15 years since a deadly tornado brought Joplin, Mo. together, kindness carries on

A multi-vortex tornado struck Joplin, Missouri on May 22, 2011, producing extreme winds and widespread destruction. Nearly 160 people died and a third of the city’s population was displaced. Despite the devastation, the community’s recovery became known for kindness and cooperation. In the weeks after the storm, almost 100,000 volunteers from nearly every state helped clean debris and rebuild. Disaster researchers reported that six months later there was barely any polarization or political conflict about recovery efforts. Schools reopened on time the following fall. Emergency shelter operations included shared meals, donated supplies, and morale-boosting gestures for children, reflecting community solidarity and human connection.

"Within just seconds it was so loud that it was quiet. While crouched in the closet, she wondered if the 200 mph winds would take her, and she started praying. "If I'm dying, dear God, please don't let it hurt,'" she remembers thinking. Nunelly survived that day, but her house was destroyed, and a third of the city's population was displaced."

"But within months, Joplin became known not for its tragedy, but for the kindness and cooperation that led to its recovery. Traces of that community compassion still live on 15 years after the storm. In the weeks after the tornado, almost 100,000 volunteers from nearly every state helped clean up debris and rebuild."

"Disaster researchers from Columbia University noted that six months later, there was "barely any polarization or political conflict" over the direction of the recovery. Schools reopened on time the following fall. Darren Fullerton, who ran a Red Cross emergency shelter at Missouri Southern State University in Joplin after the tornado hit, still remembers the acts of kindness during those chaotic first weeks."

"Ranchers cooking steaks for volunteers. A university dean, who, after losing his own home, set up cots at an emergency shelter for others. Someone dressed up as a clown and made balloon animals for kids at the shelter. "People came out of the woodwork," Fullerton says. Melodee Colbert-Kean, Joplin's vice-mayor at the time, says the recovery took people out of their silos and helped them "remember that they're human.""

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