Columbia volunteers use acupuncture treatments to make a healing difference in Joplin

Here is my first story published in the Columbia Missourian where I will be spending the rest of the summer as a reporter.

Read the full story here.

Search and Rescue in Joplin Mo. after Tornado

I continued coverage in Joplin, Mo. at the Metro Emergency Transport system and alongside the local fire department. Rescues calls decreased from Monday but hundreds of people were still unaccounted for.

METS workers and out of town volunteers discuss their experiences since the tornado hit in Joplin. Paramedics and EMTS came from hundreds of miles away to provide support medically and emotionally.

A fire station is damaged by the EF5 tornado that hit Joplin, Mo Sunday evening. The tornado has claimed 124 lives in a six-mile path that destroyed the local hospital and majority of Main Street.

METS workers see St. John's Hospital for the first time up close on Tuesday, May 24. 

A man finds a diploma in a pile of rubble in Joplin, Mo.

A teddy bear hangs on a yield sign outside a home that was hit by an EF5 tornado Sunday evening in Joplin, Mo.

A walker hangs out the window of a patient room at St. John’s Regional Medical Center. Five patients died in the tornado that left the hospital severely damaged. 

Search and rescue workers sweep a field after responding to a call of a missing person.

The Kansas Task Force Rescue meets in the fire station to assist in Joplin, Mo.

METS workers find it difficult to locate tornado victims because the city is virtually unrecognizable.

Metro Emergency Transport System aides after tornado in Joplin, Mo.

The strength of this city is evident through the work that Metro Emergency Transport System is doing to help people trapped or injured after one of the biggest tornados in U.S. history hit Joplin, Mo.The tornado left a six mile path and has claimed 116 lives. St. John's Regional Medical Center has been severely damaged and Main Street has been hit so hard that it is difficult for locals to navigate streets they have driven on for years.

Many of the METS team's homes have been affected by the tornado yet they are taking long shifts away from their families. Additionally, the communities outside Joplin have demonstrated immense support for Joplin. Paramedics have come from all over Missouri and the border states to assist in cleaning up after a disaster that requires more hands than usual.

Linda Brinkoff of the Metro Emergency Transport System looks up to check the incoming weather.

A house is destroyed but the closet hangers and wall paintings are left virtually untouched.

Linda Brinkoff walks through damage in the backyard of a woman that called for assistance to be transported.

Two people wait by the train tracks in Joplin, Mo. following the tornado.

A family portrait lies on the ground in front of an apartment complex that was virtually leveled on 20th st.

Jay Stoney of the Metro Emergency Transport System takes a smoke break on McClelland Blvd.

Joplin residents search through rubble for missing neighbors and loved ones.

Wheelchairs sit outside the Greenbriar Nursing Home that was destroyed in Joplin tornado.