Twisted Sister City

It's an ill wind that blows no good.

Joplin, MO was hit by a tornado yesterday.  The hospital is destroyed, the school has been damaged, and hundreds of homes were erased by the tornado.  A whopper even by tornado alley standards, the full extent of the damage has not been examined because dark soon followed.  What I saw looked like a bomb had leveled the town.  Cars were sat on other cars.  Bark was stripped from trees.  Precious memories and heirlooms were lost forever.  Joplin will never be quite the same, and this will go down in regional history.

I was at work when it hit, and watched a chain of ambulances and volunteers race to help.  Some dear friends and their newborn child were safe.  Their pets were not so lucky, and their entire apartment building is gone.  Clothing and food will be in short supply, as will hope and luck.  The hardest part of getting a body count (at least 24 but surely higher) is that night fell before rescuers could begin to dig through for injured.

It's been a hell of a year so far.  Any donations to the tip jar this week will be hand delivered by yours truly to some folks who really could use the help.

(Ed's Note:  Zandar here.  As of this morning the death toll in Joplin is up to 89.   Both Bon and myself have friends in Joplin, and we're hoping they are all okay, but the destruction there is pretty awful.  2011 has been an ugly year for weather-related disasters in the US, and it's only May.  And yes, do drop what you can in the Tip Jar over on the side if you can help out.)