Missouri Disaster Relief, Week 4

Farewell Joplin!  My team got about five days notice that we were leaving Missouri and being replaced by a new group.  Initially, I was pretty upset to be leaving with so much work left to be done, but each passing day makes me realize how tired I am.  We’ve been here for a month and we’ve had a total of two days off, so it’s probably for the best.  Our last work day was Monday, and we’re set to leave tomorrow. 

The past week or so, the volunteer numbers have begun to take a noticeable dip.  On the first Saturday after the Tornado, we had 3200 volunteers (chaos, considering they were being led in the field by only 100 or so of us).  This last week our numbers have hovered right around 200 a day.  It is a month after the storm now, and this decline is understandable, but frustrating all the same.

To keep the cleanup effort moving forward with fewer numbers in the field, we have started to take volunteers with heavy machinery.  I led a couple guys this week who brought tractors, and we also had a bunch of skid steers and a bulldozer.  With one tractor and two guys, we cleared three giant trees out of a back yard; a task that would have taken all day with a 40 person crew.  With 40 person crews becoming harder and harder to come by, it’s good to have the machinery to turn to.

Since we got here, alot has happened, and there is a marked difference driving through town now versus when we first arrived. I mentioned last week how nice it has been to see lawns and gardens poking through the debris.  This week I saw a more tangible sign of progress.  One guy we had helped last week has started to build his house back, and the freshly framed walls really stand out against the backdrop of the city.  

Like I mentioned at the top, our time here in Joplin is about up, and soon we’ll be back in Colorado.  We have a few off days before returning to the trail building that we had been expecting for this project.  It’s bound to be a comedown after the surreal experience that we’ve had here in Joplin, but I’m grateful that we got to come here at all, especially during such a crazy stage of the response.  Good Luck Joplin!

((Happy 20th Birthday Tyler!))

Missouri Disaster Relief, Week 3

Lots of little changes this week. We moved twice, first to a church, and then to a high school outside of town.  Our new digs are pretty nice.  We’re still on cots in one big room, but we have wi-fi, cable, and a gym to use.  Also we have a kitchen, so we’ve started eating real food.  Up until now, we haven’t done any grocery shopping, instead relying on donated food and whatever people on the street are giving out.  That means hot dogs.  We were eating 3- 6 hot dogs a day, so the kitchen at the high school is a great change.  I was beginning to forget what vegetables looked like.

I’ve been hearing stories of the looting more and more lately.  One woman I met yesterday told me that the storm killed her husband. When she walked outside for help and saw what had happened to her house and neighborhood, she started to vomit and had a heart attack.  She was rushed to the hospital, and spent two days recovering.  During those two days, looters raided her house and took everything that the storm had left behind.  Fucking hyenas.  Now that we’re three weeks past the storm, looting isn’t as rampant, but every day we come across metal scavengers.  The volunteers we lead move metal to the curb, and people drive the streets picking pieces of copper and steel from those piles to sell.   It’s not illegal, but it makes me grind my teeth all the same. 

On a less acidic note, it has been great this week to see more grass.  The storm covered yards and parks with shingles, sheetrock and insulation.  One woman called it shitty-maché.  As you can kinda see from this satellite photo, the whole debris field was a big beige mess.

As the cleanup has progressed, we are starting to see more and more of what was buried beneath; green instead of brown.   Working in such a huge debris field can feel a little inconsequential, so its great to feel like we’re getting closer.  

Happy birthday mom! Happy (early) birthday dad!

Missouri Disaster Relief, Week 2

Another busy week in Joplin.  We’re still working long hours in the field clearing debris, but we’re getting a little better at it.

I spent the better part of this week bucking trees and clearing debris.  Well, watching volunteers do these things.  Every day is a frantic mess, but I really love the job.  I’m constantly running around; making sure we have enough work and water for all the volunteers.  I get to spend my time in between shooting the shit and talking to volunteers about their connections to the city.  It rules.

The volunteers are great and there has been a ton of them so far.  We’ve processed 15,000 volunteers in the two weeks since the storm, and there are lots of folks who don’t register and drive the streets handing out food and water.  It has been powerful to see the wave of support for the town.  We had 3000 volunteers last Saturday, which was overwhelming for the 100 of us who were leading them, but too much help is a great problem to have. 

All this positivity has been great, and surprising considering where we're working.  It's tragic to be clearing yards, finding waterlogged photo albums, shattered electronics and destroyed books.  So many things that were once so important and sentimental are now lost among a six mile trash pile.  Somebody told me the other day that there is more debris in Joplin than there was in New York after 9/11.  Difference is, all the debris here came from homes and schools, not offices.  The positivity here has been crucial.

I spent a couple days this week away from field work, doing search and rescue.  Going in, I was terrified.  In my head, that meant finding dead things and resuscitating pets with CPR.  In reality, we were investigating smells. S&R had already completed three complete searches of the tornado zone and I was leading groups in a fourth.  We walked up and down every street and alleyway in our zone, sniffin’ at stuff.  All we found were a couple dead cats and a bunch of rancid food.  Lots of fridges and freezers had been disconnected, and after a week of hot humid weather, any left behind chicken or hamburger starts to smell really putrid.  

Until next time…