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We took the day off from interviews so that we could catch up on a few administrative tasks, edit video, upload pictures and map out our plan of attack for the next 3-5 days.

We decided to heed Olaf’s advice about the importance of remembering to listen to your body so we slept in, cooked a nice breakfast and then drove over to the KOA for our first showers since we arrived in Joplin. We followed up on last year’s interview with Debra Fort, the Principal at Irving ElementaryContinue reading “May 23 2012 – Follow-Up Interviews in Joplin”

We shot video of Misti’s Mission in action and interviewed some of her employees. Misti uses grant money to employ people who are down on their luck. She teaches them life skills and helps them build up a resume so that they can find long-term work when they graduate from her program. We filmed Joplin’sContinue reading “May 22 2012 – Day of Unity”

Air Force One landed at Joplin Regional Airport at 6:24 CDT.  The President stepped off at 6:38. He was greeted by Sen. Claire McCaskill, Gov. Jay Nixon, Missouri First Lady Georganne Nixon, Rep. Billy Long and Joplin Mayor Melodee Colbert-Kean. He walked over to the roughly 100 people waiting near the small terminal, standing outside on a beautifulContinue reading “President Obama Delivers Commencement Speech to the Joplin High School Senior Class”

The Storm Surge team got credentials to film Obama’s arrival and departure in Joplin. He was in town to give the commencement speech for the high school. Here is the transcript: THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release May 21, 2012 REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AT THE JOPLIN HIGH SCHOOL COMMENCEMENTContinue reading “Remarks by the President at the Joplin High Commencement”

We left the KOA early to meet up with Misti of Misti’s Mission. She runs a national storehouse for disaster relief supplies and was kind enough to let us camp on her property while we are in Joplin. We filmed her employees working and watched her lay the hammer down at a team meeting. WeContinue reading “May 21 2012 – Obama”

Our team left Seattle at 11:00am  on Friday and drove non-stop to arrive in Joplin an hour earlier on Sunday and immediately went to work. Our first interview was with professional storm chasers, PDS Storm Tours whom we met at Cunningham park in the center of the tornado’s path. They shared insights into how toContinue reading “Joplin – Production Day #1”

The STORM SURGE Team recently spent several weeks in the Gulf Coast region interviewing individuals whose lives have been negatively affected by natural and man-made disasters – from hurricanes like Katrina, Ike and Rita, to the BP Oil Spill and the massive tornado storms earlier this past spring. In early September, we had the opportunityContinue reading “Gulf Coast Vietnamese Fishermen Experience Biloxi Blues”

Challenges & Opportunities. Residents living in the Midwest and Gulf Coast have suffered more than their fair share of natural and man-made disasters in recent years.  Floods have soaked communities along the Mississippi, super tornadoes have plowed through Alabama, oil has lacquered the Louisiana coastline, and the lingering effects from Hurricane Katrina and the Great Recession haveContinue reading “Home”