2011 Joplin, MO Tornado Disaster Response
Main Instructions
- Please stay focused on the main instructions.
- All references/cited work must be research, scholarly, or academic sources ONLY. This means:
- Make sure to use scholarly sources only. No editorial or opinion pieces for references/cited work.
- This means all references/citations must be scholarly/academic/research sources. Do not use opinion editorials, even from scholarly sources. Scholarly sources have research study results and often have opinion editorials. The editorials are not scholarly but opinion. A research study will have an abstract, method, results, and discussion. Use the research as your citation APA style.
- Please make sure to add stats to the paper (numbers, percentages, increases, etc.) to support some of your claims.
- Please make sure to add a table or graph to explain the position within this paper.
Actual Assignment Instructions
2011 Joplin, MO Tornado Disaster Response
Thunder Storms and Tornados are a common occurrence in the central portion of the United States from March to September of any given year. The May 22, 2011 Joplin tornado was a powerful and catastrophic EF5-rated multiple-vortex tornado that struck Joplin, Missouri, United States, on the evening of Sunday, May 22, 2011. It was part of a May tornado outbreak and reached a maximum width of nearly one mile 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. Overall, the tornado killed 158 people injured 1,150 others and caused damages amounting to a total of $2.8 billion. It was the deadliest tornado to strike the U.S. since 1947 and the seventh-deadliest overall. It also ranked as the costliest single tornado in U.S. history; the insurance payout was nearly $3 Billion Dollars. Included in the damage caused by the tornado was extensive damage caused to St. John’s Regional Medical Center.
Your assignment:
In a MEMO format, in 800-1000 words, please discuss the following about the Joplin Disaster Response:
- What went well with the response?
- What were the significant challenges with the response?
- In which ways could the response have been improved?
- During Week One, we discussed Fayol’s Five Functions of Management: (a) Planning, (b) organizing, (c) coordinating, (d) commanding, and (e) controlling. As the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the Regional Medical Center in Joplin, MO how would you augment your healthcare facility’s disaster preparedness, Discuss which ways you would exercise Fayol’s First Function of Management, Planning into enhancing your facilities’ disaster preparedness, specifically for tornados?

