He spoke how the community’s sense of faith in God and in each other helped bring them together during an extraordinarily difficult time. Nixon, who was governor at the time of the tornado, spoke of the outpouring of support from not only the state, but from the country as a whole. Jay Nixon who was the first guest speaker to address the crowd that evening. The memorial service was not just an occasion of mournful remembrance of those lost but also a celebration of the strength and determination of a community and the resilience of those who stayed to rebuild, contributing to the progress that had made been in the years since. Moments before, friends and family members of those who died either directly or indirectly from the tornado were brought to tears as 161 names were read.

As the last echoed ring fades a member of the Tulsa Fire Department plays “Amazing Grace” on bagpipes, eyes are wiped as others lower their heads and quietly sob at this somber point in the memorial.

The silence is broken as the Joplin Fire Department tolls their ceremonial bell. Covering an area of up to one mile wide, the twister tore from one end of Joplin to the other. the moment when the city and the lives of countless others were changed forever ten years ago when an EF5 tornado entered the city at its western edge, cutting a swath of destruction through the heart of the city. JOPLIN - The moment approaches as a crowd of about two hundred people gather at Cunningham Park and a silence falls over them.

Joplin tornado 10th anniversary