Joplin Wal-Mart sued for wrongful death regarding massive tornado

The Joplin Wal-Mart store on Range Line Road collapsed due to an EF-5 tornado that decimated nearly a third of the city. Now, more than a year after the devastation, one family of a dead victim seeks restitution for the store's alleged negligence.

The Joplin Globe reports the family of Stanley Kirk filed a lawsuit in late July. As of Friday, the civil action is now in federal court. The lawsuit names Wal-Mart as a defendant in addition to the Joplin store's manager, Andy Martin.

Martin alleges he wasn't in the store at the time. The family believes Kirk would not have died had he been allowed to leave the store. Both Kirk's widow and daughter, plaintiffs in the suit, believe Kirk wasn't properly secured in a safe part of the store. Three people died in the Joplin Wal-Mart as a result of the tornado. The twister claimed 161 lives.

Kirk's death is tragic and was a choice of no choices. Many people died that day believing they were safe inside a house or in a store. The Springfield News-Leader reported seven people died in the Home Depot store, a structure also destroyed by the massive funnel. Three of those victims were from one family who had just left the McAlister's Deli across the street which remained intact after the storm.

Had Kirk left the store in his car, his fate may well have been same. Several people died in their cars such as Joplin High School senior Will Norton. The New York Daily News reveals Norton was driving his Hummer while down Range Line Road before getting ripped out of the vehicle.

There are multiple points of blame in the 161 deaths in Joplin. Perhaps the most telling story is that not much could be done with winds exceeding 200 mph. The best buildings in the world couldn't withstand such an onslaught.

Who lived or died that day had nothing to do with human choices. God decided the fate of thousands on May 22, 2011.

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