Samuel Brister looks at the remains of his family’s van that was mangled in last month’s tornado. (Roger Nomer/The Joplin, Mo., Globe)

CNHI News Service

JOPLIN, Mo. -- Samuel Brister’s heavily-damaged 1992 GMC conversion van is a piece of art. Or could be.

His vehicle was in a parking lot outside a Wal-Mart before the May 22 struck Joplin, while his family was inside shopping. Later, it was found a few blocks away wrapped around a tree.

The twisted, mangled van –- one of an estimated 18,000 vehicles that were lost in the storm -– could become an artifact to show future generations of the tornado’s ferocity.

Patrick Tuttle, director of the Joplin Convention and Visitors Bureau, said: “Since the beginning of this, we have been looking for ways to document what happened. Not knowing how to document it for the future, we decided to acquire some unique pieces now that someday might be used in a monument.

“These examples represent the worst of what the tornado did, and that van is among the worst. You want them in case you need them.”

The van, which was not insured and had a scrap metal value of $175, has not been purchased by the city, although two ruined vehicles have been donated.

“We had just bought it,” Brister said. “We hadn’t had a chance to get insurance on it. I’m just glad nobody was in it.”

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Details for this story were provided by The Joplin (Mo.) Globe.