vailpass
05-24-2011, 11:44 AM
Even at a time when tornado-caused destruction has been too commonplace in this country, pictures of the devastation in Joplin, Mo., are extraordinarily jarring.
"I only saw a few because honestly, I didn't want to look," former Broncos star Rod Smith said. "It doesn't help me to look."
Smith is a Denver-area resident, but a large portion of his heart and soul belongs to Joplin, where he attended Missouri Southern State University. The campus has been serving as a Red Cross triage and shelter for the victims of the tornado that ravaged Joplin on Sunday.
"The whole community, they raised me," said Smith, who was a Missouri Southern quarterback before he made the conversion to wide receiver for the Division II team. "It started with football and started with the football coaches. But it spilled into that community and that community spilled over into me. The people there embraced me and enhanced my work habits.
"That's who those people are — they're blue-collar people who work their butt off. Now we got to go back and work again."
Across the South, East and Midwest, approximately 1,000 tornadoes have resulted in 454 deaths so far this year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
No twister was more vicious than the one that pulverized Joplin on Sunday. The death toll from the tornado reached 116 by midafternoon Monday, making it the nation's deadliest tornado in 58 years.
Among the property casualties was Joplin High School, where Smith's daughter Vanessa graduated. She moved to Denver a couple of years ago.
Smith said that because cellphone service was out in the Joplin area, he had been contacting people Sunday into Monday through text messages and Facebook. He was particularly concerned about a friend who is a nurse in Joplin at St. John's Regional Medical Center, which took a direct hit from the tornado. He finally reached her in the wee hours Monday morning.
"She said she was on her way to work when it happened," Smith said. "I'm glad she had the late shift. She worked on the seventh floor at her hospital, and the eighth and ninth floors were gone."
Smith graduated from Missouri Southern in 1994 with three degrees and school career reception records in the major categories of catches, yards and touchdowns.
He was an undrafted rookie when the Broncos signed him and ended up setting franchise career records for catches (849), reception yards (11,389) and touchdowns scored (71). He retired after the 2007 season.
Smith said he has visited Joplin often since he graduated from college and had tentative plans to host a Joplin golf tournament in July. Like so many people with ties to Joplin, Smith wants to help with the town's recovery.
"My plan is — I don't have a plan right now," Smith said. "But I do plan on going down there. It's going to take a ton of money to rebuild some of the stuff, but the memories you can't fix."
Mike Klis: 303-954-1055 or mklis@denverpost.com
"I only saw a few because honestly, I didn't want to look," former Broncos star Rod Smith said. "It doesn't help me to look."
Smith is a Denver-area resident, but a large portion of his heart and soul belongs to Joplin, where he attended Missouri Southern State University. The campus has been serving as a Red Cross triage and shelter for the victims of the tornado that ravaged Joplin on Sunday.
"The whole community, they raised me," said Smith, who was a Missouri Southern quarterback before he made the conversion to wide receiver for the Division II team. "It started with football and started with the football coaches. But it spilled into that community and that community spilled over into me. The people there embraced me and enhanced my work habits.
"That's who those people are — they're blue-collar people who work their butt off. Now we got to go back and work again."
Across the South, East and Midwest, approximately 1,000 tornadoes have resulted in 454 deaths so far this year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
No twister was more vicious than the one that pulverized Joplin on Sunday. The death toll from the tornado reached 116 by midafternoon Monday, making it the nation's deadliest tornado in 58 years.
Among the property casualties was Joplin High School, where Smith's daughter Vanessa graduated. She moved to Denver a couple of years ago.
Smith said that because cellphone service was out in the Joplin area, he had been contacting people Sunday into Monday through text messages and Facebook. He was particularly concerned about a friend who is a nurse in Joplin at St. John's Regional Medical Center, which took a direct hit from the tornado. He finally reached her in the wee hours Monday morning.
"She said she was on her way to work when it happened," Smith said. "I'm glad she had the late shift. She worked on the seventh floor at her hospital, and the eighth and ninth floors were gone."
Smith graduated from Missouri Southern in 1994 with three degrees and school career reception records in the major categories of catches, yards and touchdowns.
He was an undrafted rookie when the Broncos signed him and ended up setting franchise career records for catches (849), reception yards (11,389) and touchdowns scored (71). He retired after the 2007 season.
Smith said he has visited Joplin often since he graduated from college and had tentative plans to host a Joplin golf tournament in July. Like so many people with ties to Joplin, Smith wants to help with the town's recovery.
"My plan is — I don't have a plan right now," Smith said. "But I do plan on going down there. It's going to take a ton of money to rebuild some of the stuff, but the memories you can't fix."
Mike Klis: 303-954-1055 or mklis@denverpost.com