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attention to the warnings, but I knew when the lights went out and the windows blew in that I had better take cover. I didn’t have any place to go but I survived it anyway.� She is one of a number of people who have chosen to rebuild as city leaders encouraged residents to do.
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In the aftermath of the Joplin tornado, the city counted 7,500 houses destroyed or damaged.
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1/2 Vertical Strip 2.25 in x 3.56 in
City Manager Mark Rohr knew he would have many tasks to do to keep the battered city as whole as possible. He and officials with the Joplin School District and the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce, along with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other state and federal agencies, made it their mission to keep Joplin people in Joplin. They knew from the experiences of places like New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina that a disaster can drain away the residents of a city if they have no homes or jobs.
2024 E. 32nd St. Joplin, MO $300 417-624-6154
Since the tornado, there were no exact indicators of how many people left Joplin. About 1,500 went to mobile homes supplied by FEMA and many others camped on their property or stayed with family and friends.