JOPLIN, MO LIKE “End of the World”

Earthquake and tsunami in Japan; volcanic ash over Europe; devastating storms in Alabama and portions of the south; levee breaches and flooding along the Mississippi River; and now, a rare and deadly tornado in Joplin, Missouri.  It may not have been the Armageddon predicted for last Saturday, but are we living in the end of times?

It sure seemed like it for the residents of Joplin, after a tornado basically leveled the entire town, killing 116 in its path (with that number almost certain to grow) and leaving hundreds more homeless, helpless, with nothing but the clothes on their backs and nowhere to go.

Rescue crews continued digging through piles of homes reduced to splinters and cars twisted into balls of unrecognizable metal, as they searched frantically for survivors.  The storm that bulldozed its way through this small Midwestern town was the deadliest single tornado in nearly 60 years and the second tornado disaster in less than a month — with more tornadoes possibly on the way!

The story that unfolded across just about every newscast yesterday was brutal — houses reduced to slabs, cars crushed like soda cans, prescriptions and other personal items found miles away, shaken residents roaming the streets in search of missing family members. The devastation was enough to rival a Hollywood movie, and enough to reduce at least one Weather Channel reporter on site to uncontrollable tears.

But the story of the survivors was even more touching.  One woman lived to tell the story of pulling her car off the highway just in time for her and a friend to shield her 8-year-old daughter against the exterior brick wall of a business, as the storm roared overhead. Another story was that of 18 strangers who took shelter inside a nearby convenience store. But the last minute thinking of the store clerk to gather everyone inside a small refrigerated compartment likely saved all their lives.  The 18 huddled together inside, saying their final “I love you’s,” praying and preparing to die.  But once the storm passed and the 18 were able to leave the compartment, they were shocked to see the store and everything around it in total ruins.  Had it not been for the quick thinking of the clerk to usher them all into the reinforced compartment in the last seconds, they would have all perished.

The end of the world did not occur on Saturday as predicted.  But it did occur a day later on Sunday for at least 100 residents of Joplin, Missouri, who lost their lives, their loved ones, and just about everything they owned in the turmoil.  Maybe there is something to this being the end of the world.