Life after the tornado......

[BobT-47P15]

Hi gentlemen. Looks like the forum is still going strong.

As an update, we have now rented a house in the town of Anderson, MO,

about 35 miles from Joplin. It belongs to the mother of a friend....the mom

is in a nursing home and the house was sitting vacant, with all furnishings,

as if she had just left for a trip to the grocery store.

It's a little unhandy, but we figured we had stayed with our sister in law

long enough. From there, we plan to take some exploratory trips around

the area. So it's kind of like an adventure. The highway to that town is

four lane all the way, making the trip go faster.

While driving down a street not far from the house yesterday, I spotted

a 46-7 or 8 Mercury coupe in a carport. Looked pretty nice. Guess I may

go knock on their door and see about looking at the car, just for fun.

Have now replaced both our cars.....I went back one year, but Mary Ann

found one 5 years newer. So we've got wheels again.

Next we have to finish cleaning up the yard, putting everything we can

out by the street, and the huge trucks with the big claw will carry it off

for free. They already took the first batch of tree limbs and other

stuff. Once we get to a certain point, our contractor will have his

associate knock down and haul off the remains of the house.

Then, the fun of rebuilding will eventually begin. Have to decide on a

house plan first, of course. Contractor says he will make a walk-in

closet as a safe room.

So, we're doing OK and things are progressing about as good as they

can.

Son in law Dale took the Plymouth back home with him to Kansas City

and has begun working on repairs.

We certainly do appreciate the support and kindnesses from you

forum members. A really big THANKS!!

Bob & Mary Ann

[greg g]

Glad you are making progress toward being normal again. Reestablishing your ability to get out and about, and getting you home replaced. Are all your neighbors going to rebuild or are some throwing in the towel and relocating?

Have you recovered all of your stuff that you could?

What didja get for wheels??

[Robin (UK)]

Bob,

Great to hear that all is moving on OK.

Good luck with everything.

[John Mulders]

Bob,

good to hear things are going for the better.

So now you can finally get that 4 space garage and scoop up some more classic cars

John

[1940plymouth]

Bob,

Glad to hear that you and your wife are doing ok

[BobT-47P15]

Glad you are making progress toward being normal again. Reestablishing your ability to get out and about, and getting you home replaced. Are all your neighbors going to rebuild or are some throwing in the towel and relocating?

Have you recovered all of your stuff that you could?

What didja get for wheels??

Greg.....some residents of the subdivision are going to rebuild, others are

outta there. It's going to be rather bare regarding trees as the winds

stripped the leaves, many branches, and even the bark off most of the

large, old trees. Most trees are being taken out, so the four or five we

had will all be gone. Concerns have been expressed about what type

of houses will be built as to size and quality, plus some people could

now buy lots and erect duplexes or other rental property. The city

says they should be able to control things.....so we will eventually see.

We plan to rebuild.

Am just about done shuffling thru what was the garage. Have been

finding some small things among the rubble on the floor. Found old

car parts mainly in the back yard of the next door neighbor. His land

is now cleaned up, so anything that was hidden and that I missed is

gone. Of course, the problem is recalling every item that was in my

new storage building (Plymouth Parts Central). Even heavier things

like bell housings and flywheels went flying next door. I could only

find the north end of that building, it was fairly intact......the rest

and numerous contents I could not locate.

They say the wind speed was up to 200 mph and that the tornado was

traveling slowly, It had a leading edge, the eye, and the back edge.

So it was rather like putting things in a large blender.....it chewed

them up. Some things were carried for several miles....maybe

farther. A friend at church, who lives about 3 miles east of us, brought

us a cancelled check from several years ago that landed in his yard.

The pictures on the newscasts give an idea of the devastation, but they

can't really do it justice. Driving around town, you see areas of nothing

but piles of splintered homes and buildings......you have trouble telling

exactly where you are sometimes as street signs and landmarks are

gone. Cleanup is progressing as fast as they can, but there is still a

tremendous amount of debris remaining.....as the damage is in an area

half a mile wide and 6 or more miles long......a huge stripe clear across

town.

Vehicle wise, I ended up with an 05 Grand Caravan to replace the

short wheelbase 06 Caravan I had. Mary Ann wanted something

"cute, with a sunroof" to replace her 01 P T Cruiser which she loved.

So, she found in Arkansas, a 06 Infiniti G35 sedan. We ended up

buying from small lots rather than the large dealerships. Time will

tell how good these vehicles really are, but seem OK for now.

[BobT-47P15]

Bob,

good to hear things are going for the better.

So now you can finally get that 4 space garage and scoop up some more classic cars

John

John......our contractor has proposed building me a detached two car

garage with storage space....for the Plymouth and related stuff. Don't

think I'll get the lift however. Doubt I'll get to increase the fleet of

antique vehicles, but you never know. Will see how far we can make

the insurance money go on the house.

[Young Ed]

Bob can you score a neighboring lot for a bigger garage? Glad to hear your life is returning to some sort of normalcy.

[BobT-47P15]

I still don't have internet service. Need to see about getting a connection

at the rented house in Anderson. My current provider does not extend

to where we are......two counties away. So will ultimately have to

change to the local service there.

I have a laptop, but it's sort of a nuisance having to look for places

providing wi-fi in a small town. Have finally discovered a couple

locations, but have trouble getting time to go hang out there.

Writing this from the home of our sister in law, where we first stayed.

We will still stay here from time to time when coming to town to play

my music gig and for other reasons.

[BobT-47P15]

Bob can you score a neighboring lot for a bigger garage? Glad to hear your life is returning to some sort of normalcy.

Not sure which neighbors are rebuilding.....far as I know the one to the

east will. The one behind us I don't know about. There are only two

actual adjoining neighbors as we have a corner lot.

[55 Fargo]

Glad to hear things are slowly returning to normal Bob.

I hope you folks hvae a speedy rebuild, and the house rebuild process goes as well as can be.

I would suggest some type of cyclone cellar, and nothing less, when rebuilding your new home. Or whatever is deemed the maximum protection against a Twister.....

[hkestes41]

Bob,

Glad to hear that things have started down the path to returning to normal. I will be making the trip again in August for the HAMB Drags, so if there is anything I can do to help out or anything you need when I am in town let me know.

Although, I am starting to think the trip to Joplin is cursed. First trip had an alternator bracket break just East of Vanita, then had the wheel bearing issue on the way home last year, finally on the way home from Ryno's last a few weeks ago I killed the 218. Maybe I should just drive my wife's car from now on.

Do you think Dale will have the vert back in time for the drags, and how about the coupe? It would be good to have 3 P15's in one place.

[P-12 Tommy]

I'm so glad to hear your lives are kinda back to normal.

Tom

[RobertKB]

Bob, glad to see things are progressing for you. I admire your "this bad thing happened but I am moving forward" attitude. Glad to hear your convertible is in your son-in-law's capable hands. Sounds like your insurance companies are not giving you any grief either. All the best in the next little while with the house rebuild and I hope your lives gets back to normal as quickly as possible. Take care.

[John Mulders]

Bob,

I hope you will have no problems with insurance, I have just finalized my fight with them.

They first wanted not to pay as there was no storm over the island (it was the rain from hurricane Tomas that passed our island).

They got a lot of flag for that standpoint and I commented that there is no mentioning in the policy that the storm has to be over the island anyway.

Got some money but it is still a loss in the end.

Good to hear you are fine and picking up the pieces. I am sure you get everything fixed and then can look back at it with a smile.

My car is still not running, parts ordered were not shipped as my creditcard failed. Called the bank and they said that is was blocked. So I asked why I wasn't informed and then she asked "didn't they call you?" .... uhmm no , otherwise I wouldn't ask.

Got it sorted, expect the parts to arrive in a week or so.

Cheers

John

[Phil Martin]

Hope you can make springfield swap meet this year. Maybe you can restock.

[Harvey Tank]

good to hear you are doing ok Bob. every day things will get a little better.

good luck to you and the family.

[Jim Saraceno]

I'm glad to hear things are working out. You have a lot of work ahead. Just take one day at a time and you'll get through all this.

Good luck!

[PatS....]

My relatives in Kurrimine Beach in Australia lost their home in the 2005 cyclone that hit them. They rebuilt to cyclone building codes and even a bit better in some areas.

This year, when Yasi came ashore almost on top of them, their house was unscathed...not even a broken window. The only damage was the vegetation and a shed had it's door ripped off.

Rebuilding to hurricane building code standards would be worth looking into.

Hope all goes well on the rebuild for you Bob.

[Jim Saraceno]

Rebuilding to hurricane building code standards would be worth looking into.

We don't get hurricanes in the Midwest here and if I remember correctly, Joplin was hit with and F5 tornado which means winds were 261-318 mph.

I'm not sure hurricane specs would have done much good.

[Greg F]

Flew over Joplin yesterday. Unbelieveable that you can see a brown streak across the southern side of the city from 34000 ft. Glad things are slowly getting back to normal for you and your family...

[49 Dodge Dude]

Just glad you're OK. Material things can be replaced, but not people.

[TodFitch]

We don't get hurricanes in the Midwest here and if I remember correctly, Joplin was hit with and F5 tornado which means winds were 261-318 mph.

I'm not sure hurricane specs would have done much good.

The Joplin event is listed on the Wikipedia page for F5 tornados. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_F5_and_EF5_tornadoes

It also had this interesting quote:

Since structures are completely destroyed in both cases, the identification and assignment of scale between an EF4 tornado and an EF5 is often very difficult.

[Don Coatney]

The Joplin event is listed on the Wikipedia page for F5 tornados. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_F5_and_EF5_tornadoes

It also had this interesting quote:

Do insurance companies pay more or less based on the "F" rating?

[steveplym]

Glad things are getting back to normal for you Bob. Wondered if the ladies that worked at your office made it okay? I remember meeting one or two of them a few years back when I came out to get that fender.

Good luck in the future!