Google Street View’s The Only Proof This Tornado-Destroyed Block Ever Existed

The catastrophic tornado that’s shredded Joplin, Missouri, has left plenty of jarring imagery in its wake – in addition to bodies and wreckage. But when you look at a pile of ruin, it’s hard to imagine there was anything before.

Photographer Aaron Fuhrman has been documenting the landscape carnage with vivid, violent panoramas. And for a little context, he matched one up with the way the corner once looked on Street View. Like any other corner. Intact, peaceful, green. When you look at the frozen-in-time slices of civilisation that Google Maps preserves, it’s hard to imagine that anything could change the way it looks on your screen. Until a tornado comes and destroys the town. [Aaron Fuhrman via Daily What]