Our relocation to the mid-west was going well until a stormy day in May. An EF5 tornado struck the city of Joplin, Missouri on May 22, 2011 trapping my dog, Edie and I in our home to ride out the storm. We wound up on the street that day with nowhere to go eventually making it to a shelter. This is a personal account of what we experienced during that horrific event and the days that followed. We are Joplin tornado survivors and this is our story.
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Reviews:
"Rating it as something to read for entertainment seems morbid, however readers of real-life survival stories should pick this up. "
Reviewer: Reader for Bookangel.
This is a touching and very honest memoir of how Donna and her dog Edie survived the Joplin Tornado, including photographs of the damage that make the scale of the tornado painfully clear.
I came to this rather cynically, having had far too many Katrina cash-in stories offered for review, but it laid my fears to rest early.
While there are some examples of text speak (thru instead of through) and typos like down turn as two words, they are easy to overlook. Donna describes the situation plainly and without embellishment, but literary flourishes would have detracted. It makes more of an impression as Donna matter-of-factly describes going into shock outside the remains of her house, and the family of 'angels' who gave her a lift.
One area where it stands out from many memoirs of this type is the author's focus on how many people came together to help out in the aftermath, the description of various companies banding together to help the Red Cross and Humane Society with the displaced and newly homeless. It details the good that people did, rather than focusing entirely on looters and panic as many authors would.
This is possibly a spoiler, but the afterword about Edie will break the heart of any pet owners. She was eleven at the time of the tornado, so elderly for a large-breed dog, but I still feel for the author.
This is the type of book that makes me hate rating systems, because for Joplin survivors, those who know the area, and those who are trying to learn about the Tornado, as a survivor's first hand account it is an instant must-read. Rating it as something to read for entertainment seems morbid, however readers of real-life survival stories should pick this up.
Rating: B
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Discussion
atry (25 February 2016)
Its hard to say I like it, 'cos its the story of someone going through hell, but at the same time its an interesting, true, and nicely written story of someone going through hell, that they've chosen to share, so presumably the author wants comments.
Guess all I can say is, *Dear Author, Sorry you went through that. Great Book though.*
rz3300 (23 September 2016)
I think that I would enjoy a story like this, and the human touch to these sorts of stories always has a way of moving me. I now that I am not alone there though, and that is why they become popular, and I am thinking that this really might hit home. I have seen what a tornado can do, and I am sure this experience was very traumatic.
clair02 (23 September 2016)
I personally don't really like such stories of devastation and pain. I have long held the belief that when you read such stories you invite the essence of them into your life, but I know that is not everyone's view. So as much as I wouldn't like such a story, I know it appeals to a lot of other people.
It takes a lot to be able to share something so devastating and terrible that happened to you with the world, and maybe the author found a way to release some of that trauma by sharing the experience, so I guess it's a good thing.
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