our cotterell family: 06.2011

This weekend I was able to help out with the cleanup in Joplin. It was surreal to see the damage up close.

The Church organized the Helping Hands program to use local/regional member to help when humanitarian aid is needed. About 200 men from our stake were organized into 32 crews of 6 and each crew was given 2-4 work orders to complete per day. A work order consisted of what the family needs done and could include cutting up fallen trees, patching roofs, clearing debris from the property, or anything else with which they needed help.

We left Tulsa Friday night and arrived in Joplin around 7:30. As we started driving along Main Street, I didn't notice anything wrong. I wasn't sure what to expect, but at first Joplin seemed like your typical Midwest town. Then as we went along, you would see a damaged billboard here, some shingles there. The damage along the road got worse and worse until we reached the area hit directly by the tornado. There were rubble piles where houses used to be. There were cars crumpled up, a mattress in a tree and everything was the same height. Then as we continued on Main Street, the damage became less and less apparent until we were back to nothing visibly wrong. We stopped at Babe's Drive-In for dinner, then got to the campsite on the far end of town. We set up tents, got oriented, then talked a bit before going to bed.

Our crew had 2 work orders and since we only had 1 chain-saw, we didn't get tree-choppin' assignments, but debris clean-up ones. We got to the first house about 7:30 and got to work. The owners weren't there, but the neighbor was taking care of the place. We used a tarp to cover the holes in the roof and then worked for the next 2 hours cleaning. Someone had already come with heavy equipment to cut up the trees and move the big stuff to the curb, so we were left with branches, shingles and endless styrofoam insulation. The heat and humidity could have been worse and there was a blessed breeze on and off throughout the day. We stopped frequently to hydrate and I would guess I drank 6 or 7 liters of water and Gatorade the whole day.

We got to the second house at about 11:00 and they had a similar situation. Their house was undamaged, and their fallen trees had already been cut and cleared and they were left with debris everywhere on their 1-acre property. We worked for an hour, got lunch, then worked till almost 5. Looking back on it, we might have been able to do it quicker, but the heat just takes so much out of you that we all were taking frequent breaks. The couple was probably in their 70's and they were working a lot of the time we were. One of their sons was there and told us about his house, just 5 blocks away, was completely destroyed, as was his brothers' house, 5 miles away. I started to offer some condolences when he kinda shrugged and said, "It's just stuff. All my family is okay." He didn't seem to be in any denial, he was just matter-of-fact about it, and even joked as he told the story of being in his brother's basement when the house was destroyed, then later finding his gone as well. These men were very grateful and wanted to donate money to help rebuild the Joplin Stake Center that had been destroyed. They both started getting teary-eyed and it made all the work, heat and sweat worth it.

As we got back to camp, we learned that they were sending 22 of the crews home because we all got so much done on Saturday. I was happy to have served, and would have loved to have done it again, but I wont complain that I got to sleep in my own bed last night and not have shared a tent with a snoring High Priest.

It was incredible to see the number of people who came to help the people of Joplin. Most were from the Midwest and the South, though I did meet a chaplain from California. There was so much bottled water donated that the Red Cross had to ask people to stop sending it. Everywhere you went, there were signs saying "Free Food," "Free Ice," "Free Chain Sharpening," "Cold Water." In the parking lot of what was left of the high school, there were people from out of state who had, for 14 days, been cooking meals 13 hours a day. There were pallets of diapers, wipes, clothes, toilet paper, toys, and other things for people to come get, no questions asked. There were people driving around, offering bottles of water and sack lunches to anyone outside.

Joplin is an amazing place. I got the feeling that they will be just fine, regardless of whatever outside help they get. Everywhere you looked, there were spray-painted signs filled with hope and faith in God. I wish I had gotten a picture of it, but we drove by a dollar store that had the windows blown out and the roof damaged. The amazing thing was, there were still items on the shelves. No one had looted, or if they had, they left a bunch of stuff behind. There was a marquee in front of a bookstore that read "Looters, Hang 'Em. Hang 'Em High."

Now for some pictures:

Not sure what store this was. I think Sporting Goods.

Lots of cars like this. The X spray-painted on the side indicated that search crews had checked it already. They did the same with houses and there was a way to indicate whether everyone was accounted for, if any were missing, or if any were dead. I saw a car that had an X and showed that a person had died in it.