Former Nelsonite 'humbled' by devastation in Joplin, Missouri
By The Nelson Daily Sports
Laura (Dolly Cartlidge) Leach lived in Nelson for 28 years before moving to United States, Missouri, in 1987.
Leach, the daughter of Ted and Evelyn Cartlidge of Balfour, graduated from L.V. Rogers High School in Nelson in 1971. She married husband Mike in 1986.
She returned to school, graduating from Central Methodist University with an R.N. degree in 1994.
Leach lives not too far from Joplin, Missouri, and was quick to rush to the devastated community to help after a tornado blew through.
The former Nelsonite, a few days before U.S. President Barack Obama visited the midwest state, wanted to share with The Nelson Daily readers what she saw during her trek to Joplin …
The devastation and destruction you see on the news does not even come close to what is actually here . . . it is overwhelming.
I took a wrong turn trying to get to the university where I will be working and ended up behind what used to be Home Depot.
There is nothing but twisted metal in a pile. It is the most horrific thing to see.
Knowing that people may still be in the building made me sick. I cannot even begin to explain how bad it really is. It is like a steamroller a mile wide rolled over everything for miles — there is nothing left standing.
The help here is unbelievable. The Red Cross is phenomenal. There is help from everywhere. I saw a truck from Georgia.
The dump trucks full of tree branches just keep going by. There are electrical trucks everywhere putting up lines. They made it starting today you do not need permits to come into town.
Gawkers everywhere make it hard to get around. Curfew from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. It makes me feel very, very small in the scheme of things.
(This is) very, very humbling.
— Dolly Cartlidge
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