Dallas Omni Covention Center Hotel...

...all dressed up for Christmas...

Merry Christmas!!!!

Joplin, Missouri...still rebuilding...

...I made a couple trips through Joplin this fall on my way to see my dad.

In April of this year an F5 tornado tore a 1/2 - 3/4 mile

wide swath right through the middle of the city.

Over 140 lives were lost, the city lost one of it's 2 hospitals and nearly every

school in town was destroyed.

To top it all off, the storm raged through the part of town where most of the

residential communities were...

Months later, this is what still remains of the mess...

Houses with holes punched through them...

Telephone pole snapped at the base...

just stumps and foundations remain of many houses...

...stone structures fared better than most...

what's left of peoples homes...

Ever seen a FEMA trailer? Well, here you go...

About the 3/4 the size of your typical mobile home,

these stretch on for a good mile or more.

This is literally just South of the Joplin airport, pretty much on the approach to the landing strip.

 I was sitting in the car across the highway on airport property, during a rainstorm taking this photo,

 I had a hard time getting the camera to focus on anything but raindrops so it's a little out of focus.

...pretty much sure this is all that remains of a church...

This...was a neighborhood...

only a the stoop, foundation and fireplace chimney remain...

but progress is happening in the background!

...only the steps remain...

...Fighting spirit...

The praying hands in Webb City, the next town North of Joplin. These praying hands are

made of quartz quarried in the area and were erected to the memory of all the

miners of the area and in the honor of the people that serve in our military...

..when I was a kid, it was a sign that we were almost to my grandparents house!

Joplin, Missouri...still a mess..

...in April of this the city of Joplin, Missouri was hit by a F5 tornado. It cut a 1/2 - 3/4 mile wide swath through the middle of town. Right through most of the major housing developments and schools.

 I made a couple trips through Joplin this fall and this is what I found...

... these were once neighborhoods...

Dallas Skyline