Lessons From Joplin’s Tornado Recovery Effort

Losing Home
Photograph by Rachel Mummey, National Geographic
The Monday tornado that leveled a 20-mile stretch south of Oklahoma City, with winds exceeding 200 miles per hour, brings back harrowing memories of the deadly tornado that ripped apart Joplin, Missouri, exactly two years ago Wednesday.
Whenever a tornado devastates a community, there are certain common experiences. The destruction is swift and unequivocal. Any sense of normalcy is lost in the blink of an eye. And the rebuilding process is long and painful.
In Joplin, where I photographed the tornado's aftermath, the road to rebuilding was rife with obstacles, heartache, and daily reminders of what was lost. That's likely to be the case in Moore, Oklahoma, the area hardest hit by the tornado, which claimed at least 24 lives. (Related: "Your Pictures of Oklahoma Tornado")
The tornado that devastated Joplin carved a path of destruction a mile wide and 22 miles long and, like the twister that struck Moore, was an EF-5, the most powerful classification for such storms.
The Joplin tornado destroyed nearly a third of the town, affecting roughly 8,000 structures, including homes, churches, schools, and businesses. The insurance payouts were expected to top $2.2 billion, the largest in Missouri history. It was the seventh deadliest tornado in United States history, claiming 162 lives. (Read: "5 Tornado Myths Busted")
All the insurance money that Steve and Pat Hammonds (above) received after the Joplin tornado went toward a contract for a new home to be constructed on their existing housing lot. But city rezoning rules, meant to safeguard against future extreme weather events, halted construction. (Watch: "The Oklahoma Tornado From Space")
Living off Social Security, disability, and unemployment checks, the couple was unable to buy a new lot until a local charity stepped in. They lived in a small travel trailer on their old lot through the winter months as they waited for a new home to be built.
—Rachel Mummey
Published May 22, 2013
Land Ripped Apart
Photograph by Rachel Mummey, National Geographic
A mangled street sign was one of the few items left standing in the path of destruction from the tornado in Joplin, Missouri.
Published May 22, 2013
Starting From Scratch
Photograph by Rachel Mummey, National Geographic
The news media covering the Joplin tornado tended to portray the people of Joplin as hardworking, strong Midwesterners who "pulled themselves up by their bootstraps." While there is much truth to the characterization, the rebuilding effort was daunting even for them. When volunteer forces dwindled in the weeks after the tornado, much of the cleanup and rebuilding was left to city workers, like those in this picture. Traveling workers with experience on cleanup crews after other natural disasters, like 2005's Hurricane Katrina, came from near and far to get paid to work in Joplin.
Published May 22, 2013
New Beginnings
Photograph by Rachel Mummey, National Geographic
Tonya Miller of Joplin, Missouri, stood in the doorway of the home she'd just moved into just two weeks before the tornado struck. Displaced from their homes, many of Joplin's residents became "weather refugees," living for many months in motels or Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) trailer parks, or squatting on their own land.
Published May 22, 2013
Enduring Faith
Photograph by Rachel Mummey, National Geographic
A church congregation from St. Joseph, Missouri, came to repair the roof of Joplin resident Dan Faerin, who had no insurance. They took a break during the construction to hold a church service in the living room. President Barack Obama had stood on the front porch of Faerin's roofless house and pledged national assistance in the days following the Joplin tornado.
Published May 22, 2013
“Down, Not Out”
Photograph by Rachel Mummey, National Geographic
The ruins of Tim and Stacey Bartow's home on Joplin Avenue stood as a memorial where volunteers signed their names and left words of encouragement on the walls. It wasn't until three months after the storm that the area was almost cleared of debris so that rebuilding could begin.
Published May 22, 2013
New Way of Life
Photograph by Rachel Mummey, National Geographic
Porch lights shine at one of three FEMA trailer parks located on the outskirts of Joplin and Webb City in late August 2011. Many of the trailer park residents were renters or homeowners without insurance. The parks were fenced in, grassless, and miles away from much of the Joplin community, and some of their residents struggled to adjust. Many continued living there into 2012.
Published May 22, 2013
Beneath the Surface
Photograph by Rachel Mummey, National Geographic
Melissa England puts up plastic sheeting in the new loft of her family's garage in Joplin. England's family lived in an RV as they rebuilt their house, but they were able to move some belongings back into a garage once it had its roof replaced four months after the tornado.
Published May 22, 2013
Left Waiting
Photograph by Rachel Mummey, National Geographic
Joplin resident Sandra Richhart leans over to hug her husband "Bill" in the 27-foot RV they lived in after the tornado.
Published May 22, 2013
See Next: Pictures of the Oklahoma Tornado
Photograph by Sue Ogrocki, AP Photo
Published May 22, 2013