Tornado Devastation: Mother Seeking Shelter

In 2011, in Joplin, Missouri, a family is caught in the centre of one of the deadliest tornadoes ever to hit the United States. Danielle Stammer is driving to see friends with her husband and kids when the high-pitched wail of sirens splits the air. Extreme weather is on its way. That’s not uncommon here in the USA’s ‘Tornado Alley’. Usually twisters occur out of town. But not today. As wind speeds of over 200mph batter Joplin, Danielle and her family are headed right into its path… A Noiser podcast production. Hosted by John Hopkins. Written by Rhys Bevan | Produced by Ed Baranski | Assistant Producer: Luke Lonergan | Production Assistant: Chris McDonald | Exec produced by Joel Duddell | Sound design by Matt Peaty, Jacob Booth | Assembly edit by RJ Macaulay | Compositions by Oliver Baines, Dorry Macaulay, Tom Pink | Mix & mastering: Ralph Tittley. For more on this story, read Danielle’s book Singing Over Me: A Joplin Tornado Survivor’s Journey. For ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to new episodes, join Noiser+. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started, or visit noiser.com/subscriptions. If you have an amazing survival story of your own that you’d like to put forward for the show, let us know. Email [email protected]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:03John Hopkins?

  It's just after lunchtime on May 22, 2011.

• 0:08John Hopkins?

  Over the plains of southeast Kansas, a wall of cloud is forming. It billows up and out, looming over the vast fields of wheat. A cold front has traveled down from the Pacific Northwest and is now meeting an equal and opposing force.

• 0:26John Hopkins?

  The Kansas Dry Line is an area where warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico in the east meets hot, dry air from the southwest. As the cold front hits this dry line, the cool air above draws warm, surface air rapidly upwards from the ground, creating a storm, a big one.

• 0:46John Hopkins?

  Glowering and thunderous, the gray-black towers of cloud advance with menacing speed, spreading out and multiplying. As the storm moves, it begins to spin.

• 1:00John Hopkins?

  This is a supercell storm, characterized by a mesocyclone, a core of rapidly rotating air. It's the least common thunderstorm and the deadliest. At 1:30 PM, the U.S. Storm Prediction Center puts out an official warning: Explosive thunderstorm development expected.

• 1:26John Hopkins?

  At the same time, a few miles east across the border in Missouri, a different kind of whirlwind has just been through the home of 30-year-old Danielle Stammer.

• 1:36John Hopkins?

  It's the day of her husband's pinning ceremony, his graduation from nursing school, and they've had their extended family over for lunch. The cars have left to drive, the plates and bowls are in the dishwasher, and finally, the kids are napping.

• 1:52John Hopkins?

  Danielle and her husband take a moment. Outside, the weather is beautiful, the sort of bright May day that suggests new beginnings. With their two young children, life is in the offing for the Stammers here in the city of Joplin. Tonight, they're due to drive across town to meet some families from their church. At least, that's the plan.

• 2:17Speaker 01

  So we just left each other and we're like, okay, I think now we enter a season of rest, which is very ironic to think moments before your life falls apart.

• 2:27John Hopkins?

  Back out west, the storm in Kansas hasn't dissipated. If anything, it's growing and it's moving east.

• 2:36John Hopkins?

  By 5 o'clock, the storm is a heaving, hulking maelstrom hanging over the Kansas-Missouri state line. At 5:34 PM exactly, the monster lowers its howling, swirling underbelly to the ground.

• 2:51John Hopkins?

  The rapidly rotating wind touches down in bangs and flashes of bright electric light. There's now no mistaking it. This is a giant, fast-moving tornado. It hits the earth just under a mile from the southwest corner of Joplin and begins its inexorable path eastwards right through the heart of the city.

• 3:13John Hopkins?

  A city in which a young family is now driving on their way to meet friends.

• 3:19Speaker 01

  There's no one on the road and the sky in front of us is absolutely black. And my heart is just stracing and just as we came up over a little hilltop, the tornado touched down to the west of us and I just started crying.

• 3:42John Hopkins?

  Ever wondered what you would do when disaster strikes? If your life depended on your next decision, could you make the right choice? Welcome to Real Survival Stories. These are the astonishing tales of ordinary people thrown into extraordinary situations, people suddenly forced to fight for their lives.

• 4:04John Hopkins?

  In this episode, we meet 30-year-old mother of two Danielle Stammer. In 2011, Danielle, her husband Andrew, and their two young children are driving to see friends when the high-pitched wail of extreme weather sirens splits the air in their home city of Joplin, Missouri.

• 4:22John Hopkins?

  This is not uncommon here in an area of Central USA known as Tornado Alley. Usually, twisters occur out of town, blowing themselves out over fields of wheat and soybean without causing too much disruption. But not today.

• 4:38John Hopkins?

  As the tornado enters Joplin and begins its trail of devastation, Danielle and her family have moments to find shelter. It is a deadly EF5, the highest intensity categorization, indicating wind speeds of over 200 miles per hour. And Danielle is heading right into its path.

• 4:58Speaker 01

  The tornado was hitting in full force at that moment and I was thrown down. I fell forward, but I had Ethan in front of me kind of nestled up into my chest. And I thought, okay, so this is how my story ends.

• 5:16John Hopkins?

  I'm John Hopkins. From the Noiser Podcast Network, this is Real Survival Stories.

• 5:44John Hopkins?

  It's late afternoon on May 21, 2011. Out in the suburbs of Joplin, Missouri, the sun shines on a garden covered in scattered belongings. Tools, dust-covered furniture, and broken children's toys lie strewn across the grass.

• 6:02John Hopkins?

  This lawn belongs to the Stammer family and today they are clearing out the shed. Anything they want to keep gets put back neatly. The rest goes in the trash or in the garage, ready for the next time the family indulges in one of its favorite pastimes.

• 6:19Speaker 01

  We love to do garage sales. We like to go garage selling, but we also like to host our own.

• 6:25John Hopkins?

  It's a long overdue tidy up and it might not have happened had they not been expecting company.

• 6:32John Hopkins?

  Danielle's husband Andrew is graduating from nursing school and there's a large Stammer family contingent in town.

• 6:39Speaker 01

  It was a celebratory weekend because Andrew did his pinning ceremony for nurses and, you know, it was a fun time, graduation. So we had family in town to celebrate with us.

• 6:50John Hopkins?

  The next day, Sunday, the 22nd, everyone piles into their modest home. The children play in the garden and a pleasant afternoon is spent catching up with loved ones. It's frantic, charming chaos.

• 7:03John Hopkins?

  Eventually, the dishwasher is loaded and the day turns to embraces and farewells.

• 7:09John Hopkins?

  With the family gone, the rest of the clear up can wait.

• 7:13John Hopkins?

  Danielle and Andrew put their children down for an afternoon nap and collapse onto the sofa to take stock.

• 7:19John Hopkins?

  Today feels special. It represents a moment where, after years of change and upheaval, things are finally settling down.

• 7:27Speaker 01

  I vividly remember Andrew and I sat back on our couch and we looked at each other and we're like, okay, this is what we're gonna be for the next couple of years. This is like a reset coin in our life. He had signed on to work at the hospital for the next two years. So we just left each other and we're like, okay, I think now we enter a season of rest.

• 7:52John Hopkins?

  Andrew's new job gives them certainty and stability. They've spent the last few years moving from place to place. It feels good to have a home. As the late afternoon sun pours in through the living room window, Danielle checks her watch. They're expected at a friend's house before too long for a social event organized through their church. They better wake the kids.

• 8:15John Hopkins?

  Reluctantly, they pull themselves out of the mid-afternoon slump and head upstairs.

• 8:20Speaker 01

  I remember walking into Emily's room and the sunlight was streaming through on her and I hate waking up babies. I like to let them sleep. So we just kind of paused and looked at her and we're like, oh, this moment is so beautiful. And I wasn't worried. I didn't have any like intuition of anything to come, but I just savored that moment.

• 8:43John Hopkins?

  Once, three-year-old Emily and 17-month-old Ethan are awake and ready. The family load the car with pre-prepared snacks and just after 5 PM, head out on the short drive across town.

• 8:58John Hopkins?

  10 minutes into their 20-minute journey, they are in the center of Joplin when a sudden, high-pitched wail pierces the air.

• 9:08John Hopkins?

  Even with their windows up and the burr of the engine, there is no mistaking the slow build scream of Joplin's Civil Defense Sirens, used primarily to warn of extreme weather. Soon after, Andrew's phone rings.

• 9:24Speaker 01

  We got a call from my father-in-law, who said that there was a tornado warning, which we had heard, obviously. But from what we understood was that the first warning was being sent for a tornado going at the north side of the town where we were heading. So we stopped and we called all of our friends and we were like, do not blow it off, like take it seriously, go find shelter. Like, we're really concerned about you. We're not gonna keep driving up because we don't want to drive into the middle of a tornado. But please be safe, please be safe.

• 9:54John Hopkins?

  With their evening plans canceled, the family sit in their parked car on the side of the road and look around them.

• 10:01John Hopkins?

  Strangely, aside from the sirens, nothing much seems out of place. Shops and restaurants are open, the sky is clear. There's no screaming or running, just people calmly going about their day.

• 10:15John Hopkins?

  The Stammers are taking the tornado warning seriously, but evidently there's no immediate need to panic. Danielle squints at the darkening storm clouds to the west, trying to make out the shape that she has longed to see since childhood. Despite the furrowed brow, there is a flicker of excitement in her eyes.

• 10:37Speaker 01

  And I thought, oh my gosh, I wonder if I'll actually see a tornado.

• 10:46John Hopkins?

  Danielle grew up in Jefferson City, the capital of Missouri. She had a happy time and a great relationship with her family. Severe weather was just a part of growing up in the Midwest. On one particular drive through Jefferson City, the adults in the car used a word that young Danielle hadn't heard before.

• 11:04Speaker 01

  We were driving home and the Capitol is kind of a larger monument in our city. And a storm had come in and there were clouds circling the Capitol. And the grownups were talking about that, like, could it be a tornado? And I was like, what is a tornado? Like, what is this about? This doesn't happen, like, being very scared, but also super curious, wanting to know what that was. And then being told, you know, they don't come here.

• 11:30John Hopkins?

  Little Danielle was relieved to hear that these terrifying vortexes usually blew themselves out over the open plains. It was an assurance she'd hear again, years later, in another Missourian city. After high school, Danielle attended Ozark Christian College in the city of Joplin, about 200 miles southwest of Jefferson City, close to the border with Kansas. It was there that she met Andrew.

• 11:56Speaker 01

  We were friends first, so we didn't start dating right away. We were on a teaching trip to help with like a summer program at a church, actually in Eastern Europe. I had come with one friend and he had come with one friend. My friend was a guy and his friend that he knew was a girl. So I roomed with her and he roomed with him. And the four of us would hang out and play games together. And then I started noticing my friend. I was like, I think she likes the girl that I'm rooming with. Super fun story. We got married within two weeks of each other, those sets of us.

• 12:33John Hopkins?

  Soon after marrying, the young couple moved to India, where Andrew completed his first year of nursing training and where they welcomed their first child, a daughter who they named Emily. Though this young family loved their time in India, Andrew had some health concerns that precipitated a return to the US. He continued his nursing degree back at Ozark Christian College back in Joplin. Danielle gave birth to their second child, Ethan, and both she and Andrew expected to return to India one day. But as they investigated the practicalities, they began to have second thoughts.

• 13:07Speaker 01

  As we were coming up to his graduation, some of our situations were changing on the India side. And some of the people that we were wanting to come back to weren't going to be there, like, all these big feelings and trying to decide what to do.

• 13:24John Hopkins?

  Without necessarily meaning to, they put down roots and Joplin was starting to feel like home. Something in Danielle's gut was telling her to stay. So Andrew signed on to work at the local hospital. At last, they had a house, a community, and a clear future mapped out for them. Or at least, that's what they thought. As it turns out, life had another twist coming just down the road.

• 13:56John Hopkins?

  This November, on the Noiser Podcast Network. On Real Dictators, the story of Rafael Trujillo concludes with an epic shootout scene, plucked straight from a mafia movie. On Short History of, join us as we unthor Utsi the Iceman, Europe's oldest known natural human mummy, and step back into the swinging 60s. On Real Survival Stories, on Ben Nevis, Scotland's highest mountain, a chilling tale plays out in the mist. And after a volcanic eruption in New Zealand, a helicopter pilot scrambles to respond. In Jane Austen Stories, Emma continues with Dame Julie Andrews. And in Sherlock Holmes' Short Stories, the tale of hidden treasure and murder continues in The Sign of Fall.

• 14:39John Hopkins?

  Get all of these shows and more early and ad-free on Noiser Plus. And for our American listeners, a special offer on Noiser's debut book, A Short History of Ancient Rome. Head to bookshop.org and use the code NONFIC26 for 15% off. Valid for US customers November 1st to 30th. That's bookshop.org and use the code N O N F I C two six.

• 15:10John Hopkins?

  This November, on the Noiser Podcast Network. On Real Dictators, the story of Rafael Trujillo concludes with an epic shootout scene, plucked straight from a mafia movie. On Short History of, join us as we unthor Utsi the Iceman, Europe's oldest known natural human mummy, and step back into the swinging 60s. On Real Survival Stories, on Ben Nevis, Scotland's highest mountain, a chilling tale plays out in the mist. And after a volcanic eruption in New Zealand, a helicopter pilot scrambles to respond. In Jane Austen Stories, Emma continues with Dame Julie Andrews. And in Sherlock Holmes' Short Stories, the tale of hidden treasure and murder continues in The Sign of Fall.

• 15:53John Hopkins?

  Get all of these shows and more early and ad-free on Noiser Plus.

• 16:05John Hopkins?

  Sitting in the car, staring out at what is fast becoming a wall of blackish-gray, time seems momentarily suspended. The tornado is drifting north, that's what they've been told. But as the stammers peer up at the teeming, writhing pall looming over the city, they can see quite clearly that it's growing. Again, Andrew's phone rings.

• 16:31Speaker 01

  My father-in-law calls us back and says, their report is now thinking it's coming down 7th Street. That's the street we were sitting on. So we're like, oh, my gosh, we have to go.

• 16:45John Hopkins?

  Andrew guns the ignition and starts to drive. As he does, he outlines his plan. They're going to race home, gather anything they need as quickly as they can, and head to the hospital where he works. It's a safe space with medical professionals and areas to shelter in events like these. Minutes later, they screech to a halt outside their house and Andrew runs in to grab some valuable essentials while Danielle waits in the car with the children.

• 17:11Speaker 01

  While he's in the house, I'm sitting in the car. The sky just gets creepier, just gets darker. And then all of a sudden, big chunks of hail start hitting the ground. And I start to kind of panic. And so I run in the house and I'm like, get in the car now!

• 17:30John Hopkins?

  Andrew hasn't gathered everything, but there isn't time. They need to go. As massive hailstones, some the size of golf balls, pummel the roof of the car, Danielle and Andrew climb back inside their vehicle. She reaches over to soothe the children and Andrew swerves them back onto the road. As they drive into town once more, the battery of hail suddenly recedes. Gone as quickly as it arrived. It's replaced by an unnerving quiet.

• 18:03Speaker 01

  The sky in front of us is absolutely black. We start driving and there's no one on the road.

• 18:13John Hopkins?

  The city of Joplin is dead. All those people who, minutes before, were calmly going about their day, they're gone. As Danielle looks up through the windscreen, it's easy to see why. The sky is as black as night, the menacing clouds looming overhead. Andrew keeps driving, accelerating up a steeply sloping street. And then, as they crest the brow of the hill, there is a sudden, deafening bang. A bolt of electric light shoots up from the earth into the sky. And for a moment, the underside of the monstrous storm is illuminated from below.

• 18:53Speaker 01

  The tornado touched down to the west of us and hit, I guess, their fuse boxes. So when they hit, like, blue light just like goes straight up into the sky. I saw that go up into the sky and I just started praying.

• 19:09John Hopkins?

  Andrew spins the steering wheel and the car careers into the parking lot of St. John's Hospital. Danielle looks around, confused. This isn't the right hospital. They'd arranged to meet Andrew's parents at a neighboring one, a few blocks south.

• 19:24Speaker 01

  I was like, get to Freeman, the one that we were planning to go to. And he said, there's not time.

• 19:32John Hopkins?

  If they stay out on the road any longer, they won't make it. And so Danielle nods in agreement, then reaches behind her and unbuckles Ethan from his car seat, pulling him onto her lap. Andrew has parked so that the passenger side is right up against the emergency room entrance. Danielle takes a deep breath and opens her door. Immediately, the wind swarms around her, pulling at her hair, her clothes, tugging her this way and that, preventing her from standing. Little, warm hands grip the back of her neck. A 17-month-old Ethan bares his face in her shoulder.

• 20:12John Hopkins?

  The storm growls thunderously above them, a bone-rattling, overwhelming roar. Tucking her face in close to her son's ear, Danielle forces herself up out of the car and runs towards the hospital entrance.

• 20:27Speaker 01

  I wasn't panicked. I remember saying, oh, it's windy, baby. Like, I was just trying to connect with him. I mean, he's not even a year and a half old yet, but, you know, to be calming.

• 20:40John Hopkins?

  The two of them barrel through the sliding doors and into the hospital's atrium, where a glass-fronted reception booth stands conspicuously empty. Danielle rushes into the booth and turns to see her husband carrying their three-year-old daughter Emily out of the car. Andrew heads towards the hospital, fighting the swirling gales. Danielle watches, her body tense, as his stride vaulters.

• 21:07Speaker 01

  He was hunched over, bearing into the wind, slow-stepping it just to come to where I was. Like, the wind had picked up so much in such a short amount of time. And this isn't even the full force of the tornado yet. It's just grown and this massive event that is happening.

• 21:26John Hopkins?

  Eventually, through sheer force of will, Andrew and Emily tumbled through the hospital's glass door and into the atrium. The four of them regroup and head towards a second set of sliding glass doors that lead to the rest of the hospital.

• 21:41John Hopkins?

  But they won't open.

• 21:43Speaker 01

  The hospital is on lockdown, which is one of their procedures that they would do in the event of the storm to protect people. I don't think they would have ever expected that somebody would have shown up like we did.

• 21:57John Hopkins?

  Andrew starts throwing himself at the doors. Danielle calls out encouragement, but the wind is now so strong it's invading the building, whipping the words from her mouth. Any sound she makes is drowned in an ocean of noise. It's all around them now, and it's more than just a roar. There are sharp bangs of lightning and exploding electrics, cracks of colliding material, and groaning, straining, ripping as the very fabric of the earth is rent and riven around them. Andrew's shoulder thuds soundlessly into the door once more, and this time it pops off its lower track. Danielle grabs his arm and points down at the small gap he's made.

• 22:40John Hopkins?

  She gestures for her husband to go first.

• 22:44Speaker 01

  So he kind of ducked in through the wedge that we had made, and he had Emily in his arms still. And then I went to follow him. And I remember thinking, you klutz. Because as soon as I got through that entry, I fell. But it wasn't because I was a klutz. The tornado was hitting in full force at that moment, and I was thrown down. So when I fell forward, I like, you know, you kind of catch with your elbows to protect the kiddo.

• 23:15John Hopkins?

  With the spinning savagery of the storm consuming her, Danielle is unable to stand. It seems inevitable that a falling wall or a flying piece of glass will clatter into her at any moment.

• 23:28John Hopkins?

  Helpless, she does the only thing she can in the circumstances. She wraps herself around little Ethan and holds him tight.

• 23:35Speaker 01

  At that moment, I was most concerned about him. He started crying, and so I just started comforting him, shielding myself around him, kind of tucking him under me. And I thought, okay, so this is how my story ends. I never knew. Here I am, but I think they'll find him. And he's gonna be okay.

• 24:05Speaker 02

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• 25:30John Hopkins?

  This November, on the Noiser Podcast Network. On Real Dictators, the story of Rafael Trujillo concludes with an epic shootout scene, plucked straight from a mafia movie. On Short History of, join us as we untore Utsi the Iceman, Europe's oldest known natural human mummy, and step back into the swinging 60s. On Real Survival Stories, on Ben Nevis, Scotland's highest mountain, a chilling tale plays out in the mist. And after a volcanic eruption in New Zealand, a helicopter pilot scrambles to respond. In Jane Austen Stories, Emma continues with Dame Julie Andrews. And in Sherlock Holmes' Short Stories, the tale of hidden treasure and murder continues in The Sign of Four.

• 26:13John Hopkins?

  Get all of these shows and more early and ad-free on Noiser Plus.

• 26:23John Hopkins?

  It's around 5:45 PM on May 22, 2011.

• 26:28John Hopkins?

  About 20 miles outside of the city of Joplin, Missouri, just across the state line in Kansas, a single-story building sits on the side of the highway.

• 26:38John Hopkins?

  The squat, white construction is flanked by a small field of satellite dishes. From its middle, a 100-meter-high antenna stretches into the sky.

• 26:50John Hopkins?

  Inside this unassuming cabin, local weatherman Doug Hedy is carrying out an emergency live broadcast.

• 26:58John Hopkins?

  He's been tracking a potential tornado since this morning. Now his worst fears have come true.

• 27:04John Hopkins?

  The tornado has touched down and is making its way into a major city. Miles away and powerless, all Doug can do is urge the people of Joplin to seek shelter and continue to broadcast as best he can.

• 27:18John Hopkins?

  The swirling colors on his radar map can't show what's really happening on the ground, so Doug's producer switches to Joplin's tower cam. This static camera, positioned high up in central Joplin, gives a direct view of the tornado.

• 27:34John Hopkins?

  But all Doug can see is a wall of black.

• 27:38John Hopkins?

  That's because this is a rain-wrapped tornado. Its cyclone is so wide and powerful that it's pulling moisture into its rotation and covering itself in a shroud of cloud and rain.

• 27:50John Hopkins?

  Doug is explaining all this to his viewers when, just like that, the feed goes dead.

• 27:58John Hopkins?

  The tower camera is down. The people of Joplin are on their own.

• 28:04John Hopkins?

  20 miles southeast, hunched on all fours over her infant son, is one of these Joplinites, 30-year-old Danielle Stammer. Inside the battered hospital, the wind seems, for the moment, to be easing. She looks down to check on her boy Ethan, shaking but safe in her arms. Somehow, she's managed to protect them both from the fury of the tornado as it rampaged through. She raises her head and looks around. Broken glass and jagged debris lie scattered in the hospital's hallways. Immediately beside her, unseen until now, is a stairwell with a little alcove underneath.

• 28:47John Hopkins?

  In this brief moment of calm, Danielle heads towards this space beneath the stairs.

• 28:53Speaker 01

  I remember there was stuff all over the floor, but I had this sense of urgency, like, I need to move, and I need to move now. So I scooped Ethan up, took a few steps forward into that stairwell, and went to the deep back corner and hunkered down there, knowing that that would be a safer spot than, you know, the glass wall behind me.

• 29:15John Hopkins?

  It's only when Danielle reaches the relative shelter of the stairwell that she looks around for her husband and daughter.

• 29:22John Hopkins?

  But they're nowhere to be seen.

• 29:25Speaker 01

  I had no idea where Andrew was with Emily, so I just started praying for them while holding Ethan and just kind of crouched in that corner and just not sure if I'd see them again.

• 29:38John Hopkins?

  Danielle can't know, but her husband and daughter are currently holding on for dear life right in the center of the storm.

• 29:47John Hopkins?

  Moments ago, as she and Ethan were knocked to the ground, Andrew and Emily were picked up by the powerful swirling gusts and terrifyingly were pulled towards an exit.

• 30:00Speaker 01

  And so he got caught into that, picked up off his feet, like he's still carrying Emily, and he hit into the door jamb in the exterior stairs and grabbed onto the handrail and hunkered down there. So they were outside.

• 30:19John Hopkins?

  Now, Andrew grips the outside railing, holding on as tight as he can, pulling them back to earth as every gust of wind tries to sweep them away. Father and daughter hunker down, knuckles white, resisting the urge to look up into the mayhem of the storm. Above their heads, a wall of wind whips thousands of pieces of storm debris at hundreds of miles an hour. Projectiles fly past their heads. Until at last, the wind eases just enough to allow Andrew to make a dart back inside, Emily in his arms.

• 30:56John Hopkins?

  There, an emotional reunion ensues.

• 31:00Speaker 01

  He popped his head back into where he had been thrown out and was absolutely delighted to see Ethan and I crouched in that corner reunited.

• 31:12John Hopkins?

  Relief floods Danielle's body as all four members of the family appear safe. But everything could change again in a heartbeat. Back together, they plot their next move.

• 31:24Speaker 01

  I couldn't celebrate that moment because I was still in like this mode of survival, basically. This feeling of what now? I had heard of tornadoes forming multiple, like maybe, you know, one comes and another comes. And so I kept thinking, we're not in a right spot.

• 31:43John Hopkins?

  The family decides to climb the stairs that they're sheltering under. The sky outside is dark and dusky, the crepuscular light creeping in through hospital windows, matched in its eeriness by the dim emergency lighting within.

• 31:59John Hopkins?

  As the two young parents make their way upstairs and then down a shadowy corridor, Danielle's flip flops crunch on shattered glass, bits of metal and masonry. Their children's bare feet mean they cannot set them down, so they carry them throughout, searching the hallways for signs of life.

• 32:18John Hopkins?

  And then, movement up ahead.

• 32:22Speaker 01

  And a light came, at least from a distance, a flashlight was coming. And a man came up and he was just as shell shocked as we are. He told us that there was another group of people up ahead so we could join with them.

• 32:36John Hopkins?

  The stammers follow the stranger down corridors dripping with displaced electrical cables. Tree branches probe in through broken windows.

• 32:47John Hopkins?

  Eventually, they reach a small, dark, airless room crammed with people. Danielle eyes the crowd nervously.

• 32:56John Hopkins?

  Somebody in the corner cries out for help. Danielle volunteers to look after the children, freeing up Andrew to do the job he is trained for. It isn't long, however, before Andrew returns, looking ashen.

• 33:11Speaker 01

  After a little while, he came back and he's like, I couldn't help. I was starting to blackout. And I was like, are you hurt? He was like, something's not right on my side. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he was having a hard time taking deep breaths.

• 33:26John Hopkins?

  Earlier, when Andrew was sucked outside into the vortex, he clattered into a door frame as he flew through the air. It's unknown what damage this may have caused, but his blackouts and difficulty breathing are an obvious source of concern.

• 33:45John Hopkins?

  Moments later, there is an announcement that the injured should form one line and the uninjured another. Andrew moves off to join the queue of injured people. Danielle continues to hold both children as still there is nowhere safe to set them down.

• 34:02John Hopkins?

  Just as her arms begin to shake with the effort of carrying them, there's a tap on her shoulder.

• 34:08Speaker 01

  A young lady behind me said, I'll hold one of them. And so she held Emily and I held Ethan and we stuck together. I did feel grateful to the other lady because I don't know how long I could have held both of them through all that.

• 34:26John Hopkins?

  And then abruptly, she and Andrew are separated again, their two groups shuffled into different directions. Danielle cannot see where her husband has gone. Her group is taken away to another dingy corridor and told to wait.

• 34:42John Hopkins?

  The tension in the crowd is palpable, the unspoken anxiety thick in the air. How safe is this building that seems to groan and creak with every gust of these still spinning winds? There's a shout from the back of the queue. Someone is pointing at the ceiling, wide eyed and shaking. Word ripples down the line. It looks like it's about to cave in.

• 35:05John Hopkins?

  But then a fireman appears. The sight of a first responder calms the rising panic in the group.

• 35:12John Hopkins?

  With an authority and assurance, he leads them via a maze of twists and turns to an exit. And quite suddenly, they're out in the open air, leaving the damaged hospital building.

• 35:26John Hopkins?

  Danielle is in the world again. But looking around, it is not a world she remembers.

• 35:34Speaker 01

  And I didn't see anything that I recognized. Cars were kind of like piled on top of each other. There was, the helicopter was all in a crumple. The trees even don't have their leaves. Some of them don't even have their bark. They look kind of like toothpicks. I had no idea where I had come out of the hospital until I turned back around and saw the park where we had just had Emily's birthday party and I didn't even recognize it.

• 36:05John Hopkins?

  The city she once knew has been obliterated and in mere minutes. Yet there isn't time to really process what she's seeing. The crowd is pushed away from the hospital in case of a gas leak.

• 36:19John Hopkins?

  Danielle's body tenses. Andrew could still be inside. She has no idea where he's been taken or if he's safe.

• 36:26John Hopkins?

  She glances up at the sky. The clouds still look ominous, fast moving and circular. Who's to say there won't be another tornado?

• 36:36John Hopkins?

  The rest of the day becomes something of a blur. Danielle and the kids are moved to another medical facility, but again, quickly asked to leave over fears about the building's structural integrity.

• 36:48John Hopkins?

  Later, standing on the street, disorientated and worried, Danielle sees a van pull up beside her. The kindly family inside offer Danielle and her children a ride to Freeman, the hospital where they'd initially planned to shelter with Andrew's parents. She jumps at the chance to take Ethan and Emily to a safer spot.

• 37:11John Hopkins?

  Freeman Hospital isn't unaffected by the tornado, but it's in better shape than most places right now. It offers a chance for Danielle to rest and regroup.

• 37:22John Hopkins?

  Sitting in the waiting room, she strikes up a conversation with the woman next to her who tells her that she's lost her house. Danielle reassures the woman that she can come and stay with them.

• 37:33John Hopkins?

  Then, as they continue talking, the woman happens to mention a Pizza Hut in town that was hit by the storm. And this gives Danielle a terrible realization.

• 37:44Speaker 01

  Because I just thought the tornado like came down, hit the hospital and went up. Like I didn't, I didn't have any conception of the fact that it was like a big beast moving across the city. And I said, oh, my house is between that Pizza Hut in here. Uh, I actually might not have a house to have you come to.

• 38:02John Hopkins?

  Danielle slumps back in her seat.

• 38:08John Hopkins?

  A nurse comes to check on them and Emily complains that her eyes hurt. So they head to the pediatric ward to flush out any dust and debris.

• 38:17John Hopkins?

  It's getting late. So Danielle finds a space in the corner of the playroom, lays her exhausted kids out on benches and before long they're sound asleep.

• 38:26John Hopkins?

  At one point, another nurse asks her if she needs anything and Danielle explains, as if realizing for the first time, that no one knows they're here.

• 38:35Speaker 01

  And she said, well, phone conversations aren't going through, but some texts are making it because my phone was still in the car. So she let me use her phone.

• 38:44John Hopkins?

  Luckily Danielle has some important numbers memorized and manages to send texts to her parents and her sister. Then she goes to message Andrew's parents and hesitates.

• 38:56John Hopkins?

  She hasn't heard from her in-laws since they agreed to meet at Freeman Hospital and she hasn't seen them anywhere now that she's here. There's just no knowing if they're okay. In fact, the final message she and Andrew received from them sounded ominous.

• 39:10Speaker 01

  We were supposed to be meeting them and Andrew said, I got a text from my dad that said, we're too late. I don't think they made it. And so I was imagining that they had been driving to the hospital and couldn't make it. And so I was just waiting, but had this possibility of grief hanging over my head.

• 39:32John Hopkins?

  Taking a deep breath, she hits send.

• 39:36John Hopkins?

  Moments later, the phone buzzes.

• 39:40Speaker 01

  What they had said was that they were too late to leave their house because it was already brewing. And so they stayed home and just took shelter, I think, in their bathtub. So they were okay.

• 39:54John Hopkins?

  Her in-laws are fine and now on their way to see the family at Freeman Hospital.

• 39:59John Hopkins?

  But for Danielle, there's an even bigger concern still hanging heavy in the air.

• 40:05Speaker 01

  They were told where we were and so I sat there in the, in the little dark playroom while the kids were sleeping. And then it was such a delight to see them come and find me. But I still didn't know where Andrew was at that time.

• 40:25John Hopkins?

  This November, on the Noiser Podcast Network. On Real Dictators, the story of Rafael Trujillo concludes with an epic shootout scene, plucked straight from a mafia movie. On Short History of, join us as we unthor Utsi the Iceman, Europe's oldest known natural human mummy, and step back into the swinging sixties. On Real Survival Stories, on Ben Nevis, Scotland's highest mountain, a chilling tale plays out in the mist. And after a volcanic eruption in New Zealand, a helicopter pilot scrambles to respond. In Jane Austen Stories, Emma continues with Dame Julie Andrews. And in Sherlock Holmes' short stories, the tale of hidden treasure and murder continues in The Sign of Fall.

• 41:08John Hopkins?

  Get all of these shows and more early and ad free on Noiser Plus. And for our American listeners, a special offer on Noiser's debut book, A Short History of Ancient Rome. Head to bookshop.org and use the code NONFIC26 for 15% off. Valid for US customers November the 1st to the 30th. That's bookshop.org and use the code N O N F I C two six.

• 41:39John Hopkins?

  This November on the Noiser Podcast Network. On Real Dictators, the story of Rafael Trujillo concludes with an epic shootout scene, plucked straight from a mafia movie. On Short History of, join us as we unthor Utzi the Iceman, Europe's oldest known natural human mummy, and step back into the swinging 60s. On Real Survival Stories, on Ben Nevis, Scotland's highest mountain, a chilling tale plays out in the mist. And after a volcanic eruption in New Zealand, a helicopter pilot scrambles to respond. In Jane Austen Stories, Emma continues with Dame Julie Andrews. And in Sherlock Holmes' short stories, the tale of hidden treasure and murder continues in The Sign of Four.

• 42:22John Hopkins?

  Get all of these shows and more early and ad-free on Noiser Plus.

• 42:32John Hopkins?

  It's late night on May the 22nd, 2011.

• 42:36John Hopkins?

  Andrew's stammer is stood in the hallway of his sister's house in rural Kansas, waiting.

• 42:42John Hopkins?

  He's dressed in a towel, his hair still damp from the shower. It's been quite an evening.

• 42:49John Hopkins?

  Andrew was taken from St. John's Hospital and triaged in a local theatre. Then he was driven in an ambulance to a hospital across the state border, powerless to stop them taking him further and further from his wife and young children. When they eventually arrived at a remote Kansas medical facility, Andrew's worries eased. By complete chance, he'd been driven to a centre down the road from his sister's house.

• 43:14John Hopkins?

  So, after a diagnosis of bruised ribs and a prescription of painkillers, he emerged into the car park to find his sibling waiting for him.

• 43:23John Hopkins?

  Now, back at her place, messages have got through that everyone is okay. The family have all made it. Danielle and the kids are safely stowed with his parents for the night. And finally, after a much-needed shower, all Andrew now needs is something to wear.

• 43:40Speaker 01

  Andrew is 6'4". His sister is, I don't know, probably almost a foot shorter than he is. And so she was rummaging around in her house, trying to find him clothing. And the only shirt she could find that was an extra-large size was one that had a tornado on it. It was like a mascot or something.

• 44:03Speaker 01

  That was a little ironic, but that's the shirt he got.

• 44:07John Hopkins?

  Miles away, back in Joplin, Andrew's wife Danielle is finally going to bed. Tucked up in her in-law's guest room, she's utterly drained, but she can't sleep.

• 44:19Speaker 01

  It's quiet and it's still and I'm safe. And I keep replaying all of the things that just happened. And I started asking myself questions like, what if we had gotten there 30 seconds later? Or what if Andrew didn't hit that door jam? He just kept going and just flew up with Emily? And I was like, stop. I know the end of this story and I'm not going to play the what-if game. Like, I'm done. I am safe. I'm here. My kids are here. My husband is safe. This is the actual thing that happened. I'm not going to play the scenarios. And I went to sleep.

• 45:07John Hopkins?

  The next morning, Danielle and her father-in-law drive to her house to assess the damage. As they move through the now unrecognisable city, the rescue and recovery efforts are well underway. Houses that have been checked and cleared of survivors have large X's spray painted on them. Downed wires crisscross the road. Every time they drive over one, Danielle holds her breath.

• 45:32John Hopkins?

  Finally, they trundle up their street and her house comes into view.

• 45:37Speaker 01

  And I remember thinking, okay, it's not too bad. There was a significant patch in the roof that was pulled out. The windows were all cracked and everything is coated with debris. Our back door, it was like a sliding glass door. It was like totally just messed up. And all of that glass was thrown inside, but I was like, okay, we can work with this.

• 46:00John Hopkins?

  The stammers' recently tidied and organised shed is nowhere to be seen. The only clue to its previous existence is a square patch of concrete on which it used to sit. The bones of the house, however, seem sound. The only major concern is a hole in the roof, which needs to be covered, particularly as rain is forecast. So Danielle and her father-in-law grab a tarpaulin and clamber up.

• 46:29Speaker 01

  Went up to the top and put out a tarp and put stones on it to try to cover the big hole where the roof was pulled off. And people are great. They just step up. People were walking the streets, asking if people need help. People were bringing bottled water because the water wasn't potable at the moment and it wasn't safe to drink. So, anyway, a fellow walked by and was like, do you guys need help? And so he helped climb on the roof and we secured with as much as we could the tarp to protect from the rain coming in. And it started to rain. And it rained. And it rained. Like inches of rain.

• 47:09Speaker 01

  And the water came through the gaps and soaked the ceilings and the ceilings fell. It would pour through the light sockets and I just watched everything just get demolished in front of me.

• 47:27John Hopkins?

  It's a cruel twist. The house survived the tornado, only to get decimated by the rain. She tries her best to save what she can, using clothes to mop water off the wooden flooring, but it's no use.

• 47:42John Hopkins?

  The only place completely untouched by the tornado is the garage, which ironically enough, thanks to these stammers' careful organising and love of garage sales, is chock-full of everything they no longer want. Now these cast-offs have a whole new value.

• 48:01John Hopkins?

  With their home gone, the stammers move in with Danielle's parents in Jefferson City, back in the town where she grew up. As the family recovers, various people offer a helping hand.

• 48:13Speaker 01

  Andrew's sister bought us car seats right away so we could transport our kiddos and they let us borrow their car. I mean, somebody that I don't even know did my laundry. Man, so many people supported us. I mean, it's really beautiful.

• 48:31John Hopkins?

  It takes some time for Danielle's home in Joplin to be rebuilt. And in fact, by the time it's completed, the family have put down roots in Jefferson City.

• 48:41John Hopkins?

  Not for the first time, the stammers have created a new home and community without quite realising it.

• 48:48John Hopkins?

  Incredibly, eight years later to the day, on May the 22nd, 2019, Danielle is living in Jefferson City when it is hit by another tornado. This time, she's prepared.

• 49:01Speaker 01

  I grabbed everybody, ran downstairs, grabbed shoes because I knew what it was like to walk through with flip flops. Everybody had to grab their shoes. And in our basement, we have, one corner is the deepest underground part away from any windows. We tucked up in there and I showed the kids, you know, when I was in school as a kid, we had tornado drills and they showed us how to protect our heads and hunger down and whatnot.

• 49:31John Hopkins?

  In their basement in Jefferson City, the lights flicker and the danger passes. When they emerge, they immediately get in the car and go to see if anyone needs help. The sort of help they needed and received exactly eight years before.

• 49:50John Hopkins?

  Assessment of the damage caused by the Joplin tornado rated it as an EF5 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, meaning it must have had winds of over 200 miles per hour.

• 50:02John Hopkins?

  Tragically, it claimed 158 lives and injured over 1,000 people. It damaged nearly 8,000 buildings and destroyed over 4,000 homes. The damage amounted to $2.8 billion, making it the costliest tornado in US history. Joplin and its residents try not to let the events of the 22nd of May, 2011, define them, but wounds remain.

• 50:28Speaker 01

  You never really want trauma to define you, but then it kind of does. Like, no one gets away from that. I think the town would like to not be known as the town where the tornado came through, but for a lot of people, it still is. They did amazingly quick cleanup. I mean, so much work to rebuild, to get business and jobs back, to home people, yet it's still, you know, you still can see it. You can still see kind of a scar through the town.

• 51:00John Hopkins?

  Danielle has her own scars. Inspired to write a book about her experience, she would regularly have to stop writing as the process of reliving it would make her hands shake. There is also survivor's guilt to contend with.

• 51:14Speaker 01

  I guess there are some survival stories where the only person affected is the one, but in a natural disaster, when one survives, usually there are people that also don't. And that was the end of their story. And it's hard to swallow.

• 51:35John Hopkins?

  Ultimately, though, like Joplin itself, Danielle has managed to rebuild and start again, with fresh perspectives on life, on kindness, on community, and on how fortunate she is.

• 51:49Speaker 01

  It's really tough to go through something like that, to kind of think, oh, is this how the world works? One day I can be sitting in my house and the next day I have nowhere to lay my head. Is that how life is? So, yeah, that was very hard. At the same time, you don't see great sacrificial good. Like, you just don't notice it when it's just your everyday life. So there's this beauty I get to take away, where people are kind and sacrificial and attentive and aware and willing to give one another the support that they need. I mean, it's just, it was really amazing.

• 52:44John Hopkins?

  Next time on Real Survival Stories, we head to the Scottish Highlands, to the UK's tallest peak, for a chilling tale that plays out in the mist. In February 1974, John Beatty, a keen amateur mountaineer, travels up to Scotland with his friend Barry to scale the notoriously difficult north face of Ben Nevis. With freezing fog swirling about them, the two friends embark on their vertical challenge. All is going to plan, until a disaster unfolds at warp speed.

• 53:15Speaker 03

  I heard a terrible swishing noise, and out in the mist beyond me, I watched his falling body plunging below me into the mist.

• 53:28John Hopkins?

  When Barry falls, the only thing that prevents him from plunging to his death is the rope attached to John and a single anchor point in the rock. But as time passes, how long can this precarious setup hold? Unable to extricate themselves from this deadly puzzle, it seems both men will just have to grip on tight and hope. That's next time on Real Survival Stories. Listen right now without waiting and without ads by joining Noiser Plus. This November on the Noiser Podcast Network. On Real Dictators, the story of Rafael Trujillo concludes with an epic shootout scene, plucked straight from a mafia movie. On Short History of, join us as we unthor utsi the Iceman,

• 54:13John Hopkins?

  Europe's oldest known natural human mummy, and step back into the swinging 60s. On Real Survival Stories, on Ben Nevis, Scotland's highest mountain, a chilling tale plays out in the mist. And after a volcanic eruption in New Zealand, a helicopter pilot scrambles to respond. In Jane Austen Stories, Emma continues with Dame Julie Andrews. And in Sherlock Holmes' Short Stories, the tale of hidden treasure and murder continues in The Sign of Fall. Get all of these shows and more early and ad-free on Noiser Plus. And for our American listeners, a special offer on Noiser's debut book, A Short History of Ancient Rome. Head to bookshop.org and use the code NONFIC26 for 15% off.

• 54:57John Hopkins?

  Valid for US customers November 1st to 30th. That's bookshop.org and use the code N O N F I C 26.

• 55:13John Hopkins?

  This November on the Noiser Podcast Network. On Real Dictators, the story of Rafael Trujillo concludes with an epic shootout scene, plucked straight from a mafia movie. On Short History of, join us as we unthor utsi the Iceman, Europe's oldest known natural human mummy, and step back into the swinging 60s. On Real Survival Stories, on Ben Nevis, Scotland's highest mountain, a chilling tale plays out in the mist. And after a volcanic eruption in New Zealand, a helicopter pilot scrambles to respond. In Jane Austen Stories, Emma continues with Dame Julie Andrews. And in Sherlock Holmes' Short Stories, the tale of hidden treasure and murder continues in The Sign of Fall.

• 55:56John Hopkins?

  Get all of these shows and more early and ad-free on Noiser Plus.