For those who don’t know, I lived in Joplin for four years and moved back east two years ago. My husband, Sam is from there and he has family there.
Sam’s family is all alive and safe. Sam’s parents house is fine, just debris in their yard. They were on the very edge of the the tornado.
However, my brother in law and their family lost their home. He and his wife were home when it hit. They had the choice of hiding in one of two closets and they ended up picking the one that didn’t get some kind of plywood rammed through the door.
Their daughter was on her way home from attending graduation and huddled in a walk-in cooler at a gas station. The gas station is gone, the cooler is the only thing remaining.
There is a video (mainly audio) going around of a first person account from a Fastrip gas station, it’s been on CNN. She and her boyfriend were two of the 20-ish people in there. It’s very intense, so just a warning if you decide to watch it.
