One year ago this week, Steve John and family in West Seattle raised money to help his aunt and uncle who were affected by the May 22, 2011, tornado that killed more than 150 people and destroyed thousands of homes in Joplin, Missouri; two of Steve’s neighbors organized a benefit garage sale, and many friends and neighbors donated items to sell. This week, Steve e-mailed WSB to say he wanted to publicly thank everyone again: “I’ll never be able to repay everyone, both here and at my place of work, who pitched to help far away strangers in their time of need” – and to share then-and-now photos of his relatives’ neighborhood. Above, their house post-tornado; ahead, their house now, plus the then-and-now views of their neighborhood:

The Joplin couple, Clarence and Betty, survived by getting under a mattress on the floor of their home. This is what their neighborhood looked like post-tornado:

And now:

The West Seattle yard sale last year raised more than $1,000. Last month, as Joplin marked one year post-tornado, the town declared itself “on the mend”; here’s a CNN followup.