C. J. Huff, former superintendent of the Joplin, Mo., schools, was preparing for graduation on May 22, 2011, when a devastating tornado struck the city.

The rain-wrapped wedge tornado, over a mile wide with winds exceeding 200 miles per hour, carved a six-mile path through Joplin, obliterating homes, businesses, a hospital, and nearly 7,500 houses. It killed 161 people, marking it as the deadliest U.S. tornado in over 50 years. Huff recalled seeing trees float in the air and feeling violent wind shifts as the storm approached.

After the tornado lifted, he immediately drove to assess school damage, finding Joplin High School’s gym and performing arts center destroyed, with trees sawed off and power lines sparking. Principal Kerry Sachetta described the scene as “like Armageddon,” with debris embedded in walls and the smell of cracked timber and natural gas in the air. The tornado’s force, far beyond typical wind speeds, turned vehicles and debris into missiles, scouring asphalt and stripping clothing and skin from victims.

Thirty minutes after touchdown, the storm lifted, and the sky returned to blue. Huff’s experience in leading recovery efforts has since informed his work advising other disaster-stricken districts, even as he grapples with the personal toll of the event.