Eye Opening

     Yesterday we went to Joplin to visit one of Kevin's classmates who has a 3 month old.  For those of you who don't remember, Joplin is the town where the F5 tornado hit last month.  Killing around 150 people.  It's only about an hour from Springfield.  You see all the images on TV, but it's really not the same as seeing it in person.  It's very strange to see one side of the street completely destroyed and then look at the other side of the street and see complete houses that have barely been touched.  So much of the town consists of heaps of metal and other debris.  All the trees are naked.  They just look like posts sticking up out of the ground with a few leafless branches.  Telephone poles are broken in half and cars are mutilated.  There is still some debris stuck in the trees. However, it was neat to see all the American flags that were flying. 

This is one of the two main hospitals in town that got completely destroyed.

A closer look at the hospital.

This is what the locals call tent hospital.

There's just nothing left.  It's very humbling.

This is the local high school.  Completely destroyed, along with so many other schools.

Also the high school.