Within 24 hours of the devastating tornado that nearly wiped Joplin, Missouri off the map, Dave Schrader with the Southeast Pa. chapter of the Red Cross was on the ground there to help.
"Imagine a path of destruction a mile wide starting from the Schuylkill Expressway at City Line Avenue…all the way out to Route 3," he recalled.
Schrader who responds to natural disasters for a living says it was an experience he will not soon forget.
"You never got used to it still can't believe what you were seeing no matter how many times you drove through," he said.
In fact, his first night with survivors in the still standing Missouri Southern State University gymnasium, sirens roared.
"There was basically a tornado warning in the shelter that night," he said. "Basically, you had 300-500 people who 48 hours earlier had been through one of the worst tornados in the history of the United States and suddenly tornado sirens rang out again and you could see the fear."
Even with six miles of splintered wood, twisted steel and literally millions of tons of debris, Schrader says there was no pity, instead resilience and the promise to rebuild.
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"Even people who have lost everything including family members they were still pitching in. They were not feeling sorry for themselves. They were not sitting around asking for handouts. They were out there doing help," he said.
In just a week, Schrader alongside hundreds of volunteers began the massive task of picking up Joplin.
"Think of starting a $3 - $5 million business in 72 hours. You gotta to hire all the people, you gotta fly them in, you gotta feed them, you gotta process them and you gotta send them out to where the need is greatest."
There's been a huge outpouring of support for the effort in Joplin, but Schrader says the sending of physical items is actually counterproductive. He says monetary donations are the best way to help the cause.
For more on how you can help, visit the Red Cross website.
