built once before 17 years ago. on tuesday collins discussed the idea with shocked city officials. wednesday they gave him the okay to start. thursday construction began. we ve had just an enormous outpouring of generosity and help to get prepared to get back to this point. the city has been great. the city of job lynn allowed us a permit in record time. reporter: there s still no electricity in this part of joplin. the substation across the street remains in ruins. a generator powers the tools passersby continuing stop to offer encouragement and support. i just had two police officers stop by and say, we want to shake your hand, the first glimmer of hope that we ve really seen towards the town rebuilding. reporter: four nearby homes that collins built in the past year are in ruins. already he has at least six projects waiting to be rebuilt. my heart and prayers go out to everyone that did lose loved ones. i hate for it to come to something like this to bring busine
colleague, paul vercammen that he wanted to rebuild. they said he couldn t have a building permit yet. the process is working for some, not working for others. one more development to share with you. earlier today we went to the beginning of the tornado, the place where the tornado touched down about three miles to the west of us. you can see the long, long debris field. what we ve been told throughout the week is that this tornado cut a six-mile swath through the city of joplin. we decided to see for ourselves. we went all the way down to the area where the tornado first started and drove east until it ended. and actually, that debris field and visual confirmation from local residents that a tornado was on the ground stretched for 12 miles which is twice as long as the first initial estimates, and it explains why there is just so much damage throughout joplin, missouri and the surrounding areas, fredicka. that is incredible, casey.