BobT-47P15 are you OK

[Ed Griffin]

Bob and Mary Ann, I had to come in and see how things were with you. My first thoughts as with many here was how are Bob and Mary. I am just now hearing what happened and am so sorry for your loss of property yet am so happy to hear you are alive. We will keep you in our hopes and prayers. Ed

[P-12 Tommy]

You read my mind, Don! I was in here ready to ask if anybody contacted them to find out more info. Thanks for posting!

Tom

[PatS....]

How right you are, Don. It's great that they are OK, but they still lost the house and most of what was in it so their life is turned upside down. Top that off is the fact that their city has been dealt a hard hit.

That's alot to take at once.

I wish there was something we could do to help.

I'm not gonna b!tch about our crappy winters and crappy summers anymore.

[Young Ed]

Don thanks for checking in with Bob. We're all thinking about him and his neighbors, friends etc.

[1940plymouth]

Thanks Don for the update on Bob and his family

[Johnny S]

Bob, so thankful to hear that you all weren't injured in this horrible deal. I still haven't been able to make contact with another longtime friend of mine in Joplin .... such a disaster humbles us all and reminds us of the thin edge we really live on. Prayers to you, your family and all of those impacted by this disaster. Also glad to hear that the convert made it through the mess without irreparable damage.

[Bingster]

I just looked at this thread and was shocked that one of our own was hit. I'm so very sorry to hear about this and you will be in our prayers.

[Chester Brzostowski]

I called Bob this AM. His spirits are OK but in his words his house is a gonner. He said his son-in-law Dale came down to assist and they were on there way to whats left of the house when I called. I can only imagine how devestating it must be to lose everything in the blink of an eye.

Don,

Thanks for the update. A tragedy that hits so close makes one contemplate how trivial the little annoyances of life really are when faced with a life changing event. Enjoy the evening who knows what awaits each of us in the morning. One thing is certainly a blessing and that is.., our friend and his family are safe.

Chet…

[daddyo23]

Don,

Thanks for the update. A tragedy that hits so close makes one contemplate how trivial the little annoyances of life really are when faced with a life changing event. Enjoy the evening who knows what awaits each of us in the morning. One thing is certainly a blessing and that is.., our friend and his family are safe.

Chet…

I'll second that.

[clay diggs]

So sorry about your house, but as you already know, you are so lucky that you and your family are safe. If all goes well for you, maybe we'll see you again at the Springfield Swap Meet. Clay

[clay diggs]

Don Coatney

Thanks for Bob's address. I have a picture I want to send him. Clay

[michael.warshaw]

if we want to donate to bob does he have an email adress where we can paypal funds too? if so lets get the funds off to him, he probably needs it.

[BobT-47P15]

Hi All. Thanks again for your concern and comments.

Appreciated Don C's call.

It is amazing how much damage a tornado can do in a very short

time. Our entire subdivision, plus a path across the entire town,

was simply devastated. You've probably all seen pictures on the

news by now. I belong to the Joplin Elks Lodge.....the building

was hit and 6 members were killed. Eight folks in our subdivision

are dead. We feel very fortunate to be here.

Dale brought his generator and used his recipro saw to cut on the

garage door and wall that fell in on the car. Then the contractor

who's been doing some work on our house, adding a room and

remodeling the kitchen, came over and used his Bobcat to move

some stuff and carry the garage door to get it out of the way.

We were then able to drive the Plymouth out and took it to the

neighboring town of Webb City where a friend said I could park

it in his shop building. Scratch and corresponding small dent

on the trunk lid, a small rip in the left rear quarter of the top,

a small ding on the left side of the hood and a scratch on the

passenger door from the fallen garage door opener.....fairly

minor injuries given the situation. Oh, yes, the little visor

with marble over the right headlight was bent and the marble

is missing in action.

The old used carb I put on it a couple weeks ago performed just

fine.

The guitars amps, washboard, and other musical equipment pretty

much came thru OK. So I can still rock n roll.

Tonight, Dale and I went to the Webb City (5 miles N of Joplin)

Wal Mart store to get a few things.......and the tornado warning

sirens went off. We had to go and wait at the rear of the store

with about 119 people while the warning was in effect. Nothing

happened, thank goodness. Got back home safely. Don't know

if anything touched down anywhere in the area. Whew!

Have been getting things out of the house and taking to a mini

storage. A lot of the Plymouth parts that were in my big storage

building landed in the next door neighbor's yard. Have been finding

them and putting in a pile to tote back across the yard and load into

the pickup loaned to us by a friend. Both the good cars.....well,

they will surely be totals. The little 79 Toyota, with only liability

insurance, was really mashed by flying debris. It will get a trip to

the scrap metal place probably.

Well, I guess that's it for now. Weather most all day today was

sunny and warm. Hope it will be decent tomorrow.

Thanks again for your concern. This is a good family to be a part of.....

Bob

P.S. our internet service is currently out so am using our sister in law's computer.

Don't know just when will get back on with our service.

[1940plymouth]

Bob, good to read your post this morning, glad that you and your family are ok and that you both are able to be sorting items out

Good luck,

Bob

[Cpt.Fred]

Bob,

all the best wishes from over here in Berlin, too.

good to hear you and your family are well.

i hope you will overcome this horrible situation,

and i wish you all the strenght and spirit you will need.

Fred

[Tony_Urwin]

Be careful out there, Bob. I came through a nasty tornado when I was younger (15 of my neighbors weren't so lucky), but I broke some bones in the aftermath. It's still dangerous during the cleanup!

Glad to hear that you are all unhurt.

[Young Ed]

Be careful out there, Bob. I came through a nasty tornado when I was younger (15 of my neighbors weren't so lucky), but I broke some bones in the aftermath. It's still dangerous during the cleanup!

Glad to hear that you are all unhurt.

Tony that is excellent advice. Minneapolis had tornados the same day as Joplin. We had one fatality from the storm but a second from someone who overdid the cleanup and suffered a heartattack.

[steveplym]

Glad you are in good spirits Bob. Many thoughts and prayers headed to you and yours.

[adam_knox]

Glad to hear you and folk are A-OK. Our thoughts go out to your neighbors and community members. Best of luck with the clean up/rebuild. Also, don't skimp on the bathroom during the re-build.

[BobT-47P15]

Hi all. Another fun day of looking thru what's left of stuff. Pretty

amazing how some things are gone......some things are in almost

the same spot as before. The 50 Dodge engine on a stand went

nowhere, and the R10 overdrive was in it's same place. Many Plymouth

parts from the larger shed are in the next door neighbor's back yard.

The garden cart may be in the next county....haven't seen it yet.

The riding lawn mower and the generator, both fairly heavy, are

in the next yard....both with some amount of damage. The poor old

swamp cooler I got a while back is dented fairly bad in a couple

places. Lots of small parts and pieces for the Plym are next door - am

building a pile of stuff to put into some plastic tubs. I figure anything

I can find is something I may not have to buy later. As we all know,

our favorite parts cost more nowadays.

Once the insurance people come around, and we get out everything we

want, the house will be razed and we will ultimately build another

one. We like the area.....it seems now that it will be an entirely

"new" subdivision.

Again, THANKS to everyone for your caring.

Bob

[Charlie Olson]

Bob, just very relieved to hear you all are okay. Here is hoping all of the forces , agencies and community can work well together to get things back to normal, ASAP. God's Blessings to you all.

Charlie

[BobT-47P15]

So sorry about your house, but as you already know, you are so lucky that you and your family are safe. If all goes well for you, maybe we'll see you again at the Springfield Swap Meet. Clay

Hi Clay. Hopefully, we will be back into some sort of normalcy by the

swap meet time in August. P M or call me closer to time, and we can

devise a plan. The H A M B drag races in Joplin are the same weekend,

so H K Estes will probably be here at that time as well.

[BobT-47P15]

I had a phone call yesterday morning from a local fellow, who goes by

"Ryno" on the H A M B. Some of their forum members have volunteered

to come to Joplin to deliver some supplies and to try and help out

wherever needed. H K Estes will be coming from the Dallas area

to help them, and to check on some family and friends here.

There is still a lot of cleanup to be done......utility companies are now

trying to replace damaged poles and lines, plus all other services are

trying to fix their systems. There are some people still missing and

the search and rescue folks are continuing their efforts.

In order to stay out of the way, we haven't driven around town.....the

roads are congested with all sorts of vehicles. The insurance office

where I worked (and still work very part time) was demolished.

As time progresses, we find that we know some of the victims who

were killed....some from the Elks, even one young man from our

church.

So, any prayers offered or any physical help provided are surely

appreciated. I know many are worse off than us.

[falconvan]

I cant get over the pictures, Bob. It looks like someone dropped a nuke in the middle of Joplin. We had several tornado warnings here in St Louis yesterday and the commotion was unbelievable because of what happened to you folks. Many prayers headed your way, brother.

[BobT-47P15]

Hi. Well, today, we had some things to do and drove thru another

part of town.....looked terrible. The prayers and good wishes are

appreciated by us and all the others.

In our subdivision today, a church group from Springfield, MO came

by asking if they could be of any help - so I had them help move

some limbs and fencing over, so I could see what was underneath.

Several folks came by with water and soda pop.

Got some things rounded up, but still more to go.

I heard about the storm warnings in St Louis.....they only lately

had the storm that damaged the airport......don't need any more

up there, that's for sure.