Lant: Rebuilding Joplin

It's hard to know where to start this report. After I finished my report last Sunday afternoon, I called Jane who was at the Mall with our granddaughter and agreed to meet her at I Hop for dinner. I'm still looking for my omelet! Jane, myself, two of our grandchildren and our oldest son Will, along with 40 other people were huddled in the kitchen of I Hop while the monster tornado roared through. To make a long story short, I could hear Jane and Rosie praying over the roar of the tornado. By the grace of God alone, no one there was hurt!

I have just come from a Memorial service at the college. Governor Jay Nixon and President Obama both made some wonderful uplifting speeches, but it was the Governor that hit a home run. He was amazed at the "can do" attitude that we have here. He mentioned that we were unlike folks in other disasters, as we were all helping each other do what needed to be done! I have personal knowledge of that attitude as we were the recipient of an amazing outpouring of help and support in 2008. The stunning difference in the disasters is that in 2008 the tornado that struck our area was in a mostly rural setting. It also was a relatively fast mover passing through in just a matter of seconds. Last weeks monster covered 1800 acres. It was 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile wide and over six miles long. Because it moved much slower, it completely devastated structures as it passed by. They are releasing reports showing as many as 5,000 dwellings and 2,000 commercial and business buildings totally destroyed.

Some communities would be ruined by the amount of devastation that Joplin has suffered. NOT US!! I am already seeing businesses cleaning up and starting to rebuild their store fronts. The State and FEMA are working to find temporary housing and literally thousands of volunteers are working to clear streets and yards so repair and rebuilding can begin. Sure it's going to take some time, but the important thing is that we as Southwest Missourians are willing to do whatever it takes to help our friends and neighbors.

All of the Representatives and Senators from this area have pledged to work together to do what is necessary to promote legislation that will expedite the rebuilding process. I have great hope that the Governor will see the need for a special session to address the Economic Development bills that have not passed. This would allow us to add amendments that would really benefit this area.

The Governor also said that he would like to authorize the National Guard to do the clean up and debris removal. This seems to be a great plan as we would have local people doing the work and for some reason it always seems to be smoother that way. There are many plans in the works that we don't know about at this point but I am certain that the people of this area will rebuild bigger and better than ever.

Until next week, please join Jane and I in prayer for those who have lost family and friends in this terrible event and offer up a special prayer that those who are unaccounted for will be found safe.