There was some effort moving forward shortly after the storm to have safe rooms required in all new construction. WOOLSTON: I think quite a few people are adding safe rooms, and I think probably more of them at least talking about it. And I wonder if - as people are rebuilding, do you find that they are building any differently? Are they making their homes any - possibly any safer than they were before, adding safe rooms or storm shelters? But you do see a fair amount of new construction, things like that throughout the damaged area.īLOCK: You mentioned rebuilding there in Joplin. But you don't really see too many remnants of the destruction other than the lack of trees.

But for the most part, what you'll see as you drive to the destructive area is newer housing, some housing that has been repaired and rebuilt, some still vacant lots. There are not many standing trees left in the tornado path and that will take some years to get replanted and regrow. Woolston, if you walk or drive around Joplin today, do you see homes or businesses that show signs of damage still, maybe trees that have been splintered by the storm? It's something that's fairly important in terms of allowing people access to back in there, just to - at least where you can have one lane cleared, you know, from fallen trees, live power lines, stuff like that, get those streets cleared and then move on from there.īLOCK: Mr. WOOLSTON: Oh, I think one of the things that I recall that we did on this was just get your streets cleared, something that you might not think of because it's so simple.

And we're prepared to send other teams down there as they're needed.īut in addition, the city manager sent a list of notes to their mayor - city manager down there - of things that we had learned and we thought might be helpful for them and provided his cell number to them so that they might call if they like. They were down there for about 24 hours and have returned. We sent down a team of first responders, police and fire department folks. WOOLSTON: I had not personally been in touch with them. Woolston, with city officials in Oklahoma, in Moore to talk about what they're going through and bring your experience there? And streets that you knew like the back of your hand, you just didn't recognize where you were at.īLOCK: Have you been in touch, Mr. Every landmark that you knew - I need to turn here to go to this place or turn there to go to that place - was gone. The way I've described it to people in the past has been if you've ever seen any of the documentaries of World War II when the Allies were bombing Europe, that's what the level of destruction looked like. Areas that you knew for 20, 30 years were completely unrecognizable. But about two or three o'clock of Monday, the following Monday, the city manager, the fire chief and I went out for a visual tour of the area. WOOLSTON: I think probably the most vivid thing for me, Melissa, is what the community looked like after the tornado. Mike Woolston, welcome to the program.īLOCK: Think back, if you would, two years ago today, and what memories are the most vivid for you of what happened during that tornado? He's now a city councilor in Joplin, and he joins us from Joplin to talk about his experience two years ago and how it might inform the task ahead for Moore, Oklahoma. Some 7,500 homes were damaged or destroyed. It cut a nearly straight line through town, splintering everything in its path. On this day, two years ago, just after 5:30 p.m., a tornado roared into Joplin, Missouri.

Joplin mo tornado