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Disaster hits home
Published 5/24/2011 in Local News
Garden Citians feel impact of tornado in Joplin, Mo.
By RACHAEL GRAY
rgray@gctelegram.com
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Laurie Sisk/Telegram Joplin, Mo. residents dig through the rubble on Monday after a large tornado struck Joplin, Mo., on Sunday night.
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ABOVE: Emergency personnel begin the daunting task of cleanup near the downtown Joplin area on Monday.
In the aftermath of a six-mile-wide tornado that hit southwest Missouri Sunday, and leveled much of Joplin, Mo., residents still are searching for friends, belongings and calmness in the wake of the deadly storm.
Kira Mitchell, who was born and raised in Garden City and now lives in Joplin, and her husband, Austin, survived the tornado. Mitchell says her house is one of a dozen or so still left standing near her neighborhood.
Just before the tornado hit, the Mitchells were getting ready to eat supper before Austin headed out for his shift in the emergency room at Freeman Hospital.
Mitchell said they heard the first sirens go off and looked outside.
"It wasn't really raining, and the sky was a weird yellow-orange color," Mitchell said by email.
She said they called their families and thought it was just a false alarm.
They sat down for supper again, but her husband was uneasy about the clouds, she said. He walked outside again and by the time he came back in, the power was flickering. He told his wife to get in the bathroom.
"We put all the couch cushions and a quilt over us in the tub. We have a puppy and a cat, so we pulled them in the tub with us. We barely got the door closed and in the tub before we started hearing big pieces of debris hitting the roof," she said in the email.
Her husband then put all the pillows on top of her and the pets and laid on top.
Mitchell said she could feel the walls shaking, could hear debris hitting the walls, glass breaking and a loud train-like sound.
"It seemed like we were in the bathroom forever, but it couldn't have lasted more than 15 minutes. We prayed every prayer until it was over," she said.
Her husband then got up and checked outside, then told his wife that they'd been hit but were OK.
"When we walked outside, it was like walking into a nightmare. The houses that were still standing had roofs taken off and windows shattered. Trees were everywhere, power-lines were down everywhere. It was eerily quiet. It was unbelievable. Austin told me that he had to go help check on the neighbors to make sure no one was trapped or hurt. He told me to pack a bag, but I was in such shock all I could do was sit on the porch and stare," she said.
Mitchell said people were walking up and down the streets yelling for people, or just walking aimlessly.
"Driving out of the neighborhood there are no street signs, no landmarks — there's no way to tell where you are," she said.
Her mother-in-law came to check on the couple, as Mitchell tried to get ahold of her mother, Wendy Werner of Neosho, also a former Garden City resident.
The Mitchells are putting things into storage until they can get their house back in working order. The power, gas and water is shut off in her neighborhood.
"... We had very little damage compared to what others are dealing with," she said.
After the storm, Austin went to work to help. At that time, the emergency room was only taking critical patients.
Kira Mitchell said she and her husband are thankful.
"... It was one of the scariest moments of my entire life, and I thank God that we are still here to talk about it," she said.
Since phone services were out, some relied on social media to contact friends and family living in Joplin.
Eric Allen, a Garden City resident who works for Western Kansas Broadcast Center, said he discovered the power of social media after Sunday's tornado. Allen lived in Joplin from December 2005 to November 2009 and has family there. He couldn't get ahold of friends and family on the phone or through text messages, so he went to Facebook.
"When people starting responding on Facebook, I started getting a feel of our personal connections. The online aspect helped out a lot," he said.
After the tornado, Allen said he had some of the worst hours of his life when he was unable to reach family.
His grandparents survived the storm, but were under their destroyed home. Allen's aunt and uncle were able to get them out from under the debris of their completely-leveled home.
Allen said he's seen some pictures of the damage.
"It kind of has that Greensburg look. There's not even skeletal remains of (my grandparents') house," he said.
His grandparents were treated for minor injuries at a hospital just to the north of Joplin.
Allen said after the tornado, he watched the Weather Channel's live stream.
"What was truly going through my head is the worst-case scenario," he said.
Carly Christie of Garden City, whose brother, Chuck Dodge, lives in Joplin, said she didn't hear about the tornado until it had passed. She said she was thankful she didn't immediately know about the storm because of the anxiety it would have brought about the welfare of her brother. Dodge was able to tell his family that he was OK, but most of Joplin wasn't.
Christie said she's been following the coverage from work.
"I've been to Joplin a few times in the past, and I could barely believe that the footage they were showing was from there. I was immediately hit with an extreme sense of empathy for all of the people who were harmed or had family members that were killed. I had to eventually tune out the television because I was having a hard time not letting my mind wander to feelings of, 'What if I had lost my brother?!' My siblings are my best friends, my everything ... I can't even begin to form together words to describe how I would feel if he had been harmed or worse," she said.
Brian Seagraves, Garden City Recreation Commission's arts director, had connections to the Stained Glass Theater West in Joplin. He received messages from friends that said a performance had just been finished in the theater, and the cast was starting to strike the set when the storm hit. At least two people died in the theater, Seagraves said.
He knew one of the actors who was in the theater when the storm hit.
"I am still trying to wrap my head around the photos of the destruction, and the fact that so much of that community is just gone. Places I've been to shop and eat and see shows are just not there anymore. It makes it all so much more real," he said.
Telegram photographer Laurie Sisk, a Joplin native who was in Joplin when the storm hit and is still there, looked for friends immediately following the tornado. She also has been a photojournalist, documenting the wreckage. This morning, Sisk said, after confusion and chaos early Monday, it turned into a day of work for the people of the city.
"It was a real day of action. It was like an army of people, just working, working, working," she said.
Infobox
Carolyn Henry, executive director of the Garden City Chapter of the American Red Cross, said the agency is accepting donations for the Joplin relief fund. To donate $10, text REDCROSS to 90999, or send or deliver checks to the local Red Cross, 210 E. Fulton Terrace St., Garden City, KS, 67846.
A Safe and Well list has been set up on the website, www.redcross.org. Henry encourages those affected to use the site to get information out to loved ones.
No Garden City volunteers have been sent to Joplin, Henry said. The biggest need right now in Joplin is for mental health and health services. Supplies that have been sent to Joplin are clean-up kits, toothbrushes, rakes and coolers. Shelters have been set up, as well as relief for workers and volunteers, Henry said.
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