As a resident of Southern California, I’ve yet to come face-to-face with one of those terrifying tornadoes I’ve seen in movies. Tornadoes don’t occur often in our state. Whenever they do occur, they are weak, ranked EF-0 in the Enhanced Fujita Scale, causing little damage. The reality of being pummeled by a violent tornado is a devastating, life-changing, traumatic experience. Such was the case for people living in Joplin, Missouri, on May 22, 2011, featured in the Netflix Documentary The Twister: Caught in the Storm, released on March 19, 2025.

The tornado that struck Joplin in 2011 was rated EF-5 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, with maximum winds over 200 mph (320 kph). Ranked seventh among the top ten deadliest tornadoes in United States history, it is the deadliest so far in the 21st century.

With a population of more than 50,000 and a population density near 1,500 people per square mile, Joplin suffered extensive damage amounting to US$2.8 billion. According to the account recorded in President Obama White House Archives, the tornado first touched down in the southern part of the city at 5:41 p.m. local time. During the following 32 minutes, it headed eastward across the city, demolishing everything in its path for 13 miles (21 kilometers) and extending as much as a mile (1.6 kilometers) wide at its widest extent.

The forces of Mother Nature showed no mercy for all those in her path. Our gender, religion, political affiliation, and color of our skin offered no protection. Our techno-creations were mere toys in the face of her might. Heavy buses and tractor trailers were among the more than 15,000 vehicles picked up and tossed by her unstoppable winds. She rolled vehicles into balls of bent metal and broken glass, a reminder of our futile pursuit of limitless power.

The EF-5 tornado destroyed an estimated 6,954 homes and severely damaged 359 homes. Directly hitting Joplin’s Regional Medical Center, it ripped the top two floors from the structure and blew out every window in the building. With just minutes to get to safety, six of the hospital’s 183 patients lost their lives.

Unaware of the ferocious tornado headed their way, teachers, parents, and senior graduates of Joplin High School had gathered off campus at Missouri Southern State University for their graduation ceremony. When the tornado hit the High School, just minutes after the ceremony ended, most of the lucky participants were already on their way home. Miracles do happen.

Joplin’s High School principal rushed the 150 or so stragglers into the basement. Seven students (including one of the graduates) and a staff member died that day. In total, the tornado took the lives of 161 people and injured nearly 1,000.

Commercial buildings, the socio-economic lifeblood of a community, were not spared. The tornado also destroyed or damaged banks, churches, electric power company, elementary schools, two fire stations, gas stations/convenient stores, grocery stores, Home Depot, nursing home, transmission towers, Walmart, and more. Thousands of people were not only displaced, but also lost their jobs.

How does one recover from such devastation and loss?

About 1,200 tornadoes hit the United States every year. While they can strike any one of the fifty contiguous states, at any time of the year, the highest incidence occurs in the central Great Plains region, referred to as “Tornado Alley.” It’s not a fixed location, but rather shifts from the Southeast in the cooler months, toward the southern and central plains in May and June, and the northern plains and Midwest during early summer.

During 2024, according to data from NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center (SPC), there were 1,473 confirmed tornado reports to-date. When the numbers are finalized, 2024 will most likely have the second-most confirmed tornadoes on record after 2004 with 1,817 tornadoes. This number exceeds the U.S. annual average of 1,225 tornadoes for the period 1991-2010. With more than 100 reported tornadoes per month, the months of April, May, June, July, and December were the most prolific last year.

The number of tornadoes continue to increase this year. During the period January to April 2025, we’ve already recorded 711 preliminary tornado occurrences. This number more than doubles the 1991-2010 average of 337.9 tornadoes for this period. If confirmed, this would be the second-highest tornado count on record for this period, behind 912 tornadoes in 2011.

Is the warming of our planet influencing the number and intensity of tornadoes? Our climatologists don’t know. It’s complicated. Since U.S. tornado records date back only to the 1950s and vary significantly from year to year, it’s difficult for them to identify long-term trends. Until the early mid-1990s when an extensive Doppler radar network increased tornado detection, records of sightings relied upon eyewitness reports. Under such conditions, events in unpopulated or remote areas would go unrecorded.

The nature of the tornado itself presents yet another challenge. When compared to hurricanes, they are relatively small and short-lived, lasting from a few seconds to a few hours. This makes it very difficult for scientists to develop climate change simulation models.

To complicate matters more, while our scientists know the weather “ingredients” necessary for the development of supercell thunderstorms that produce tornadoes, they don’t fully understand how tornadoes are formed. Mother Nature, it seems, is not ready to reveal all her secrets.

What do we know? Tornadoes seem to be occurring in greater “clusters,” with 30 or more tornadoes in one day. For example, during April 25-28, 2024, severe weather produced 183 tornadoes: an average of 45.7 tornadoes per day. These included eight EF-3s and one EF-4 tornadoes. The neighboring states most affected were Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri.

Evidence also suggests that Tornado Alley has shifted eastward. States notorious for tornadoes such as Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas are seeing a decrease in tornadoes while states like Tennessee, Georgia, Arkansas, Minnesota, Illinois, and Iowa are seeing an increase. States with higher population densities mean a potential increase in more devastation and more collective trauma.

Recovery after a severe weather disaster can take several years. In the days after the tornado struck Joplin, Missouri, on May 22, 2011, help poured in from volunteers, neighboring cities and states, and federal disaster teams from across the country. Over the years since then, federal disaster relief funds have played a vital role in their dramatic recovery. You can learn about “Thirteen Years of Joplin’s Journey: A Testament to Resilience and Community Spirit” on their Facebook Page Joplin Proud.

When compared to hurricanes, most tornadoes may seem like inconsequential minor storms. Don’t be fooled. Their number and frequency can leave us in a constant state of alert, wearing us thin. Then comes the Big One, the fatal blow that knocks us down. To get back up on our feet again, as individuals and as a community, we must hold each other close. Together, we get to work and rise again.

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In case you missed the news on June 5, 2025, while the world’s two most powerful men had an explosive breakup, NOAA and Scripps Institute of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, announced that atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations have peaked above 430 parts per million in 2025—the highest it has been in perhaps 30 million years.