What can a tornado teach us about kindness?
6/23/202613 min
One evening in May of 2011, tornado sirens went off in a small Missouri city called Joplin. Thousands of homes were destroyed in the tornado, about a third of the town’s 50,000 residents were displaced and around 160 people died. And in the months following the tornado, the town became known not just for the destruction, but the kindness and cooperation that led to its recovery. Scientists who have studied behavior after mass traumas say, disasters can spark an outpouring of kindness and powerful bonds between strangers. Reporter Pauline Bartolone joins Short Wave co-host Emily Kwong to share the science behind this phenomenon.
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First 90 secondsSpeaker 10:00
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Emily Kwong· Host0:15
Short Wave-ers, follow us to make sure you never miss an episode. New episodes of Short Wave drop every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. [gentle music] You're listening to Short Wave from NPR. Hey, Short Wave-ers. Emily Kwong here with reporter Pauline Bartoloni. Hi, Pauline.
Pauline Bartolone· Guest0:35
Hey, Emily. Good to be here.
Emily Kwong· Host0:36
So today's episode starts with a story that begins about 15 years ago.
Pauline Bartolone· Guest0:40
Right. So we're going to a city in southwestern Missouri, a small city called Joplin, where a woman named Nanda Nunnelly lived with her husband and daughter, and on one evening back in May 2011, the city's tornado sirens went off. [siren blaring] Nanda went to the front door to see what was going on.
Nanda Nunnelly· Soundbite1:00
You could see what looked like a wall of rain or something, and it took a second to, like, understand that's a tornado. That's the tornado.
Pauline Bartolone· Guest1:15
So Nanda and her husband run to a bedroom closet, and they crouch down with their tiny dog, and within seconds, the tornado hits.
Nanda Nunnelly· Soundbite1:25
It was like standing in between two rail lines