July 2, 2011
A Firsthand Report on the Joplin Tornado
By Victor Knowles It was a searing scene straight from of the book of Revelation. Thunder crashing, lightning flashing, wind howling in excess of 200 mph, hail hammering everything in its path like a merciless Hun invasion, and “ball lightning”—big balls of red fire bouncing across the ground like bizarre basketballs from Hell. “It was like a nuclear bomb was dropped,” exclaimed a stunned Errol Bolt, who has survived several hurricanes in his native Jamaica. And when the EF-5 tornado had spent its fury, one-third of the city of Joplin, Missouri, lay in ruins. The Weather Channel’s Al Roker initially
