people from joplin, missouri and moore, oklahoma are paying it forward helping tornado victims in oklahoma who helped them two years ago. their emotional reunion next. [ male announcer ] erica had a rough day. there was this and this. she got a parking ticket. and she forgot to pay her credit card bill on time. good thing she s got the citi simplicity card.
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joplin. so glad you guys are okay. reporter: summer milton, eight months pregnant, her home heavily damaged in moore. two years ago she organized relief supplies for erin stevens who lost her home in the joplin, tornado. cnn was there. i can t do it again. it was too much. it is a miracle. it is god alone that we are alive. reporter: she an her family including isabella, just 19 months old, rode out the category 5 storm in the bathtub. you could feel the house trying to lift. then our tub after two yanks we flipped over and started flying. there was six of us, including our 19-month-old daughter in the tub and we just held on for dear life. r remember india erin and her family back on their feet are returning the favor. it was the same peoe who brought stuff to us and helped us out just lost their house. exact same people.
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we are just paying it forward. reporter: two cities, two families tied together by tragedy. erin s mother kathy mason not only lost her home but her sister perished in a tornado that claimed 161 lives. with every trial and tribulation we go through, it grows our faith in god. reporter: kathy still lives in joplin with you with housing stock low after the storm, erin moved an hour east to springfield. despite the distance, they are closer than ever. we are more aware of each other s needs. we re more aware of each other s feelings. i feel like when you go through a trial like this you don t really have any other option but to become closer and stronger. reporter: the hard lessons of tornado alley. now shared and shouldered by families who know today s pain and hardships to come. now joplin was just hammered by that ef-5 tornado and the city says it is now 85%, perhaps 90%
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Cities
Erin-stevens
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what did you see? has there ever been anything quite like this before in your storm chasing career? yes. back in 99 there was the most intense storm and how fast the tornado came down on the southwest side of the city and then how fast the width of the tornado literally exploded from a few hundred yards wide in the first 30 seconds on the ground to almost a mile wide and about two minutes later. and that s what i witnessed. and then moving through the city at close to 50 miles an hour at mile wide ef-4 tornado created tremendous damage is what we witnessed. yesterday in joplin and that s what we witnessed this powerful tornado that moved through the city of joplin. you re an experienced storm chaser. you do this for scientific reasons and create very valuable research by doing this. there must have been moments last night when you were fearful
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