What year did the Joplin tornado happen?
2011 Joplin tornado
The 2011 Joplin tornado was a catastrophic EF5-rated multiple-vortex tornado that struck Joplin, Missouri, late in the afternoon of Sunday, May 22, 2011. It was part of a larger late-May tornado outbreak and reached a maximum width of nearly during its path through the southern part of the city. This particular tornado was unusual in that it intensified in strength and grew larger in size at a very fast rate. The tornado tracked eastward across the city, and then continued eastward across Interstate 44 into rural portions of Jasper County and Newton County. It was the third tornado to strike Joplin since May 1971.
Freeman Health System
Freeman's role in the aftermath of the 2011 Joplin tornado was crucial to the community, treating more than 1700 injured patients, more than half within the first day. The hospital only narrowly escaped the almost mile-wide path of complete destruction across the southern half of the city, being just six blocks south of the storm-ravaged St. John's Regional Medical Center (now known as Mercy Hospital Joplin). Freeman itself sustained some damage to its facilities, losing a portion of its roof. Following its competitor's relocation and reconstruction, the two hospitals are now more than a mile apart.