Charles Kuster
EF4
This Tuesday marks the third anniversary of the incredible supercell that produced the EF-5 Greensburg, Kansas tornado that leveled the entire town leaving eleven dead in its wake.
It serves as another reminder of how devastating these storms can be to those affected. This documentary shows some of the aftermath and early recovery efforts. Its runtime is a bit long, (58 minutes) but it is worth watching. The reports and discussion thread here on Stormtrack also provide a lot of good information about this event (there is an impressive radar loop at the bottom of page 2 in the discussion thread).
May 4, 2007 was marked by a strong cap especially further south across southern Kansas, Texas, and Oklahoma. However, the first storm formed in the northeastern Texas Panhandle which started a chain of events that would eventually lead to the Greensburg supercell. The initial storm produced several left splits which in turn also produced left splits. Near the Kansas/Oklahoma border, however; a storm formed along the outflow of one of these left splits. This atypical storm, for this day anyway, became the Greensburg supercell. Without the formation of the initial storm in the Texas panhandle, it is possible that the Greensburg supercell would not have formed. In addition to the 1.7 mile wide Greensburg tornado, this incredible storm produced multiple long track tornadoes including one immediately after the Greensburg tornado dissipated (see here for NWS event report).
Remarkably, this small Kansas town is rebuilding and they are rebuilding green! They are building a twenty-first century community that utilizes many eco friendly technologies and sustainable building designs. Greensburg will serve as a model “green community†for the future, setting an example for other communities to strive for. On March 12, 2010 I visited Greensburg and was impressed and elated by the progress I saw. A few pictures follow:
New Main Street
New hospital
LEED Platinum "green" building
http://i40.tinypic.com/sxfq.jpg Bench made from tornado debris.
http://i43.tinypic.com/2wm485u.jpg New high school nearing completion.
Short clip about the green rebuilding plan.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who helped in the search and rescue efforts immediately after this tornado as well as in any other disaster situation. If anyone is interested in helping out with the rebuilding of Greensburg, please follow this link. Lastly, if anyone has any thoughts, pictures, ideas, or accounts regarding this memorable event please share them here! Thanks!

May 4, 2007 was marked by a strong cap especially further south across southern Kansas, Texas, and Oklahoma. However, the first storm formed in the northeastern Texas Panhandle which started a chain of events that would eventually lead to the Greensburg supercell. The initial storm produced several left splits which in turn also produced left splits. Near the Kansas/Oklahoma border, however; a storm formed along the outflow of one of these left splits. This atypical storm, for this day anyway, became the Greensburg supercell. Without the formation of the initial storm in the Texas panhandle, it is possible that the Greensburg supercell would not have formed. In addition to the 1.7 mile wide Greensburg tornado, this incredible storm produced multiple long track tornadoes including one immediately after the Greensburg tornado dissipated (see here for NWS event report).
Remarkably, this small Kansas town is rebuilding and they are rebuilding green! They are building a twenty-first century community that utilizes many eco friendly technologies and sustainable building designs. Greensburg will serve as a model “green community†for the future, setting an example for other communities to strive for. On March 12, 2010 I visited Greensburg and was impressed and elated by the progress I saw. A few pictures follow:

New Main Street

New hospital

LEED Platinum "green" building
http://i40.tinypic.com/sxfq.jpg Bench made from tornado debris.
http://i43.tinypic.com/2wm485u.jpg New high school nearing completion.
Short clip about the green rebuilding plan.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who helped in the search and rescue efforts immediately after this tornado as well as in any other disaster situation. If anyone is interested in helping out with the rebuilding of Greensburg, please follow this link. Lastly, if anyone has any thoughts, pictures, ideas, or accounts regarding this memorable event please share them here! Thanks!