ITS Heartland 2012 Annual Meeting Kansas City, MO Please view our voice narrated presentation https://vimeo.com/matc/review/42561342/b72ad21095 Presented by Jack Schaller, Assistant Public Works Director, City of Joplin, MO

2. CITY OF JOPLIN
Located in the southwest corner of Missouri
near the intersection of I-44 and Hwy 71
Population 50,175
Average daytime population 240,000
825,500
People
live within
a one
hour drive
of Joplin

3. MAY 22, 2011- THE WARNING
City Emergency Management Department was first alerted to
significant weather possibilities at around 12:00 noon.
We were placed under Tornado watch and Thunderstorm watch
short after 12:00
The first Tornado warning was issues at 5:17 on 5/22/2011, Sirens
were sounded.
Second sounding of the tornado sirens occurred at 5:37.
Tornado first touched down in the City at 5:41

4. SATELITE IMAGE OF STORM
SYSTEM

5. TORNADO PATH AND DESTRUCTION
Initial touch down was on the western edge of the city.
Tornado initially estimated as EF-3 and was approximately ¼ mile
wide
Progressed slowly eastward at speeds between 10-25 mph.
Upon reaching the center of town the tornado had strengthened to
a EF-5 and was approximately ½ mile wide.
Still an EF-5 it now widens to approximately ¾ mile wide.
Exited the east limits of the City of Joplin and entered City of
Duquesne as an EF-5 and approximately ½ mile wide.
Passed through Duquesne and crossed I-44 and started lifting.
Tornado was on the ground in the City for approximately 20 mins.
Debris from the tornado was visible on Radar.
Debris was found as far away as Springfield Missouri, or
approximately 70 miles.

6. Joplin, Missouri Path of Destruction

7. 7,500 Residential dwellings destroyed or damaged
9,000 People displaced , 17,000 affected

8. 500 Businesses destroyed or damaged
5,000 Employees affected

9. Over 1,000 Injured
161Deaths

11. EOC OPERATIONS

12. SEARCH & RESCUE OPERATIONS
5,000 Emergency Services
personnel from over 439
different department
responded.
6 full search passes were
made through the entire
damage area.

13. ST. JOHN’S HOSPITAL DESTROYED
Two Major Regional Health Facilities in community….one is totally destroyed.

14. TEMPORARY EMERGENCY MEDICAL
Army “MASH” type facility at the
hospital location.
City Municipal building “Memorial
Hall” became primary triage
facility.

15. CITY OF JOPLIN - UTILITIES
Electricity, Gas and Water services are provided by a private 3rd
party utility company.
The city has recently undergone a resurgence of business in the
downtown area but the main business and retail area remains
about 3 miles from the downtown area.

16. INFRASTRUCTURE – UTILITIES
Wide spread electrical outages
Damaged/missing distribution points
Numerous natural gas leaks
Water system was OOS
• Missing hydrants
• Damaged Houses and commercial buildings
• Damaged sprinkler systems
Land line phone system
Cell phone voice messaging was out/spotty
• Texting worked

17. INFRASTRUCTURE - STREETS
95% of Primary & Secondary Streets in
the Destruction Area were impassible
Most street signs, street lights, & traffic
signals /signs were missing.
More than 110 Public Works Departments
responded with crews and equipment. 36
hours after the storm 100% of primary
and 70% of the secondary streets were
accessible.

18. TORNADO DAMAGE

19. VEHICLE DAMAGE
An Estimated 9,000 vehicles were
damaged or destroyed

20. BOX STORES

21. APARTMENT COMPLEXES

22. LOST CITY RESOURCES
Two Fire Stations
Three Fire Trucks
Senior Citizens Center
Five Parks & Aquatic Center
MAPS Trolley Shelters
Curbs, Streets, Sidewalks, Lights
Signs & Signals
Emergency Sirens
Communication Antennas

23. MEDIA
All the major news networks
were in town within 24 hours.
Most were in and out for the
entire week up to the
Presidents visit on May 29th.

24. FEMA / SEMA - RESPONSE
On scene within first 24
hours
Provided support of
emergency operations
already in place
Providing assistance with
replacement of
Infrastructure
Corp of Engineers provided
and oversaw debris
removal including EDR
program
Provided more than $19
million assistance to
residence with housing and
transportation issues.

25. Tornado generated an estimated 3 million Cubic
Yards of Residential Debris.
FEMA/USACE contractors removed 1.46 million
Cubic Yards by Aug 7 under the 90/10 EDR
Initiative.
Property owners & volunteers have removed
another 1.5 million Cubic Yards

26. Tornado Debris Ten Weeks Later

27. Tornado Debris Ten Weeks Later

28. Tornado Debris Ten Weeks Later

29. FEMA – TEMPORARY HOUSING
As of October 20th, have provided housing assistance to 2,972 families
at a cost of $7,526,114
Other needs to 2,627 households at a cost of $12,484,047
To date has placed 569 families in temporary homes and is working
toward a total of 599.

30. VOLUNTEERS
MIRACLE OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT
92,314 registered volunteers
528,242 hours of service
Millions of dollars in donations

31. Size of damage area
Number of people affected
Amount of debris
Influx of people and resources
Need for special resources
Damaged infrastructure
Communications
Severe weather continued for 3 days
Large number of missing/unaccounted for
Special visitors
Media
Medical Services
Animal Control

32. PUBLIC ASSISTANCE
PROJECTS FEMA/FHWA

33. WHY WE ARE SUCCEEDING
Teamwork
• Provided clear goals, objectives and assignments
• Uniform focus and direction
Pre-established relationships locally, regionally, Statewide
Success of local, regional and state mutual aid systems
Can do type of attitude, Failure/lack of action was not acceptable
Accountability

34. Rebuilding
one day at
a time