As someone who lived directly behind the above mentioned Wal-Mart and north of the Home Depot, I can confirm that the Wal-Mart, along with my apartment complex

As someone who lived directly behind the above mentioned Wal-Mart and north of the Home Depot, I can confirm that the Wal-Mart, along with my apartment complex (http://www.ancell-ent.com/1715_Rex_Ave_127B_Joplin/images/ http://www.ancell-ent.com/1715_Rex_Ave_127B_Joplin/images/), took a "glancing blow", the two were pretty much in a straight line along the path of it. More likely, we both suffered from side effects of the actual twister, and my apartment complex would have been in worse shape if we'd been hit by winds as bad as the Wal-Mart. While emptying my apartment, I ran into a NOAA team that based on things like how bolts sheared from adjacent cell towers estimated that we'd gotten hit by ... hmmm, can't remember exactly now, but not very fast winds compared to the 90 mph standard almost every building is designed for. Maybe 120 mph? Whereas the Home Depot was in the zone of EF4/EF5 total destruction, we're talking 166–200 mph/267–322 km/h for EF4, greater than that for EF5, and everything was flattened or otherwise destroyed in that area. Nothing but short piles of rubble, twisted girders of industrial buildings, etc.