May 23, 2011 – IAFF 2nd District Vice President Mark Woolbright and Missouri State Council of Fire Fighters President Tony Kelley are on the ground in Joplin, Missouri, where a tornado has killed more than 90 people and destroyed homes, fire stations, businesses, schools and a hospital. The scene has been described by those who’ve seen it as total devastation.

Woolbright and Kelley are working hard to assess membership needs. “Communications are still difficult, but we do know at least some of our members experienced significant damage to their homes and some fire stations may have been flattened,” says Woolbright.

He encourages any member who sustained damage to his or her home as a result of the tornado to contact him and to fill out an IAFF Disaster Relief form.

Meanwhile, Joplin Local 2618 fire fighters are working around the clock with other emergency agencies to respond to citizen emergencies, including responding to a series of gas leaks -- which caused several fires -- and searching for trapped victims.

Governor Jay Nixon has also dispatched a specialized search-and-rescue team to the City, along with 140 National Guard troops and state troopers from other parts of the state.

Additionally, President Barack Obama has ordered Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Craig Fugate and an incident management team to Joplin to coordinate federal disaster relief assistance efforts.