Joplin Tornado Follow-up

On Wednesday, May 25th we stopped at the post office and left a note for Dad that we had been in town searching for him.  Then we found that we could park and walk into the decimated area to find Dad's house.  We walked miles!!!!  Found his home.  His home still had 2 walls standing whereas next door had only a part of one wall standing.  Most homes were just razed to the ground...gone.

We spoke with Dad's next door neighbor and learned that he had just finished digging a crawl space 2 weeks before beneath his home.  Dad and his wife weren't in it but a few minutes before the tornado hit.  A stranger a couple of streets over took Dad and Lou in for the night and then drove them to one of their relatives homes in Kansas to stay.  Two complete strangers offering up such amazing kindness.  From there Lou's daughter came and picked them up.  I don't think that they'll be returning to Joplin.  They made it out with only the clothes that they had on and only a few dollars.  Again...they are so lucky to be alive!!!  The folks in Joplin and here at home that helped us try to track Dad were absolutely God sent!!  I am so blessed to have such wonderful people in my life and also for the chance to have a renewed relationship with an estranged father!

The 1st photo below is from the Jasper County Assessors office-Dad's home BEFORE the tornado.  The following are his home AFTER and additional shots of his neighborhood.  You can click on them to make them larger :)

I read just today that only a handful of people are still unaccounted for.  I pray that they turn up alive somewhere!