Joplin and Duquesne residents and nonprofit organizations who have rebuilt or repaired their homes or buildings from the 2011 tornado and are ready for trees are eligible to receive up to three free trees.
Volunteers also will plant those trees if requested.
The Missouri Department of Conservation has made about 1,500 trees available through Priority ReLeaf, a program of Forest ReLeaf of Missouri. The program has been in operation to help plant trees in parks and residential areas.
“We quit planting in the summer,” said Ricstet Mayer, forestry recovery coordinator for the Department of Conservation. “Now we are planting again. We need applicants. We have more trees.” The program runs through March.
A variety of trees are available, from tall shade trees like oaks to flowering and ornamental trees such as redbud, serviceberry, hackberry and tulip trees. Mayer said the smaller trees may be planted in areas where utility lines are close so that they do not interfere with power lines like the larger trees do. The trees are 3-gallon size, about 5 to 6 feet tall.
“If you moved back into your house, and you’re ready for trees, and you had damage from the tornado, you’re eligible” for the free trees, Mayer said.
Volunteers from Rebuild Joplin and AmeriCorps will plant them.
“We have volunteers through the fall planting season,” Mayer said.
Applications to obtain the trees are available at the Joplin Parks and Recreation Department administrative building at 3010 W. First St., or at Duquesne City Hall, 1501 S. Duquesne Road. They also are available on the city’s website at www.joplinmo.org.
Details: Joplin, 417-624-6937, or Duquesne, 417-781-5085.
May 2011 Joplin tornado
Free trees available through state program; volunteers ready to help with planting
- May 2011 Joplin tornado
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Joplin team drove through storm to get to Moore
It was a long drive in the middle of a severe thunderstorm that had earlier produced a massive tornado in Moore, Okla. With the two-year anniversary of Joplin’s deadly twister approaching on Wednesday, a team of 14 Joplin emergency workers was ready to risk the trip in order to get help to a hurting Moore.
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SLIDESHOW: One year later, One day of unity, updated
Photos from a day of events commemorating the May 22, 2011 tornado anniversary
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Federal, state leaders salute Joplin’s recovery
A deadly May twister may have punched a hole in Joplin and Duquesne two years ago, but the resolve to repair it will help other communities stand strong when they face similar disasters. That was the message of state and national diginitaries to a crowd of about 2,500 who observed the second anniversary of Joplin’s devastating May 22, 2011, storm during a ceremony Wednesday in Cunningham Park.
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Banner from Joplin to be sent to Moore residents
A giant vinyl banner adorned with heartfelt messages from Joplin tornado survivors to the residents of Moore, Okla., became a centerpiece of Wednesday’s observance of the two-year anniversary of the May 22, 2011, tornado.
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Rick Rescorla award named for hero of Vietnam War, 9-11 terror attacks
The Rick Rescorla National Award for Resilience is named for a 62-year-old vice president of security for Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. who directed an evacuation of the company’s 2,700-person workforce in the South Tower of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2011.
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Community gearing up for two-year anniversary ceremony this afternoon
With the playground full of children, it could be any other day at Joplin’s Cunningham Park, but the white tents popping up and neat rows of white chairs lined up nearby indicate something more is happening today.
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Farmers Insurance teams up with Rebuild Joplin
Farmers Insurance announced Tuesday that the company will team up with Rebuild Joplin for an initiative to help the community complete its recovery efforts. The company already has placed one of its executives in Joplin, and it is pledging additional funds and volunteer hours by company workers to go toward the city’s recovery.
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Joplin man continues struggle to recover two years after tornado
As the Joplin tornado passed overhead, sweeping the house at 2430 S. Pennsylvania Ave. away in its wake, there was a moment of calm. Delbert Mcguirk was on his back in the basement, where he had sought shelter along with his wife, daughter and two grandchildren. In that moment of relative quiet, he stared up into the eye of the tornado.
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Storms cause damage throughout the Four States
Four-State Area residents hunkered down twice Monday to ride out tornadoes and powerful spring storms, then went to work cleaning up. The worst damage from Monday night’s storm was being reported in Ottawa County, Okla., near Wyandotte. That followed a report of an EF-1 tornado early Monday morning near Carthage.
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Two plead guilty to post-tornado wire theft
Two defendants pleaded guilty Monday to stealing copper wire from utility poles in the wake of the May 22, 2011, tornado that struck Joplin. Timothy M. Silveria, 45, of Joplin, and Nycoa K. Kracht, 32, of Laurel, Ind., entered open pleas of guilty in Jasper County Circuit Court to felony counts of theft from a public utility.
- More May 2011 Joplin tornado Headlines
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Joplin team drove through storm to get to Moore
