Tonight I’m going to try to relay Paul’s experience with the Joplin tornado. His wife, Rhonda, left Joplin on Sunday with a friend to go to Saint Louis to have a fun time and go to a Bon Jovi concert. Their daughter, Sierra had been at a friends house that day. As Paul drove to pick her up he heard on the radio about the storm moving into the area and that it was about 20 minutes away. When he got there, he explained the situation to the friends family and thought his family would be less in the path and safer at home. So they went home. Paul pulled up the storm on the computer. He typically watches storms, so he would go outside, then back in to track it on radar, then back out. The kids were getting scared. The last time he went out to check on it, he sensed that this was different than other storms and he needed to get his kids to safety. They ran outside (Sierra without shoes) to get to their basement. Paul huddled over his very scared and whimpering children just in time. Their ears popped as the storm roared. He explained to them that this meant they were inside the tornado. It seemed very long before their ears popped again, indicating that the stormed had passed.
After the storm they huddled in the basement door. They could see the damage, but not the full extent. Paul tried to make some phone calls, but had no luck. He then sent out a few texts and they seemed to go through. He could see their truck and miraculously, it had been bracketed by two trees but undamaged. Paul convinced his son and daughter that if they moved to the truck they could be away from the rain and warm, so he got them loaded in. He found the dogs and they got in the truck as well. No sign of their cat.
Rhonda was waiting with her friend outside the arena. The friend got a phone call from her son in Joplin saying that he had been in a tornado but was okay. Rhonda got Paul’s text seconds later. It said that they had been in the storm and needed help. She panicked. She tried to call but it didn’t work. She eventually got ahold of a friend in Joplin who had lost power and had no idea the storm had done some serious damage to the town. After hearing Rhonda’s worries, she panicked too and wanted to help. Paul had been with the children in the truck for a few minutes and could see the damage was vast. He convinced them that he needed to leave and see if anyone needed help. Most of the neighbors were in the street relaying messages of safety and status. Less than ten minutes had passed since the storm hit and Nurses and National Guardsmen started running in their direction offering support. Paul helped them over trees and heard the familiar voice of a family friend. She had come to help and they decided it would be best to get the children to safety away from the affected area.
Paul had her drop him off at St John’s Hospital which was very close to home. He had worked at the hospital over a year ago and felt like they may need some serious help. As they neared the building, she just about lost control. Paul says, “words can’t describe what we saw as the hospital came into view.” She had to drop him off about two blocks away because it was impossible to get closer. “I know my help was needed, but leaving my children was one of the hardest things I have ever done. At that time, while I was confident they would be okay, I wasn’t sure if I would see them again.”
When Paul arrived he could tell the people in the hospital including staff were still in shock. “I could write a small book about the experience in the hopital, but initially I focussed on helping to ensure the patients were cared for.” He then helped to evacuate them and afterward helped with locating and moving supplies that would be useful at other facilities where they were then being treated.
As you can imagine, Rhonda was going crazy. With the storm moving in her direction she was advised to stay in Saint Louis as planned. She hadn’t been able to talk to her husband until the next day. It was a long night for Paul but eventually it became too dark to work and he was picked up and taken to be with his children at his stepfather’s house in Neosho. The next day, Rhonda was reunited with their family and they saw their damaged home together. It was still standing, but was in bad shape. It looked as if it had lifted and their was extreme damage. They would need to rebuild. Rhonda was so amazed that her family survived this. In retrospect, Paul thinks had she been there, he wouldn’t have lived. If she had been there to take care of the children he would have stayed out to watch the storm.
Paul would like to add one more thing: “I would like to thank everyone that has helped in this recovery and hope that their actions inspire others to help those in need. They have helped demonstrate that there is no reason not to help. Anyone, anywhere, able to do just about anything can help those in need.” He and Rhonda were talking about how they would need new family pictures when their home would be rebuilt (they lost so many) and the next day they heard about Joplin Smile and signed up.
Here are a few from their mini-session:
