(CBS News) JOPLIN, Mo. - A year ago Tuesday, this city was changed forever by a massive tornado that tore it apart, nearly wiping it off the map and causing almost $3 billion in damage.
About a third of the Joplin was destroyed.
One-hundred-sixty-one people were killed.
President Obama heads to Joplin Monday to address the high school's graduation. The tornado hit just after last year's ceremony ended.
A year ago, the amount of debris was just overwhelming, and you wondered how they would ever clean it all up.
But now, new homes going up almost everywhere in Joplin. The rebuilding effort is in overdrive.
So, there is progress, but this has been a very tough year for a lot of people here.
The F5 tornado that reached down from the Missouri sky was more than half-a-mile wide and tore a path 13 miles long.
The wound it left was deep: more than 7,000 homes damaged or destroyed and many lives lost.
Today, you can still see the scar that stretches across Joplin.