Greensburg anecdote

[Bob Hartig]

A friend of mine who lives in Kansas told me of some friends who were working through their church to assist the survivors in Greensburg. I thought Stormtrack readers might get a kick out of the following bit of news she shared with me. She writes:

"[My friends] told me an interesting story. Back in '55 (I think) the Kansas town of Udall had a devastating tornado that hit in the middle of the night. There was no warning, and many were killed. The town was demolished. Ten years after that tornado, the town realized that they had no squirrels, and few birds...that is because they hadn't planted trees. So, the city of Udall is sending trees to Greensburg so they don't realize in 10 years that they forgot to plant trees. I thought that was a thoughtful gesture."

I think so too. It's one of those simple things that can give people who have lost their town a vision for the future. Those are more than trees, they're symbols of hope. That's pretty cool in my book.

 

[Susan Strom]

That is extremely cool. I remember in San Diego I was told there was a lady named Kate who donated over 800 trees to Balboa Park. You look around San Diego and there are beautiful trees and plants everywhere. I never forgot that.

Then there are all those beautiful cherry trees that Toyko gave Washington DC decades ago. There are several thousand of those. Every time I think of the capitol I think of the pink flowers.

Trees are meaningful contributions, that's very cool. They are even more important now too for the environment now more than ever.

 

[fplowman]

On a side note.. How about all those stripped trees in the panhandles of Ok and Tx, It seems most all of them are.. Many times you see them in other areas in SW Kansas.. Of course we know why.. lol

 

[Brian Stertz]

Great to hear Greensburg is getting help from all angles. That town needs support from whatever sources it can come from to regroup and rebuild. The Udall KS F5 was a very tragic and devastating night time tornado... and it is tremendous to see that town offering support to another KS town in this way.

 

[Bob Schafer]

Another great anecdote, IMO

While in NOLA (with the Red Cross) in September 2005, we stopped at a fire station for potty breaks and to check on the firemen.

The captain pointed to a fire truck that said NYFD on it. He then explained that after 9-11-01, the city of New Orleans had donated that truck to the city of New York.

The city of New York donated it back to New Orleans after Katrina.

 

[B Ozanne]

On a side note.. How about all those stripped trees in the panhandles of Ok and Tx, It seems most all of them are.. Many times you see them in other areas in SW Kansas.. Of course we know why.. lol

Trees that get stripped of their leaves, especially in the spring, can leaf out again this year.

The trees in Greensburg are a different story. Some might survive, but they'll never be the same

 

[Greg Stumpf]

The trees in Greensburg are a different story. Some might survive, but they'll never be the same

Donating trees would be awesome. I just toured Hallam last week, and the small town is completely devoid of trees, and just looks like a new community of homes in the middle of farm fields.

 

[Mike Umscheid]

It's funny this was mentioned about the trees... because quite frankly, this is what I worried about most when I toured the damage for myself. I bet you 3/4 of the trees in Greensburg... the 100 year old trees... are dead and gone from such a severe blow. So what do they do with these remaining prongs sticking up from the ground? I've never seen trees the way I've seen trees in Greensburg in my life... it's a shame

 

[Willie Dines]

It always warms my heart to hear of people helping each other and even more so, when it is helping not only the people of a town to rebuild and to make a town even stronger and better, than before, but it also warms my heart to hear of the often forgotten thought of trees and plants being replanted, where others once stood, and so, it's like they are helping the earth as well, by planting more trees

I take my hat off in wholehearted respect and admiration, for anyone who is willing to help another, in any way

Thank you for posting this Brain H

Willie

 

[scott r currens]

It's funny this was mentioned about the trees... because quite frankly, this is what I worried about most when I toured the damage for myself. I bet you 3/4 of the trees in Greensburg... the 100 year old trees... are dead and gone from such a severe blow. So what do they do with these remaining prongs sticking up from the ground? I've never seen trees the way I've seen trees in Greensburg in my life... it's a shame

In 2003, I did a research project that involved taking tree-ring samples from trees that were damaged by the May 3, 1999 F5. Many of them looked just like the ones in Greensburg after they were hit. One of the things that shocked me was how normal they looked 4-years later. Trees have an amazing ability to recover, even the ones that are debarked. I know that a lot of the time people don't think the trees will ever be the same so they have them removed. My advice is to give the trees a year or so before you make the decision to remove. I'll see if I can find a few pictures to post that demonstrate how trees that sustained F4-5 type damage look a few years later.

 

[Brian Stertz]

Good points Scott...yes I noticed that too when I revisited the May 3rd Bridge Creek-Moore OK damage path 5 yrs. later. The force of debris impacts that these big trees take in a violent tornado is unreal. One other thing I have noticed is that in a lot of smaller/weaker tornadoes, big trees uproot ...and in the violent tornadoes some uproot but most get their leaves, branches and bark blasted off and remain as skeletons in the damage path. I am assuming this is probably related to the smaller scale twisting motions of smaller/weaker tornadoes. This would be a good study sometime down the line.

 

[Willie Dines]

That's yet another good point Brian.

A larger tornado has faster winds, but less updraft, than a smaller tornado... I'll explain.

A smaller tornado is more compact, and so, the circulation doesn't have as much distance to cover, therefore, allowing for more vertical momentum.

A Larger tornado's wind speeds and rotation, have more distance to cover, and so, generally the wind rotate in a flatter angle, which means that Larger tornadoes have more horizontal momentum with their wind speed, than vertical, but not in all cases.

I'm not too sure if I was able to explain this as clearly as I had hoped, but I hope that this helps.

Willie

 

[Steve Burrows]

Went to the Greensburg area today, Its impossible to get into the town unless you have the correct clearance to. Although I have heard one group of chaser's got in yesterday. Saw a number of other chasers about. The number of trucks going in and out of Greensburg was amazing, 6700 loads have been taken out as of this morning.

It is possible to get a good view of damage south of the city to houses, and farm buildings etc

 

[rdale]

A Larger tornado's wind speeds and rotation, have more distance to cover, and so, generally the wind rotate in a flatter angle, which means that Larger tornadoes have more horizontal momentum with their wind speed, than vertical, but not in all cases

I'm not sure what you're getting at (or why all the smileys keep getting into your posts) but big tornadoes and small tornadoes both have upward rising air. If anything I would think the debranching vs uprooting is a function of the change in wind speed. If winds gradually ramp up from 0 to 150 it's possible that as the tree loses its leaves and branches it stays in place. If it's a quick 0 to 100 like would happen in a smaller, more rapidly moving tornado, the tree doesn't deleaf and therefore snaps.

 

[Willie Dines]

rdale, please read the entire post gain (And leave the smileys alone!), and you may be able to understand my comparison better of what I'm getting at.

Large tornadoes still have an updraft (Obviously), but the angle of the rotational updraft, is not as steep in a large tornado, as it is in a smaller tornado, and so, the larger tornadoes, have more horizontal rotational momentum, and so, trees in a larger tornado, are essntially getting blasted by more horiztonally moving winds, instead of winds that are flowing upwards.

Willie

Note - edited to a few typing goofs