It took Joplin, Missouri only thirty-four minutes to lose nearly half of its urban trees dur-
ing an F-5 tornado that ripped the town apart on May 22, 2011. Nearly a third of the city including homes, businesses, and a major hospital complex were destroyed that night. Century-old trees came crashing down on homes, streets, and miles of power lines, causing further damage and compli- cating a massive and difficult search-and-rescue effort that lasted more than a week.
Removal of storm debris began almost immedi- ately after the storm. A continuous line of trucks rumbled down the streets hauling the debris to the local landfill. With the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in charge of the initial cleanup, there was no attempt to separate out the debris or salvage or recycle any of the 5 million cubic yards of debris, including logs. Jon Skinner, a forester with the Conservation Department who works in the Joplin area explains that, "Storm damage in the path of the tornado all ended up in the landfill. It had to be buried in a certain amount of time in order to get reimbursed by FEMA."
(left) This Osage orange tree took a direct hit from the F5 tornado. Although it looks as though the force of the tornado left it with its roots sticking out of the ground, this tree did, in fact, survive when everything around it was destroyed.
(sequence of 3 photos below) The author mills a post oak log with his portable sawmill. The log came from a tree that was salvaged after the 2011 Joplin, MO tornado, and will be used to make furniture for the Elk's Lodge, which was destroyed.
There's nothing like a good mill hand. Lacking opposable thumbs, WonderDog's main duties are making friends and barking out orders.
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