5:41: Stories from the Joplin Tornado

At 5:41 p.m. on May 22 2011 the deadliest tornado to strike the United States in 60 years tore through Joplin Missouri. By the time it completed its devastating path one-third of the community lay in ruins 161 lives were lost and survivors were left with stories they would carry forever.

5:41: Stories from the Joplin Tornado brings together firsthand accounts from more than two dozen survivors alongside reporting from award-winning journalist and photographer John Hacker of the Joplin Globe and former newspaper reporter and editor Randy Turner who was teaching eighth-grade English at Joplin East Middle School in 2011.

Join us as Turner chronicles both the tragedy of the storm’s destruction and the triumph of Joplin’s residents—whose resilience and determination to rebuild inspired a nation.

Host or Publisher Missouri State Archives