The rebuilding process after an EF5

[Ben McMillan]

With two EF5 tornadoes striking towns in just over a year, the towns of Greensburg and Parkersburg will always be remembered together. Today's Des Moines Register focused on tips for rebuilding, after this type of storm.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080608/NEWS/806080329

I thought it would be interesting for us, as chasers, to discuss the challenges of rebuilding (if you rebuild at all) and what kind of impact this event has on a small town's future...emotionally, economically, etc. How long does it take to get back to normal?

 

[cstrunk]

IMO, it will be a very long time before a town that suffers such devastation will return to normal. It takes years to rebuild everything that was destroyed. It takes lifetimes to forget the horrors that some people went through. Trees will take years to regrow. The towns may eventually return to "normal" as far as everyday life is concerned, but they will never be the same.