPRECIATED BY THOSE YOUDALL HELPED! KUDOS FOR MAKING SUCH AN INFORMATIVE, EYE OPENING, COMPELLING DOCUMENTARY ON THE Joplin Tornado disaster and aftermath. I've seen ALL the documentaries on Joplin and this one was freaking awesome. Great work! Love your channel and videos girl! Keep those awesome vidd coming! 😁👌👍👍😎✌ & ❤

[@douglasgriffiths3534]

Please do a video on the outbreak which included the Flint-Beecher (MI) and the Worcester (MA) tornadoes that occurred in June of 1953. Flint was an F5, and Worcester was a high end F4. 116 people died in Flint, and 94 in Worcester. My dad helped deliver food and other supplies to the people in Flint a couple of days after the tornado, and took a lot of damage pictures, which I now have. It happened before my time, but my parents told me about it. They lived in Dearborn, MI which was not affected. (Jan Griffiths).

[@douglasgriffiths3534]

@@Sj430 Yep. And the Worcester tornado that killed 94 happened the next day after Flint, and was a part of the same storm system that moved east. Joplin was a terrible storm. (Jan Griffiths).

[@Sj430]

@@douglasgriffiths3534 I knew the worcester tornado was part of the same system as the flint tornado.i just didn't know the death toll from the worcester tornado.

[@oliviapeacher778]

Watching this, and now looking at our town, it truly amazes me how far we have come and how much we all came together to rebuild Joplin.

[@harrybond1485]

Your videos are very high level and of a unique quality. You really cover all aspects of these storm occurances, and their human impact.Kudos to you Carly.I beleive you have filled a much needed niche in an extremely meaningful way. Love from Waterloo, Iowa.😊

[@scootermom1791]

35:30 I don't know how anyone could even FIND their home after such a disaster. There are no street signs, landmarks, trees or other identifiers. Imagine if you'd been out of town and returned to the area to reconnect with loved ones only to realize you can't find your home! You can't even see if your loved ones survived, or need to be rescued, because you have no idea how to get to them! How hopeless would you feel? I feel so badly for every single person who had to experience this! This would be so overwhelming and difficult to process for anyone. 😓😓😓

[@blazernitrox6329]

Funnily enough, the fact that it was such a beautiful Sunday before the storm hit might have saved my martial arts instructor's life. He and his family were about an hour north in Nevada for his son's baseball game when the tornado came through. Despite not being directly impacted (I live in Webb City, about 15 minutes north of the damage path), I still find it hard to sleep when even a mildly strong thunderstorm rolls through, and I keep a very close eye on the weather when the forecast calls for severe storms. The sad fact of the matter is that while the tornado did spur a bunch of community shelters to be built, they're all on the opposite side of town from me and very little of the old construction here has had storm shelters added. If another monster like that comes through, I might not have time to make it to shelter.

[@piperpilotbutter]

I live in Joplin, and I was 3 years old at the time of this happening. I lived, and still do (as mentioned before lol). From what I hear from my parents and others who were in Joplin at the time, it was extremely humid. So humid, the ground was wet on our driveway when it was bright and sunny out.

[@nothing5189]

I remember that day so well. I'm in Colorado, but I was watching online storm chasers. I caught a couple of live glimpses of the Joplin tornado as it first touched down west of town. Then I switched to the weather channel and saw the destruction. It struck me as how Hiroshima looked after the nuclear bomb had gone off. I remember Mike Bettes breaking down on the air. Great job Carly, I really enjoy your presentations, this one was the best so far. BTW, one of the best Joplin storm chaser videos is from Jeff Piotrowski, search KZbin for "Jeff Piotrowski Joplin tornado". If you can make it through his video dry eyed, you're a stronger person than I am!

[@OneLastHitB4IGo]

The Weather Channel's Mike Siedel tried chasing and picked the El Reno EF-5 to go after and got chased, and caught himself. After a free ride across the landscape he's decided to stay in the studio and do what forecasters do best...forecast and report. Jeff Piotrowski is an adrenaline junkie and takes too many chances. One day what he chases is gonna catch him. Should make for some excellent video of what the inside of a tornado really looks like. "Auntie Em, Auntie Em!"

[@carlyannawx]

My gosh I cannot imagine seeing it unfold live like that. Utterly devastating for sure and the abetted footage displays that so well. I tried to license Jeff’s footage with no luck but I’m hopeful people will see the comments and check it out. Thank you so much for your comment:)

[@nahmastay3300]

Every spring for the past few years, I always end up spending a whole day watching all kinds of videos and docs on the Joplin Tornado, even rewatching stuff I’ve seen plenty of times. This disaster is seriously one of the scariest moments in tornado history and the amazement of how tragic this event truly was never goes away. I’m 25 and lived in Wisconsin my whole life so I can’t possibly understand the trauma and devastation, but I can only imagine how life changing it was to live through such a horrific event. This tornado also resulted in some of the most gut-wrenching and terrifying footage I’ve ever seen.

[@h.j.d.2624]

Thank you. Tornadoes have always held my interest. I can never really get enough of them (videos) throughout the year. Many hours of videos ( Moore, El Reno etc..) watched for many years EXCEPT Joplin. I am a Missourian. I was watching the live feed of the Weather Channel when Mike Bettes started to break down at the devastation. For some unknown reason I shut myself down to viewing ANYTHING on Joplin storm itself. I have continued through the last almost 11 years not wanting to view much at all on this specific disaster. Even to this day I become overly emotional about THIS particular storm. I am sure the loss of life is the contributing factor to my issue. I have been telling myself through the years that one day I needed to face this problem and just watch a video on it. Something of substance and not just to make someone/company revenue . I decided about a week ago when I saw your video on the storm, to put in my watch later file. Today I watched your video.

[@michaellovely6601]

Same with me. I work at my local hospital and we use what happened to St. John's Medical Center in Joplin, Missouri during the tornado that tore through Joplin on May 22, 2011 as a teaching tool so we can know what to do in the event that our own hospital is in a similar situation. What made me smile and believe in the good of humanity with regards to Mike Bettes is that following the Joplin, Missouri tornado he adopted an orphaned Golden Retriever and named her Joplyn. Sadly; she died last year. While I was understandably saddened by this because I love dogs; I reconciled my feeling of sadness by reminding myself that at least Joplyn was adopted by a loving person and lived in a house full of love and affection.

[@marypeek1179]

You do a very good job describing these incidents. Ron

[@gobigrey9352]

I like that your videos are long and go so in depth. I don't like to switch videos while on the road so it's nice to put something on and get good content the whole time.

[@kimmericle5819]

Excellent documentary. It was a very devastating day I remember to well. My family road it out in our bathroom. We are still scared from it and probably always will. We are so blessed none of our family members were lost but we do have friends who were not so lucky. Not because they were not prepared but because of the strength of the tornado.

[@Kristopher2022]

I just want to say I love your videos I love the way you try to put a human impact on everything instead of focusing on all of the flashy stuff. We don't think about the human impact of tornadoes We don't think about how horrible PTSD is I live with it not from a tornado but you nailed exactly what it's like to live with it.

[@Kristopher2022]

As someone with PTSD thank you for actually looking at it as what it is an injury that's what really sold me on your videos you talk about injuries like they matter instead of just being in other statistic.

[@tonymich]

Joplin had to reach out to Americus to research how to move forward after their hospital was hit as Sumter Regional took a direct hit on 3/1/2007- the same storm that hit Enterprise Alabama. I used to work there. You’re right about sunny days. That morning was so bright and sunny

[@oldtavernfarm]

Unbelievable. Thank you for the best coverage of the horrible tragedy. ❤️

[@cindyrinus4358]

You do such an amazing job with your videos. They are informative but the most impressive is how you discuss the event with compassion and touch on the human tragedy and strength. Well done. By far my favorite channel.

[@northsongs]

Great reporting Carly! I'm from Springfield, MO, just about 70 miles east of Joplin. My late wife was born and raised in Joplin. We were in Texas at the time of this tornado. Shortly after, we came back to Springfield. The stories told were heartbreaking and terrifying. One report from a convenience store (not sure if it was the Fastrip you mentioned, or another one) told a shocking story. An employee rounded up everyone and put them in the walk-in cooler. As he was shutting the door to the cooler he took one last glance out and saw the front of the store lift out and up as the tornado tore through the area. I kept picturing that for days. My late wife was never able to face going back to Joplin afterwards. All of her schools, her old home, the places she'd worked, everything was gone. For weeks after the tornado, people kept finding debris from Joplin in Springfield, 73 miles away!

[@lindsayschmidt2177]

This is probably the tornado aftermath that I’ve seen the most footage of, and it never gets an easier or any less horrifying no matter how many times I’ve seen the footage. There is just something about this tornado (and to some extent, the El Reno 2013 tornado) that just takes my breath away. I hope all the victims are resting easy, and all their family and friends have found comfort.

[@shawnmcsorley6249]

Absolutely people drop Differences n help our Neighbors !!! Wow Carly Thank you ... Humbleness !

[@kikijp6411]

I have lived ridiculously close to joplin for a really long time, and you would think that ever since this happened that more ppl would bug out when the sirens go off. Granted loads more ppl actually pay attention now when they do go off, but it’s absolutely astounding the amount of ppl still don’t take it seriously. I still get crap on a regular for always knowing what the weather is doing, and ALWAYS immediately responding to sirens. Which is totally fine because I’m also the one that’s always putting out messages to everyone I know anytime a day is favorable/forecasting for tornados. Great job, as always! It’s so appreciated how much you put into these, and not losing the human element while doing it. Thank you 💚

[@BlueBomber79]

This is fantastic. Talking about the psychological effects of disasters like this - and really, mental health in general - isn't talked about enough. You also touched on the social science side of it, getting people to heed the warnings. I'm one that feels like smaller cities should have *more* sirens, simply because so many people recognize sirens and will turn on their TV or check their phones. I know the conventional wisdom says to eliminate them in order to have people use other means (like weather radios), but in some cases, we just need to go with what we already know.

[@MissusO]

While I completely agree that there was indeed complacency with the sirens, I just want to share that the older Joplin homes (many of which were pushing or past 100 years old at the time) did not have adequate protection against tornadoes. Case in point, we rented a house that is still off Kentucky and 20th, literally only blocks from the Joplin HS, that is, as of 2022, 114 years old. Exactly two streets down from that house features brand new homes. I've lived in Joplin for 8 years now, only in the older structures. Many do not have basements, storm shelters, or strong enough interior rooms. I'm sure many people DID take shelter, but as you mentioned Carly, it just wasn't enough against EF-5 winds. My 990 sq. ft. house that's near the mall was built in the 40's (we still have knob and tube wiring, lol), and absolutely WOULD NOT have survived at all in the tornado. We have a crawl space and an old broom closet in the hallway that only fits my 5'0 ft. body. If our portion of Joplin was hit, we'd be SOL. To this day, there are still very few shelters in this residential part of town. Thus, even with the advanced warning, we'd be fighting to beat the band to leash up our malamutes, get us all in the car, and find the closest shelter. My husband sheltered at the 7th street Walmart at the time (scary to think I wouldn't have him if he were in the 15th street one...), then raced over to his sister's house (near Main and 26th) via Schifferdecker, which was completely destroyed. He told me that, based on the destruction he saw along the way, especially when he was forced to get out of his car around 20th and run the rest of the way to his sister's, that he was shocked to hear that *only* 158 people died directly from the tornado. If the main issue for deaths was siren complacency, then by logical reasoning, more people should have died. Anyone looking to build new homes in tornado prone areas should absolutely utilize hurricane clips, by the way. Those simple and cheap pieces of hardware can make interior rooms so much more robust. EDIT: I also wanted to express my gratitude in your focus on the emotional impact of the tornado tragedies that you cover. You are very kind in that way!

[@kaimarie7823]

I was also in the joplin tornado and i do not understand how having a basement or storm shelter is not part of building codes! We were hiding in a closet The house im in now, im terrified of another tornado. My bathtub is at an outside wall, i could hide under the table but my kitchen has a window, my house goes in a circle so i have no innermost room. I cant wait til i can (hopefully someday) buy a house, either with a basement, or i can buy a shelter

[@liljellybean2572]

I’ve been in the new Joplin high school and it is incredible. By far the nicest school I’ve ever seen.

[@rabidhouseguest]

Basically a tornado is like a monstrous blender, and for blades, it uses debris. This video always chills me...the videos of people in the tornado, the sound...but so well done.

[@chadmccarthy1898]

How can you not love Carly's videos. There so in depth she covers how the towns began everything. Amazing job

[@matthewjohnson2428]

I didn't actually find out about Joplin until a few days later. I was in the Minneapolis EF1 that hit about 3 hours before Joplin. At the time I was working at an airshow at the Anoka County Airport as a teenage volunteer with the Civil Air Patrol. I remember the weather being fairly good, I wasn't even aware that it was supposed to rain that day. I'd lived in the Midwest my entire life at that point and knew squall lines came up quickly, and as soon as you feel the wind shift, you have 1-3min before getting blasted, but this one was different because the sirens started going off before the storm inflow even hit. There were about 600 people there at the time if I recall correctly, and I remember how quickly my fellow Civil Air Patrol cadets, literally teenagers, were taking charge and rapidly moving a literal crowd into shelter, and after the people were in, hangaring some historic aircraft (at this point we still thought the sirens were just for a severe thunderstorm, which is quite common). I don't exactly remember when we found out there was a tornado, but it couldn't have been more than a minute or two before it hit. I had been using the restroom in the Air Museum hangar on the southwest corner of the field and distinctly remember the moment it hit. I was walking out of the bathroom and could see the hanger walls flexing and the large hanger door (which was hinged in the middle and would fold into this shape ">" as it raised) being sucked open. At the same moment, a small exterior door blew open and a 2x4 flew through at eye level, no more than a foot or two from my face. (This door was facing due east and was blown inward, with the tornado coming from the southwest) I turned and ran back into the bathroom and took shelter in a stall and prayed. The noise was deafening and I distinctly remember my ears popping like they never have before (I work full time as a pilot and have never experienced such rapid or strong popping as that). I also recall a piece of debris hitting the exterior wall near me and denting it in significantly about 6 inches tall and 3-4 feet wide. Shortly after we were hit, the tornado lifted and dissipated before hitting the other side of the airport about a mile and a half away. Head counts were taken and everyone was accounted for. And with incredible initiative, Civil Air Patrol members started organizing search and rescue teams to begin scouring the area. I think the one who started the first team was Cadet Sergeant Grant Bauer, who at the time couldn't have been more than 15 or 16 years old. Thankfully, although there were fatalities associated with this tornado, none were in our area, and the image that stuck with me the most wasn't a body, but a man who was sitting on his couch watching the TV frozen and in shock because a metal light pole had flown through the window and had embedded itself in the wall between his head and left shoulder. This was my experience of May 22, 2011, and despite the fact that I was shaken up pretty good, I consider myself extremely fortunate in that myself, my parents who were with me, my sister at home, and those around me all survived our tornado experience unscathed. I know the shock of being in a natural disaster and walking around the aftermath, looking for people who need help, but hoping you don't find bodies or body parts. I can't imagine how much more magnified these emotions were in the people of Joplin just three hours later. I thank God that despite moving through densely populated city, the Minneapolis tornado of May 22, 2011 only killed two people. That was the day where what was previously an intense and irrational childhood fear of tornadoes became incredibly rational.

[@bitcox4160]

I know a man that was from Joplin Missouri. I used to see him at least three times a year and sometimes up to five or six times. I haven't seen him or heard from him since the Joplin ef5 event. I searched though all the names of people that were lost to the demon storm to no avail. Thanks to you I now realize just cause he wasn't on the lists doesn't mean he is still able to contact me. I will be looking for my dearly loved friend once again. Thank you from my heart. There is still hope. Much respect to you young lady. I am deeply moved by the passion you have to let the world know the so true facts of these terrifying storms. You are a treasure. Thank you.

[@ColieBear18]

Hearing the voices of people who thought they were going to die and then the reporter break looking at the devastation just takes your breath away.

[@michaellovely6601]

Channel 3 reporter Ashley Reynolds started to cry when she was talking about how she was horrified seeing the destruction in the neighborhood surrounding St. John's Regional Medical Center and her nightmares from hearing the search and rescue dogs barking.

[@26michaeluk]

Thank you. I asked for this specifically in the comments on your last vid. This tornado always scared me more than any other for the unbelievable quickness of it becoming a large wedge in 30 seconds.

[@LashLeRoux.1]

Excellent video, as usual. People failing to heed tornado sirens is one of the things discussed in my spotter training.

[@MiraChan]

I was really excited to see you made a video about this tornado. I lived in Missouri at the time, albeit many counties away, and it was a terrible thing to watch. One thing that caught my attention was the discussion about reducing the amount of tornado warnings issued. I agree that doing so would probably be wise, but my first thought is that it has to be done very, very carefully. In 1990 the NWS was having the same issue with people not taking warnings seriously and they decided to be more conservative with their tornado warnings. That August, an F5 tornado plowed through Plainfield, IL and killed dozens. The tornado warning wasn't issued until roughly an hour after the tornado hit town. I think that's a very powerful lesson about the care that has to go into reducing tornado warnings, because the ball really was dropped on that one. Really great video, I can't wait for your next one!

[@carlyannawx]

Yes! Thank you so much for this wonderful and insightful comment. The tornado warnings are so tricky. They’re essential and also a double edged sword. I hope the solution is improved technology in the field that limits the number of false alarm warnings issued

[@CherrrrBear]

That was a completely different situation as an investigation found it was a complete failure. There were no warnings only one 20 mins AFTER the tornado went through Plainfield. It wasn’t because they were decreasing them on purpose.

[@michaellovely6601]

I can say that because of the tornado in Plainfield, Illinois the National Weather Service is in a "Damned if we do, damned if we don't" type of situation with regards to issuing Tornado Warnings.

[@jschools1392]

I went there to do tornado relief work right after it hit and I honestly wasn’t expecting it to be that bad. It looked like the city had been carpet bombed and I’ll never forget seeing the hospital with half of the side missing and the Walmart with the entire front of the store ripped apart.

[@Wheelieweather94]

There’s another Documentary on here about the Joplin Tornado I watched lastnight that is just as amazing as this one. It also references Christopher Lucas and his heroics in that Pizza Hut that day. Saying he was holding the freezer door shut with a bunji cord attached to each side. His mother is the one giving the account of the story since he didn’t make it they say the rumor is while he was holding the door closed a car got slammed into the building by the tornado and the force of that opened the freezer door and is sucked him out and the found him in an Aldi’s parking lot. He’s a true hero! The documentary is called “Steadfast” it’s just as good as this one.

[@TrentonDominy]

I was watching this live on the weather channel. My grandfather’s cousin was in this tornado at St John’s medical center and fortunately survived but the rest of his family wasn’t sure if he was alive. It took awhile but he was eventually located along with his wife.

[@matthewcooksey5411]

Thank you for making these videos. Just had my first close call with an EF3 in Clarksville TN which lit a fire in me to educate myself as much as possible and to make a plan. Absolutely devastating.

[@michaelhiggins9791]

2011 was an insane year for storms. We do sometimes get cocky and ignore the sirens cause it happens so often… but Tuscaloosa and Joplin really hit a little too close to home. Seeing large cities become victims of massive tornadoes was scary as hell

[@marcusv7881]

This is THE BEST video re the Joplin tornado! And i live in Joplin. Thank you so much for telling our story in an informative, interesting, in-depth, and respectful way. I'll def be watching this again! Thank you for presenting science juxtaposed with the human story/fragility.

[@ereikiki]

Brava! This is the best coverage/analysis I've seen on here. Well done 🙏💪