The Worst Tornado Disaster in 70 years - The Joplin EF5

Imagine hanging out with friends and family at a graduation party on a warm day in late spring. Jamie and his family were doing just that in Joplin, Missouri on May 22, 2011. Everything was going well. The conversation was light. The sun was shining. But suddenly, the group noticed extremely dark skies to the west. At first, they weren't too worried. It was springtime and afternoon thunderstorms were quite common in southern Missouri. But the darkness continued to get closer and closer and closer. The birds went silent and the wind began to pick up. Jamie grabbed an old camera and began filming the eerie scene. But the sky continued to get darker and darker and the winds got even stronger. Realizing that him and his family could be in a dangerous situation, Jamie advised them to get inside. The family gathered in the lowest part of their house as Jamie continued to film. Suddenly, a freight train-like noise could be heard approaching outside, slowly getting louder and louder. The home began to shake and glass could be heard breaking upstairs. But the family stayed calm, stayed low, and as quickly as it started, it was over. Jamie and his family had just encountered a mile-wide EF5 tornado. But luckily for them, their house was on the very edge of the tornado, not quite within the direct path. After the event, Jamie filmed the destruction. While the second story of his home had an entire wall missing, the house was overall intact. However, they were lucky, as the same could not be said about their next-door neighbors. The neighbor's house right across the street had been completely destroyed. In fact, it was one of over 7,000 houses that were destroyed in Joplin, Missouri on that Sunday. Every year, the U.S. sees about 1,300 tornadoes on average. Most of these twisters, about 80%, are very weak. Violent tornadoes, EF2 through EF4, make up about 19% of all tornadoes. But they're not the worst type of tornado. That goes to the ultra-rare, ultra-dangerous EF5, the strongest tornado possible. A wall of death that destroys everything in its path. These monsters can be over two miles wide, with wind speeds well over 200 miles per hour. Thankfully though, most of these massive, deadly monsters occur over open plains or cornfields. However, every once in a while, they may strike a small town, claiming dozens of lives. And on an even rarer occasion, we have what is often referred to as the tornado worst-case scenario. An EF5 striking a highly populated city. There are only a handful of incidents. But the worst in recent memory is the May 22, 2011, Joplin, Missouri EF5. Today, we are doing an in-depth, detailed video about the event. We'll be covering the buildup, the arrival, the victims, the aftermath, and the recovery. We will also be covering obscure lore. And of course, we'll be discussing remnants that still remain to this day. This is the Struggle Studios Joplin EF5 documentary. 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You know I'm gonna be wearing all this stuff in the summer. By the way, summer is coming up. And Into the AM may be the best place for you to get your summer gear. If you're looking to get some cool gear at Into the AM, you can get 10% off site-wide when you use my promo code SWEGGLE or click my link in the description. Again, that's promo code SWEGGLE for 10% off site-wide. Thank you so much to Into the AM for sponsoring the video. Two days before the Joplin EF5 on May 20th, the signs of a potential tornado outbreak over the central plains were observed by the Storm Prediction Center. When we look at their day three conventional outlook, that would be May 22nd, the day of the event that was posted on May 20th, we can see a 30% chance of severe weather within any area in the Shaded Red region. This of course includes Joplin. The Storm Prediction Center stated this, there's a slight risk of severe thunderstorms Sunday from the southern plains to the middle Mississippi, Ohio, and Tennessee valleys by Sunday. Due guidance is suggestive that moderate to strong destabilization will occur over a rather broad area from the southern plains into the Ohio valley and adjacent portions of the Mississippi and Tennessee valleys. This is expected to allow the development of considerable thunderstorm activity including isolated supercells, a couple of which may be capable of producing tornadoes. The next day on May 21st, one day before the Joplin EF5, the Storm Prediction Center expanded their slight risk area and this time they noticed the first signs of a potentially dangerous situation in southern Missouri. The Storm Prediction Center stated this, an axis of stronger destabilization ahead of a weak southward trailing surface front into the lower Missouri valley and ahead of a dry line across the southeastern plains is expected to be the focus for highly severe probabilities Sunday. However, the Storm Prediction Center predicted a greater tornadic threat further north in eastern Iowa, Illinois, and southern Wisconsin. Finally, on the morning of May 22nd, the day of the Joplin tornado, the Storm Prediction Center issued this, a probabilistic tornado graphic showing a 5% chance of a significant tornado throughout the central U.S. Joplin was right in the center. But this was only the beginning. Just a few hours later, the Storm Prediction Center upgraded the tornado probability map, increasing the probability to 10% with Joplin still near the center. Still, the main tornado threat seemed to be up near Illinois. In fact, the Storm Prediction Center believed the main threat to Joplin and southern Missouri was hail. But hail wouldn't be the main threat. Early in the afternoon on May 22nd, several isolated supercells began to erupt over Oklahoma and Kansas. The National Weather Service issued a tornado watch at 1.30 p.m. that included a swath of counties in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri. This included Jasper County and Joplin. At this time in Joplin, it was graduation Sunday, a time of celebration for the class of 2011. Many had extended family who had traveled from far away to Joplin for the commencement and graduation parties. Anyone in the early afternoon in Joplin who was either driving or near radio likely heard the dreaded EAS alert as a tornado watch had been issued for their area. This was likely the very first time anyone in Joplin knew they were under any sort of threat. But again, it was tornado season. Tornado watches are not that uncommon in southern Missouri, so it's likely that most didn't pay much attention. As the afternoon rolled on, several more supercells erupted over Oklahoma and they were moving northeast towards southern Missouri. Finally, around 5 p.m., one particular supercell to the west was rapidly strengthening. The skies to the west were getting increasingly darker and the residents of Joplin began to take notice. The National Weather Service saw signs of rotation within the supercell and issued the very first tornado warning for northeastern Joplin and the surrounding area at 5.09 p.m. Around this time, the civil defense sirens were activated for approximately three minutes and an NBC affiliate station located within Joplin began live coverage of the reported tornado rotation. We are continuing to see where now the National Weather Service is reporting that it may possibly be just a funnel cloud, not an actual tornado on the ground. They are working very rapidly to try and confirm anything that they can at this point in time. Normally, we would try and take a look outside with our weather camera. However, it is just so rain-socked at this point in time. We really can't see up there. Wow, look at that. There's a look to the northwest of us. We are in western Joplin, so that's looking to the northwest as we mentioned before. At this time, the Weather Channel also began live coverage of the tornado warning over the Kansas-Missouri border. For the southeast corner of Kansas, this has produced a funnel cloud. We're getting reports of that now. Baseball and softball-sized hail and our great tornado hunt team out in this area this afternoon. Danielle? The Weather Channel's was actually located just outside of Joplin tracking the storm. Yeah, we're right on that storm that you were just mentioning there as we work our way over the state line from Kansas into Missouri near Joplin. Tons of rain. A lot of hail. We had some golf ball-sized hail that we've been pelted with as we try to race eastbound now to get ahead of it and then dive south. A lot of rotation that we noticed that a rotating wall cloud had passed over us near Columbus, Kansas. At 517, another tornado warning was issued, this time including the entire city of Joplin. After this warning, the sirens did not go off right away. 17 minutes later, at approximately 534, the initial phases of the tornado formed near West 32nd Street in southwestern Joplin. Several storm spotters in the area discovered that the tornado had a dangerous multi-vortex structure, almost like several tentacles dropping beneath the cloud base, similar to the dead man walking appearance of the 1997 Gerald F5. Ryan Carr happened to be driving when he captured the initial tornado formation on camera. He pulled over and began filming. I don't know if it's going to touch. Oh, there it is. There it is. There it is. Oh, I don't know if you saw that. Holy crap. I hope this is taking awesome video there. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. That is a tornado, people. That is a tornado and I'm getting it on camera. I'm getting this cat crap on camera. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Oh sweet Jesus, keep me safe. Keep me safe, Lord. Keep me safe. The tornado organized quickly, going from a multi-vortex cone tornado to a wedge in only a few seconds. Joplin's tornado nightmare had officially begun. While still in its initial weak phases, the tornado did cause damage along West 32nd Street. Mobile homes were destroyed and the tops of trees were blown off. The very first signs of damage can be seen via Google Earth. The satellite imagery shows a few downed trees just south of 32nd Street. You can also see the sporadic nature of the multi-vortices creating strange looping patterns in the forest. The first victims of the tornado can be seen on South Ashwood Avenue and other subdivisions nearby. While still relatively weak at this point, likely an EF-2 or low-grade EF-3, the tornado was quickly gaining strength and size and many in Joplin were not even aware of the threat. It had been nearly 25 minutes since the tornado sirens last sounded, so many in Joplin had already left their shelters and returned to whatever they were doing. Now when it comes to cliche tornadoes, we tend to think of picturesque cones that can easily be observed from a distance. This tornado in Albion, Illinois in 1990 is a classic example of that. This is what the general public thinks a tornado should look like. The Wizard of Oz tornado, if you will. And sometimes they do look like this. Like this right here is a storm chaser's dream. However, the Joplin EF-5 was not a typical tornado. It was a rain-wrapped wedge. One of the most dangerous tornadoes one could ever encounter. Night or nocturnal tornadoes are incredibly deadly because you simply cannot see them. While the same can be said about rain-wrapped tornadoes, they almost just look like a dark cloud on the ground. This is the only sign of a tornado the people in Joplin observe. And honestly, if you don't know what you're looking for, this just looks like a terrible rainstorm. The hidden tornado continued to move to the east, increasing in size and strength, destroying homes in its path. At 538, four minutes after the tornado had formed, the city of Joplin finally activated the sirens once more. Around this time, the NBC affiliate went live again. From the KSN Storm Center, this is a severe weather alert. Good evening. We're back. We've got some information on this storm. Let's go ahead and go to the Freeman First Alert Doppler radar. Galena is reporting, trade weather spotters in Galena are reporting now sightings of funnel clouds. Caitlin, you were telling me about that just a moment ago. Now, this coverage by KSN is very interesting to watch and is honestly one of the most frightening pieces of tornado live coverage I've ever seen. During the live coverage, when they switch over to the tower cam, you can actually see the tornado shrouded by rain. But it is hidden. It's hard to notice, especially if you're not really looking for it. But there it is, a killer behind a veil of rain. Take a look at the reactions from the meteorologist covering the event. At first, they don't quite see the tornado, but when they finally notice it, it shocks them. But we do have National Weather Service personnel stating that Galena has a public report of a funnel cloud. Public report meaning that one of their train spotters hasn't seen it, but there's our tower cam. That would appear to be a power flash. That could be from a lightning strike, but that is the portion of the storm that we have been concerned with. Tornado sirens once again going off in Joplin. Those are definitely power flashes that we are seeing on the ground. We are continuing to follow this at this point in time. Caitlin, I'm going to let you take over for a minute. You have to remind right now, it does look like there is a tornado on the ground in the southern portions of Joplin, just to the south of our station here. It is taking out those power flashes. You can definitely hear the panic in their voices. Remember, there was only a small likelihood for tornadoes. Most experts, including the meteorologist shown here, were not expecting a massive wedge tornado, especially one that formed out of nowhere. Continue to take cover from this storm. We can see that tornado on the ground from our tower cam. We are continuing to track that. In this point of the coverage, you can really understand what a rain-wrapped tornado looks like. I mean, look at that. You can't see anything. It's a dangerous, dangerous situation at this point in time. Meanwhile, the commencement address for the Joplin class of 2011 had recently concluded. One member of the class was 18-year-old aspiring YouTuber Will Norton. Will was a charismatic and popular student at Joplin High School, personality traits that can easily be seen on his YouTube channel. After the graduation ceremony, Will Norton was driving home with his father Mark Norton in their Hummer SUV. There were only a few minutes behind his aunt Tracy and his sister Sarah. At this point, the tornado was at about an EF3 strength, crossing near Iron Gates Road. Once Tracy and Sarah made it back to their house, they could hear the tornado sirens wail across the city, and they just noticed how grim the western sky looked. But they couldn't see the tornado as it was, indeed, rain-wrapped. Sarah was understandably worried about her brother and her father, Mark. Around this time, she received a call from Mark asking her to open the garage door. Only a few moments later, Sarah could hear chaotic sounds coming from her phone. Sarah stated this, He was telling my brother, pull over, pull over. I heard the tornado whipping them around. I had a feeling that they were flipping around in the air. It was just really scary. Will and his father Mark were heading down South Shepherd-Decker Avenue approximately here when the tornado struck their vehicle, flipping it into the ditch. Will's seatbelt ripped, and he was sucked from the seat through the sunroof. Mark remained in the vehicle but was severely injured. After the tornado had passed, Mark was taken to a nearby hospital and gave details on what happened. Will, however, was nowhere to be found. Search parties were organized, and it wouldn't be until a few days later that he was discovered in a body of water right next to the road where the vehicle flipped. This body of water right here. It is believed that Will Norton was the first victim of the Joplin EF-5. This photo of Will with his diploma was taken only an hour before he passed away. Will may have been the first fatality in the disaster, but unfortunately, he wouldn't nearly be the last. The tornado continued to head east through Joplin tearing through several more neighborhoods. The next victims of the tornado would be Glenn and Lori Holland on South Oliver Avenue. Glenn was an shotgun shooter who was very well known within the community. He would often post on shotgun forums. He was also an Air Force veteran. Just to the east of the Holland house was the Joplin Elk Lodge. Within the Elk Lodge, four additional fatalities occurred. After the event, several other Elk Lodges within the area traveled to Missouri to help clean up the destruction and rebuild. But just to the east of the Elk Lodge was the St. Johns Medical Center, a large hospital, and the tornado was heading straight towards it. The staff at St. Johns had been alerted of the approaching threat. Nurse Kevin Kepley was on the seventh and top floor of the St. Johns Medical Center as the tornado hit. Kepley stated this, it was like it was midnight, he said. So we started taking cover and the windows busted and debris was flying. There were nine of us in a two-by-two room with the patient trying to keep him safe. Hospital security footage shows the dramatic impact the tornado had inside the hospital. Now when the tornado struck St. Johns Medical Center, it was likely at a high-end EF4 strength, not quite an EF5, but it was still strong enough to twist the foundation several inches of this tower right here. There were about 200 people inside the hospital at the time of the tornado and five from within the building would lose their lives. The five fatalities were all caused by their ventilators deactivating due to a power failure. Since the hospital had been destroyed and you obviously need a hospital in a tragic natural disaster, a makeshift tent hospital was installed right here to the east after the tornado. Since most of the victims of the tornado wouldn't need to be airlifted to other surrounding hospitals, two helipads were quickly installed near the tent. These helipads eventually were abandoned and still remain a remnant from the disaster to this day. In the end, St. Johns Medical Center was demolished and a memorial sits where it once stood. After the event, a new hospital named Mercy was built nearby. At around 542, the tornado was beginning to reach peak intensity with wind speeds in excess of 200 miles per hour. Hundreds of homes near St. John Medical Center were completely destroyed. A specific home on South Connor Avenue claimed the life of nine-year-old Zachary Treadwell. His home along with six others on that same block were featured in ABC's Extreme Home Makeover only five months after the event. Very cool that ABC would do this for all these families. So far, the tornado had already claimed over 20 lives but it was about to claim 20 more all within a single location, the Greenbrier Nursing Home located at Gabby Street Boulevard. Peggy Wilson, one of the residents of the Greenbrier Nursing Home, described the scene as absolute chaos. The staff had heard reports of the wall of death rain-wrapped tornado heading towards them and they ushered all the residents into a central hallway. Peggy Wilson stated this, we heard the sound and we said uh-oh and at about that time the ceiling fell on us. When it hit, it took everything down, pipes, plaster, wood, the ceiling construction, everything. It was awful. Just the sound of it and there you sit. What could you do? You certainly couldn't run away from it. The Greenbrier Nursing Home had the highest number of deaths of any location during the tornado. Today, all that remains is a dirt foundation and a parking lot. The tornado was now over a mile and a half wide and near peak intensity, easily within the EF5 threshold and unfortunately it was in many ways just the beginning. Around 544, it crossed a main street where it took out several small businesses and claimed two lives at one of Joplin's Mexican restaurants. Unfortunately, coming up within the path of the tornado were even more residential homes, the Joplin High School and the Baptist Church. Within this area of homes, there were over 300 injuries as well as a dozen fatalities. Along this intersection of East 24th Street and Missouri Avenue, 10 individuals in five different homes all lost their lives but just down the street was Joplin High School. Security cameras throughout the school showed the moment of impact. Thankfully, the school was empty at the time so there were no fatalities at this location except for one in the parking lot. In some ways, it's a bit of a close call. Had the tornado occurred on a weekday or at an earlier time, these halls would have been filled with students. In fact, how fortunate was it that the graduation ceremonies of Joplin High School weren't actually held at the school? They were held three miles north at Missouri Southern State University. If they had held the graduation ceremony at the high school, people would still have been in the process of leaving the event. After a graduation, you're standing around, you're taking photos, you're talking to people. There would have definitely been a lot of people still there but thankfully, it was just a close call. Just across the street from the high school was Harmony Heights Baptist Church. While no one was at the high school, unfortunately, there was indeed a church service in process at Harmony Heights. Over 50 individuals within the church were seeking shelter on the floor, in some cases, under the pews when the tornado struck. The pastor described the scene as a freight train mixed with a jet engine. In the end, nothing remained of the church. Rumbles surrounded the building. Of the 50 churchgoers, three would pass away. The tornado then continued into even more residential areas. Here at the intersection of Connecticut Avenue and East 20th was a sprawling apartment complex that took a direct hit. Surprisingly, not many apartment buildings were actually hit by this tornado but there was this specific one where eight people lost their lives. It was now 545 and the tornado was at its peak width of one and a quarter mile wide. Unfortunately, up ahead of its path was the heavily trafficked, very busy Rangeland Road, the commercial business district of Joplin. This is where you had all your restaurants, all your shopping outlet malls. This in some ways was the busiest part of Joplin and the tornado was heading straight towards it. Situated on Rangeland Road were a couple of storm chasers who were able to capture the rain-wrapped tornado heading towards them. Storm chaser Rich Hamill along with four other storm chasers as part of the Silver Linings storm chasing tour were stuck at a red light in front of a Payless shoe store approximately here. They were behind another Silver Linings storm chasing van that was communicating via walkie-talkie. As reports of the tornado began coming in, several members of began filming the ominous horizon. Holy Jesus. Wow. My goodness. We're in the firing line. It's right there. The traffic lights are off so the lost bar on the city now. These videos have always captured my fascination and I've talked about them several other times on this channel before but they really do an excellent job of painting the horrific scene and terrifying vibe of an approaching tornado. They almost have like a Cloverfield vibe to them. At first they don't see the tornado. They only hear reports and see a dark wall of clouds but at one point of the video the massive wedge appears and they quickly come to terms with their current situation. Jesus Christ. Oh no no no. Oh my God this thing is massive. Oh there goes power. Oh my goodness. Do you guys see it back there? Yes. Yes. It's a monster. It's huge. Definitely some incredible footage especially when you see the power start to go out in the buildings. Absolutely insane. Thankfully they were able to barely escape and get onto the interstate. By the way this is what Rangeland looked like before the tornado in the video and this is the exact same area right afterwards. If they were there for only a couple minutes longer they could have been seriously injured or or worse. In fact at one point in the video one of the individuals in the group suggests potentially seeking shelter at the Home Depot situated here. What about that Home Depot? Would that be a bad spot or I don't know? It's a good thing they didn't. As a tornado was approaching the businesses on Rangeland, Dennis Osborne was taking care of a few errands with one of his friends. While at Home Depot, Dennis saw the approaching storm, recognized the threat, and began helping as many people as he could. He ushered the people inside and told them to get to the back of the store. He then ran back outside into the parking lot to yell at people to get inside. Dozens of people who would have been caught out in the parking lot in the tornado who were unaware of the approaching threat were saved due to Osborne's warning. Unfortunately Osborne himself didn't seek shelter in time. He sacrificed himself trying to save as many people as he could before the tornado hit. Osborne was a veteran and continues to be a legend. May he rest in peace. Overall there are six fatalities at the Joplin Home Depot that day, most of them in the parking lot. Another tale of heroism occurred across the road at a nearby pizza hut. The manager Christopher Lucas herded 20 people inside the restaurant's walk-in freezer. Unfortunately the door was not closing to the freezer and one by one people were essentially getting sucked out into the tornado. After three people had perished this way, Christopher grabbed a bungee cord, attached it to the inside of the door handle, and pulled with all his might to keep the door closed. He was being held onto by two other employees. Unfortunately the tornado was too strong and Christopher also got sucked into the tornado and perished. But his heroic action and his sacrifice for being the closest to the freezer door will never be forgotten by those 16 others who survived inside the freezer. A similar story occurred at AT&T where a store employee, Cheryl Shan Miguel, died while protecting 10 people while holding a bathroom door closed. The story of the Joplin tornado is full of heroic acts. Joplin is a bible-built city. This is a very Christian part of the country, so there's a lot of good people in Joplin doing sacrificial things. After the tornado tore through Rangeland Road, it headed toward the East Joplin Middle School where security cameras again captured the carnage. There was some good news though. The tornado was finally beginning to weaken, but it still continued to tear through many residential areas, claiming more lives in the process. At this point it started shifting to the right to the southeast towards Interstate 44. In fact, nobody, at least that I could find, died on the interstate during the event. After passing over the interstate, the tornado began to weaken rapidly, all the way down to an EF1. It tracked for a while over the countryside but dissipated shortly after. The Joplin tornado nightmare was finally over. If there's one word to describe the residents of Joplin's reaction shortly after the tornado, that word is disbelief. They thought they were just going to encounter another typical afternoon thunderstorm. But no, their lives and their city would never be the same. One of the best reaction videos I could find shortly after the tornado comes from a video posted by Phaedra driving down Rangeland Road just after the event. She has local news on the radio so we can also hear the media's immediate reaction, and she's actually driving the opposite direction of the tour. What's interesting is they have no idea, absolutely no idea how bad the situation actually is. In fact, they see some minor damage, like very light damage at first, and they make a big deal out of it because they have no idea what's coming. Soon though, they realize a large part of the city had been completely destroyed. The Joplin tornado quickly went from local news to statewide news, all the way to national news all within a few hours. Every major news station sent journalists out to cover the damage. Now since Mike Bedez happened to already be in the area during the tornado, the Weather Channel was extremely quick to go live and cover the event. Mike Bedez was located near St. John's Medical Center, and for obvious reasons, was incredibly choked up after the event. Now remember, the 2011 super outbreak from less than a month ago was still on the minds of many. That was a tragic event that claimed over 360 lives. In fact, just a couple days before the Joplin tornado, Reid Timmer himself was discussing the Dixie Alley super outbreak with Jay Leno on the Tonight Show. In the end, 75% of the city was affected in some way, with 25% being completely destroyed. 8,000 homes were damaged, with about half of them being completely destroyed. About 500 commercial buildings were destroyed as well. Overall, the cost of the tornado was $2.8 billion, about $3.8 billion in 2025. Overall, there were 158 direct fatalities, making it the deadliest tornado event since the Woodward-Oklahoma F5 in 1947, which had 181 deaths. On top of the 158 direct fatalities, there were several indirect fatalities. A lightning strike claimed the life of a man shortly after the tornado, and in the weeks after the event, 18 people suffered from a fungal infection known as mucormycosis. This specific type of fungus can be found in the soil, and it spreads in the air as little spores. So people, you know, they were in a destroyed wasteland. Dirt was everywhere. There was no sanitation systems installed. They had all been destroyed. So people were at risk of catching this rare fungal disease. They could have either breathed it in, or if they had open wounds, that soil could have gotten into that open wound. In the end, five people would lose their life in Joplin from this fungal infection. Following the disaster, Governor Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency for the city of Joplin and the surrounding areas. Missouri National Guard troops entered the city and began helping out with recovery and cleanup. One interesting piece of lore were the two elephants that were used to help remove debris during cleanup. A circus was scheduled to take place in Joplin that next week, and obviously they had to cancel, but they still so they used the two elephants to remove debris. President Obama visited Joplin and met with the survivors. In fact, one year later, in May of 2012, Obama gave the commencement address at the Joplin class of 2012 graduation ceremony. Now, I'm not a political channel at all, but no matter your politics, I highly recommend listening to this commencement address. It's very well done, and it's very moving. The butterfly has become a bit of a symbol for the city of Joplin. If you visit, you will see butterfly sculptures all over the place. And of course, this wouldn't be a proper Joplin documentary without mentioning the mythical butterfly angels. Many survivors of the tornado claimed to have witnessed strange butterfly alien angel figures who either rescued various individuals in some way or ushered their souls up into heaven. In this damaged building, Emily says she felt a calming presence. I remember on the shoulder, a hand touched me like right here, and they told me everything was going to be okay. It's actually really weird, but ever since then, I'll be walking outside and a butterfly will come and land on me. Now, a lot of these stories come specifically from children. In fact, apparently it was pretty common after the event for children in Joplin to draw these strange creatures at school or at home. Pretty weird. Now, obviously the situation was incredibly traumatic, especially for a child, so who knows exactly what kind of tricks a mind can play on someone who is going through something like that. But still an interesting piece of lore. Let me know your thoughts on these strange sightings. Well, that concludes the story of the infamous and horrific 2011 Joplin EF5 tornado, a truly worst-case tornado scenario, and one that we hopefully will not see for a long time. Thank you so much for watching, and we'll see you next time. Also, if you're looking for some cool graphic tees, be sure to check out Into the AM, use promo code SWEGLE to get 10% off sitewide. That's promo code SWEGLE to get 10% off sitewide.