was anyone here in joplin mo when the tornado hit in 2011 ?

Very ironic that you mention that tornado. I read a few hours ago that they opened the new hospital a few days ago, since the old one was destroyed by the tornado. Makes me happy to see a community pull together like that, and rebuild after the cruelty of mother nature. Glad to hear you and your home were unharmed.

 

My wife is from Joplin. We had visited the year before and the year after. It was shocking the devestation. They've done a great job rebuilding.

 

My stomach saved me that day. I realized that if I drove another 150 miles I could do my normal 600 the next and get the awesome buffet at the Rt66 Casino in Albuquerque, NM.

I remember that time because I went to pay my $15 for the buffet and she gave me back $5. I didn't want her to come up short in her register so I told her she made a mistake. She said no, that's the senior price. REALLY!!!!

 

I was at the Flying J 8 hours before the tornado hit. I was in training and each of us had 4 hours left on our 70 so we decided to continue driving. One of my better decisions . The next morning another driver came into the truck stop we were at and showed pictures of where I was parked. There was a tractor trailer lying on top of three other trucks.

 

I was working for Conway Truckload at the time. Got to the terminal about 10 days after it hit. Ran into a driver there that was in the Walmart when it hit. He was fortunate enough to be able to free himself.

 

The same twister went threw Sedalia mo and i was at a bar when it went threw and the trailer dump oh i mean trailer court was leveled behind the building about 20 Ft from the bar. The truck stop up the road less than a 1000 ft. was leveled also. I hate to see damage like this because it changes life for everyone and the good man above does not pick and choose. We just have to take the precautions of life and watch the weather and take the notices and watch the sky and listen to the wind.