Joplin High School
On May 22, 2011, a tornado that killed 161 people in Joplin extensively damaged the high school and Franklin Tech. The high school's graduation ceremonies had just taken place about three miles away on the Missouri Southern State University campus shortly before the tornado struck.
According to principal Kerry Sachetta, "You see pictures of World War II, the devastation and all that with the bombing. That's really what it looked like. I couldn't even make out the side of the building. It was total devastation in my view. I just couldn't believe what I saw." In the weeks after the tornado, it was determined that the campus was irreparable and would need to be completely rebuilt. 
Planning for a temporary school began four days after the May 22 tornado. School officials announced in June 2011 that juniors and seniors in the 2011-12 class (and possibly later) would attend classes in a section of Northpark Mall. Classes began in the renovated former Shopko location as scheduled on August 17, 2011.
2003 South Dakota tornado outbreak
The 2003 South Dakota tornado outbreak, known locally as "Tornado Tuesday", was a tornado outbreak that occurred in the southeastern and east central part of South Dakota in the United States on June 24, 2003. At the time, this outbreak tied a United States record for the most tornado touchdowns in a single day for one state, with 67. The event was part of a larger outbreak that produced 125 tornadoes. However this record was surpassed by a tornado outbreak in Kansas on May 23, 2008 when 73 tornadoes hit the state, including two that started in Oklahoma. It was also the largest tornado outbreak ever recorded in the astronomical summer period that was not related to a tropical cyclone.