**I originally had this scheduled to post on Saturday because I’m sure a lot of you are tired of reading about the tornado that hit Joplin, especially now because they are going rampant all over the country and just yesterday hit Springfield, Massachusetts. My heart goes out to those folks too! I heard on the radio last week that we are above normal on our tornado outbreaks this year. Yey. Reminds me of the movie “The Day After Tomorrow” for some reason… I guess maybe this crazy weather. I also thought I would let you know I’m doing 2 posts today, this one with Range Line & Duequesne roads and then I have more from the heart of Joplin that was hit. I’m sorry for all this but I guess I’m doing it to remember myself to, although this really isn’t something I want to remember.**
Last Friday night when we went to get Tbug we drove down Range Line Road. Here are a few snap shots from there. I will warn you, when I say Picture overload, I mean Picture overload! This is driving up Range Line headed North.
This is actually out on interstate, those polls are where the Flyin’J sign should be.
Another downed sign. This had to be just winds b/c the Tornado didn’t hit all the way up this direction.
This is where you really start to see some signs of it. Southerlands is just North of 32nd street and it didn’t quite make it that far. If you look behind Southerlands you can see some of the damage…
Red Hot & Blue got some damage. Their sign was really rough looking! (no picture)
Golden Corral sustained a bunch of damage.
The building McAlister’s is in is pretty well destroyed except for McAlister’s. They had a few damages that they got fixed and they were up and running.
The Toyota Dealership is destroyed. This bar laying across the top of the cars, it is actually going through the hood of one of the cars.
More of the Toyota Dealership
Still at the Toyota Dealership. Traffic was running slow.
This was looking over at the Kum & Go gas station.
And what’s left of it. (and these pictures don’t do this place any justice)
I just couldn’t believe the damage to the Toyota Dealership if you can’t tell.
Chick-fil-a. A lot of damage there. The building is going to be torn down and rebuilt. It’s only 3 years old maybe…
This is sitting around 20th & Range Line looking West.
This is around 20th & Range Line looking toward Home Depot
Looking up toward Wal-Mart
still sitting around the 20th & Range Line area.
Jim Bob’s Steakhouse is gone.
That’s pretty much what’s left of it.
and more rubble. This is looking East.
Pizza By Stout used to sit to the right of that waterway and I actually never knew there was a waterway there….
What’s left of Walgreens and it’s only been there less than a year.
The strip center where JoAnn’s cloth store & CiCi’s Pizza & the nail salon where I used to get my nails done at… or what’s left of it.
This used to be an old gas station and right behind it sat the Big Nickel Newspaper.
Looking over toward Academy & there was a new Aldi’s building plus a Tire & Lube Express and a car wash all sitting right in here.
This is at the 20th & Range Line intersection looking toward where Pepsi used to be.
Looking West at the same intersection.
Looking North, the structure you see partially was a Sonic, before that should have been Pizza Hut & then the Tire & Lube Express.
Coming on it closer.
Yes, that is daylight you see through JoAnn’s.
and a Van upside down in front of the store.
I’m really not sure if this is the Pizza Hut parking lot or the Sonic Parking Lot
but that structure right there is what’s left of Sonic.
This was all just awful to see!
still Sonic
Academy Sports… or what’s left…
That is across the street at the corner of the JoAnn’s parking lot where there was a Domino’s Pizza & something else in a small strip center.
Looking East down 17th Street. This takes you to Academy on the right, Macadoodles on the left, there was an enterance to Wendy’s & Backyard Burger on the left and Wal-Mart was straight ahead.
Here once stood Wendy’s & Backyard burger
This would have been Long John Silvers
I needed panoramic view for all of this… you can’t even begin to imagine.
Freddie’s, Dollar Tree and a couple other small stores.
The $1 Jewelry store & a hair cut place was here along with a couple other stores.
This is just to the North of where the $1 Jewelry store was, this is the parking lot to what is left of Burger King.
Now we move to Tuesday of this week. We were headed to go see our daughter’s end of school program. Now we are driving south on Duquesne Road, which is to the east of Range Line and runs Parallel with Range Line Road.
This is somewhere starting around 15th & Duquesne.
This was kind of the last of Joplin it hit before going out to interstate and hitting Flyin’ J
This is around 15th-17th & Duquesne.
What’s left of a house.
This was a lot of the scene over there as well.
This was a shop building just to the North of 20th & Duquesne.
or what’s left of it…
This car was sitting at the corner of 20th & Duquesne. We are getting ready to get on the Round About. At 20th and Duquesne standing on the Round About you can actually see St. John’s Hospital and it’s all the way on the West side of town, Duquesne is on the East side of town.
This is just to the South and East of 20th.
My camera started dying at this point, darn exhausted battery, but this is just south of 20th on Duquesne.
My dad went over on Monday with 2 other guys to help people out. He said they went down 26th street all the way to the hospital. He said that if you haven’t been in the “heart” of the destruction, don’t go. You haven’t seen anything. He said that it looked like someone just tried to blow the town of Joplin up.
A friend of mine’s grandparents lost everything so on Monday she and her sister were over helping try to rummage through the rubble to see what they could find left. She said it is a little weird to see people are already starting to rebuild houses and that there are structures starting to go back up. That right there shows hope and promise!
One of my other friends is a manager at Chick-fil-a and I’ve heard they are tearing down that building and building a bigger one (which they could use, it was always packed) and plan on hopefully being back up and running in 6 weeks.
Walgreens has been completely bulldozed in and they were working on Wal-Mart & Home Depot the same way. Joplin plans on rebuilding and this is sign that it will happen.
Today's prompt: Something you read online. Leave a link and discuss, if you'd like.Ok first…
0 thoughts on “Aftermath – Range Line & Duquesne”
Wow – the pictures are heartbreaking. Keeping you all in our thoughts and prayers!! And I know what you mean about wanting to write about it to remember, even though you don't really want to remember – that's how I felt last summer, when I wrote so much about my cousins when they passed away. I felt I somehow had to mark that time in my life, yet it's so hard to go back and read them now.
Wow – the pictures are heartbreaking. Keeping you all in our thoughts and prayers!! And I know what you mean about wanting to write about it to remember, even though you don't really want to remember – that's how I felt last summer, when I wrote so much about my cousins when they passed away. I felt I somehow had to mark that time in my life, yet it's so hard to go back and read them now.
How horrible 🙁 Still thinknig and praying for everyone in that area 🙁
this is so devastating…but it is wonderful to hear people are already starting to rebuild.
It looks like a war zone. The images are heartbreaking–makes me cry every time I see them.