On May 22, 2011, an EF-5 tornado struck Joplin, Missouri, a city of 50,000 in the southwest corner of the state. Packing winds of more than 200 miles an hour, the tornado tore through the center of the city, tearing off two floors of the city’s main hospital, demolishing churches and businesses, and rendering whole neighborhoods unrecognizable. More than 150 people lost their lives in the storm, and the devastation to the city was enormous. Yet the outpouring of support, both from within the com.