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KIRKSVILLE, MO --
With a heavy heart, a Kirksville pastor has returned to town after providing disaster relief in Joplin.
    
Kirksville Salvation Army Major Bill Hogg recently returned from spending 10 days offering spiritual and emotional support as a chaplain to tornado victims.
    
He says words can't describe the devastation when he drove into town.

“I've worked a lot of hurricanes, major hurricanes in the last seven, eight years, and driving into town, I just went wow, and the gentleman that was driving in the car with me, said what and I said, this is the worst I've ever seen, and both of us at the same time, our reaction was, it almost looks like the bomb went off and this is what's left,” Hogg said.
    
Hogg and three other men took the Salvation Army's mobile feeding canteen to Joplin, where they served three meals a day to victims and disaster relief workers.
    
Major Hogg says those who lost their homes or family members came to him looking for compassion and emotional support.

“In one instance I even cried with a person, they had come up to us and all she said was thank you, you're just everything for everybody when we need it, and she put her head down on my shoulder and she started to cry and I'm an emotional guy, I'll cry too and I cried with her. When she got done she said thanks, that helped,” Hogg said.
    
Despite all the loss suffered by the tornado, Hogg says Joplin is starting to recover. The city plans to rebuild its high school and St. John's Hospital.
   
Hogg says by the time he left Joplin last Thursday, about 3.5 million tons of debris had already been cleared away. But with more than 8,000 buildings destroyed, the rebuilding process will take time.
     
He thanks the Heartland for all of the support and prayers. The community has donated over $2,000 for the Salvation Army to send to Joplin.

Hogg says there is a definite possibility that he could be called to serve in Joplin again.
   
If you're interested in helping the tornado victims, officials are saying that donating money is the best thing you can do because they have no where to put other supplies.

If you’d like your Salvation Army donation to strictly benefit the victims of Joplin, write “Joplin tornado” on the memo line of your check.

Donations may be dropped off at the Salvation Army in Kirksville at 1004 W. Gardner or the Salvation Army Thrift Store on South Baltimore Street. Or you can mail donations to Box 1048, Kirksville, MO 63501.

Heartland helps out tornado victims