While we were all joking about the Rapture, a real-life calamity of apocalyptic proportions (on a local scale, anyway) struck Joplin, Missouri, which was devastated yesterday by a huge, powerful tornado that is already being blamed for 89 deaths. The photos of the utter destruction are stunning, reminiscent of last month’s Alabama tornadoes. It seems almost certain that the ultimate death toll will be well in triple digits, again.
Joplin was previously best known to this blog as the place where Becky and I almost stayed on the night of the USC-Oklahoma title game in 2005, only to leave for a neighboring town because the Joplin Motel 6 “didn’t get ABC” due to a cable war. I wonder if the Motel 6 survived the hellstorm? We passed through Joplin again in May and August 2006. Anyway, thoughts and prayers are with the poor people of that devastated town.