House Republicans are starting to demand that disaster relief funds be balanced with cuts in other areas of federal spending, essentially using human tragedy to advance their political agenda. But as soon as cries for help were heard, lawmakers pounced on the chance to make partisan points. To its credit, a key House panel has approved an additional $1 billion in federal relief money to respond to a spring of natural disasters. This brings us to a rather shameful debate now taking place in, of course, Congress. In case you need additional visual evidence of the mass destruction, here’s the before and after picture that’s blowing up on BuzzFeed:Īfter seeing these images, it almost breaks my heart to read about the federal government’s bickering over disaster funds, something the Kansas City Star detailed quite clearly: If it wasn’t so deadly, it would be beautiful:Īnother video shows the devastation from the eyes of a helicopter. There’s also a YouTube video of the tornado’s storm cell formation, as seen from space. The information contained here paints a disturbing, but educational video concerning the destructive power of tornadoes, as if the Alabama and Joplin aftermaths didn’t do so already.Ī hat-tip to the Ozark Storms blog for pointing the path map out. The placemarks indicate businesses and neighborhoods. In the path map, the path is designated by fuchsia line, while the starting point is marked in red and the dissipation point marked in green. View – Joplin tornado strike in a larger map There’s also a map showing the various business and properties that were struck, both of which can be embedded. On Google Maps, there’s a visualization of the path the tornado took while ripping Joplin apart. There’s also a great deal of data-mining going on, as people flock to the Internet looking for whatever information they can find. The death toll in Joplin reached over 100 people, and while there have been some rather unfortunate responses from misguided politicians, by and large, reaction has been swift and heartfelt. While the Joplin disaster did not take as many lives as the Alabama strikes, it’s doubtful there’s any solace in that fact for Joplin residents. Even after over 300 people were killed by tornado strikes in Alabama, the strike in Joplin, Missouri further emphasized just how devastating these storms can be. It’s been an incredibly destructive tornado season in 2011, if you can pardon the understatement.
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