This is an IHeart podcast.

This is Lee Habib, and this is Our American Stories, and we tell stories about everything here on this show, including your

stories, send them to our American Stories.com. That's our Americanstories.com. They're some of our

our favorites. On May 22nd, 2011, the city of Joplin, Missouri was decimated by the costliest tornado

in American history. It took 162 lives and injured thousands.

The tornado left a permanent scar on the Joplin community.

Joplin has now since rebuilt in a magnificent way, but the scar, well, it remains.

Here to tell the story of loss and love in Joplin.

Is former KSNF Channel 16 meteorologist Jeremiah Cook and current KSNF reporter Gretchen Bolander.

Here's Jeremiah.

As far as who I am,

I'm a Southwest Missouri farm boy.

I love Southwest Missouri.

I am convinced that when the work of saving humanity is done and God retires, he is going to

retire in Southwest Missouri.

There's just no place like it on earth.

I think that's part of what made it so much fun to be a journalist and a weather anchor here

was I was getting a chance to tell the stories and predict the weather for my family,

for the people I grew up with.

This was not just another place to work.

This was my home.

My wife used to joke that I was married to her, but the weather was my mistress.

...