JOPLIN, Mo. — Mark Carr woke up Wednesday in Rocky Ford, Colo., determined to help tornado survivors here. He loaded a couple of chainsaws and his three children and set off on the 12-hour, 600-mile drive.
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By Julie Denesha, Getty Images
They arrived at 2 a.m. Thursday, and by 7:30 a.m. they were at Missouri Southern State University (MSSU), volunteering to do something, anything to help tornado survivors.
"I want my kids to see this and help and be grateful for what they have," said Carr, 51, a single dad who does construction work. "I can cut wood, change diapers or do whatever they tell us to do." He plans to stay for a week with sons Caleb, 12, and Colton, 9, and daughter Jordan, 10.
As a list of 232 missing people was released Thursday, a massive cleanup was underway. Volunteers from around the country were clearing debris, providing medical care and doing search-and-rescue patrols. City Manager Mark Rohr said more than 5,000 volunteers have registered.
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Around the 1,800-acre damaged area, tents offer medical care, free food, clothing and even pet grooming. A radio station announced that tetanus shots, pocket knives, gas cans and diapers were available for free.
In Tuscaloosa, Ala., more than 14,000 people registered as volunteers after last month's deadly tornado, said volunteer coordinator LaDonnah Roberts. "Invaluable is probably the best word I can use for them," she said.
Nicci Brown? 27, was watching footage of Joplin's destruction in her Chicago home Tuesday when her husband, Daniel, 24, said to her, half-joking, "So when are we going down there?"
Nicci, a personal trainer, and Daniel, a plumber, were in the car at 6:30 the next morning and drove more than 10 hours. "I just felt really compelled to help," Nicci said. "It's more rewarding than a vacation." They plan to stay until Sunday. Daniel said they want to "cut down trees and help people out."
Scott Hannaford, 19, a firefighter in Avant, Okla., is off duty until Sunday, so he drove 120 miles to MSSU, where volunteers are deployed. "It's what I do," he said. "I'm a firefighter and it's my job to help people."
Hannaford credited his girlfriend, Brittany Blankenship, 19, with motivating him. "Somewhere out here there's a guy that's looking for his girlfriend," he said. He hoped to be assigned to a search-and-rescue team.
Kayla Hamlin, 21, and Brooke Swadley, 22, are nurses from Shawnee, Okla., four hours from here, but they spent a day wielding chainsaws and clearing debris. Hamlin, whose childhood home was damaged by a tornado when she was 6, told her friend Tuesday, "We've got to go."
In the parking lot of a wrecked Walgreens drugstore, volunteers set up an outdoor clinic. Kristil Fry, 37, a nursing student from Tulsa, said, "I don't know if it was the nurse in me, but I really felt compelled to be here." She'll stay "as long as they need us."
Working next to Fry was James Fyffe, 31, a nurse at a Kansas City, Mo., hospital. "Loving people in any way you can is the best thing you can do," he said.
Samantha Warkentien, 29, a nurse from Ann Arbor, Mich., also was working in the parking lot clinic. Like Fyffe, she worked in damaged areas. Among the things she dispensed, she said: "hugs."
Hannah Ferguson, 19, from Wichita, and her grandparents Darrel, 73, and Nada Brannan, 70, from Asbury, Mo., arrived at MSSU after dropping off diapers, shampoo and other items at a Joplin church.
"We just have a heart for the people and just feel like we're the arm of God," Nada Brannan said.
Helen Lewis, 71, wept when she returned to her damaged home Thursday to extricate more possessions. A case of bottled water and a bag of toiletries sat on her splintered doorstep.
"Look," Lewis said. "Angels have been here."
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