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.
Tornadoes of 1992
The Mid-June 1992 tornado outbreak was one of the largest tornado outbreaks on record, affecting portions of the Central United States from June 14 to June 18, 1992. The outbreak began on June 14 when six tornadoes touched down in Colorado and Idaho. Fifty-eight tornadoes were reported across portions of the Great Plains on June 15, and 65 more were reported over much of the central U.S. on June 16. The 123 tornadoes that touched down on June 15–16 make that two-day span the 3rd largest two-day tornado outbreak in U.S. history behind only the Super Outbreak of April 3–4, 1974 and the May 2004 tornado outbreak sequence. Twenty-eight more tornadoes touched down on June 17, and 13 more touched down on June 18, giving this outbreak 170 confirmed tornadoes.