From the producers of “Dateline,” NBC’s new series “Survival Mode” will give viewers an inside look at some of the largest and most recent disasters through accounts from those who lived through them.
The Monday night debut episode chronicles the category 5 tornado that hit Joplin, Missouri in 2011, leaving the city of 50,000 people to face a record numbers of deaths and miles of destroyed property.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Joplin tornado ahead of the premiere “Survival Mode” episode.
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Joplin, Missouri is a small city in the southwest part of the state. It was established in 1873 and grew significantly due to wealth created by zinc mining. The city has a land area of about 38 square miles and sits along Route 66 highway.
Joplin is now home to more than 50,000 people.
The Joplin tornado, also referred to as the Joplin EF5, struck the city on the evening of Sunday, May 22, 2011. EF5 is the most intense rating on the Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale for tornadoes.
There was a severe weather watch issued in the days prior for surrounding areas, but it wasn’t until 5:17 PM ET on Sunday that the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for the Joplin area — less than 30 minutes before the tornado touched down with extreme wind speeds of over 200 mph.
After making landfall, the Joplin tornado moved west to east, cutting a six mile long path and wrecking 8,000 buildings and homes.
Also in its path were a nursing home, hospital, stores and schools. As the tornado demolished Joplin High School, its graduating class had just concluded its commencement ceremony at Missouri Southern State University, where seven students and one staff member would die as the tornado ripped through.
The storm lasted about 30 minutes.
The tornado was the deadliest single tornado to occur in the United States since the Flint, Michigan tornado of 1953, with 161 dying as a result of the 2011 twister.
There were also over 1,000 reported injuries.
Aside from the tornado’s intensity, another possible reason for the high number of fatalities is the public response to the warning.
The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology interviewed Joplin residents after the tornado and found that many of them believed that there had been high rates of false-alarm tornado warnings leading up to the tornado, and therefore they may have been slower to evacuate or seek shelter.
In the hours after the Joplin tornado struck, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon called on the National Guard to help aid in search and rescue efforts, and President Barack Obama mobilized the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide support and aid to residents who lost homes and loved ones.
Relief organizations and teams of volunteers helped to slowly rebuild Joplin. Years after the tornado struck, NASA satellites captured a still-visible imprint or “scar” from Joplin EF5’s path.
“Survival Mode” premieres Monday, July 7 at 10/9 p.m. on NBC, and streams on Peacock beginning July 8.
The remaining episodes in the limited series will air on Monday nights in the same time slot on NBC, and will release on Peacock the following day.
