Progress being made on the new house.....

[BobT-47P15]

......being built on the site of the house done in by the tornado.

The tall thing in the background will be the reinforced concrete

safe room. It will be a walk in closet with a steel door.....just

in case any more storms come thru.

Several houses in our neighborhood are now being rebuilt or

repaired. Many have incorporated safe rooms.

They may start the framing this week.

Others coming along.....still kinda barren looking though.

However, it looks a lot better than this.......you can see the new room

we were having added on the back of the house.....it had roof decking

before the storm.

The Plymouth was in the garage......but garage disappeared.

[hkestes41]

Congrats Bob.

Good to see things are somewhat getting back to "normal". I know when I was there in August there was a lot of work going on. Amazing the difference between the folks in Joplin jumping in and getting things taken care of and the folks in New Orleans still looking for who is going to fix there problems.

I talked to a guy I went to school with while back at the HAMB Drags. He now works for the Asbury Fire Department so was at the Command Center in Joplin. He said a FEMA guy came in and said "Can I ask you guys a question? Does everyone in Joplin own a chainsaw or backhoe?"

[Chester Brzostowski]

Bob,

Things are coming along nicely. Thanks for sharing the pictures. Just a word of warning. If that safe room is full of stuff it might be hard to make room for people. I’m just thinking of my house. It’s hard to think I can keep a room empty. As soon as there is an empty space either my wife or my daughters have something to store. If all else fails I might be the culprit.

Chet…

[John Reddie]

Hi Bob,

This is good news. I am sure you are really looking forward to getting back into your own place again. I know I would be. Best of luck to you.

John R

[BobT-47P15]

Thanks guys.

Chet, the room will be a closet, but things should mainly be around

the walls.....will definitely make it a point to leave adequate unused

space in the event we need to hang out there.

Kirk.......I had a chain saw too, but it was electric. Wouldn't have

done much good after the storm.

It will be nice to get back to living in Joplin in our own place.....driving

30 miles to town is not much fun even though it's a good road.

[John Mulders]

Good to see progress, also around your house.

In New Orleans you still have areas that haven't recovered.

Best way to keep it empty, lock it !

John

[PhilJohnson]

Looks like your new place is coming along nicely. Doesn't look like that old convertible got hurt too badly.

[steveplym]

Glad things are moving along for you guys Bob. Do you have a picture of what the neighborhood looked like before the storm? Interesting how it all looks now.

[RobertKB]

Bob, glad you are making progress. It will be nice to move back to your old/new neighbourhood. I know Dale is making good progress on the car as well. Please keep us updated regarding both projects.

[BobT-47P15]

You know, it's one of those things I never got around to I guess....taking

a picture of the hood as it was. Just never thought about it.

The majority of the houses there were your typical one story ranch type

with either two or 3 bedrooms, two baths, either one or two car garage

depending upon size of the house. Most constructed by the same builder

in the 1970s. Nothing fancy in most cases.

Now, with the advent of the new taller roof style, most of the new ones

going up have the higher, hip roofs instead of the lower gable style.

Our distinguishing thing was the "teepee" over the front door.

[P-12 Tommy]

Bob, Glad to see things are progressing!

Tom