On the night of May 4, 2007, an EF-5 tornado, close to 2 miles wide, wiped out 95% of Greensburg, Kansas. 11 of our friends and neighbors were killed.
After the cleanup started, the Greensburg City Council approved a resolution that all city building projects will be built to LEED Platinum level standards. This makes Greensburg, Kansas the first city in the United States to do this. Greensburg is being rebuilt as a Green Town.
Articles: TIME magazine,NPR's All Things Considered
Leonardo DiCaprio produced a television series about our town:
Discovery's Planet Green series, "Greensburg"
I was born and raised here. My children are the 6th generation of my family to live here. My daughter was a 4th generation graduate of Greensburg High School. That doesn't happen much anymore in the United States. This town, in whatever shape it's in, is a part of my family.
I work for a non-profit organization now, Greensburg GreenTown.
PT.1 - PT.2 - PT.3(the rescue of the animals)
It gets better - come back next Tuesday to hear how we've been doing in the last 17 months!
Visit THATS MY WORLD TUESDAY and join!
29 comments:
What a good contribution to My World. No, it's not beautiful, but it's so real.
It's the biggest thing about My World right now...
Just you wait - we're doing some FABULOUS things here!
Shocking pictures...looking forward to see how you are doing now!!!
Anita: What an interesting story, thanks for sharing your world. Kansas is right in hurricane alley.
Thanks for the visit.
Tornado Alley, yes it is... Thankfully, they don't do this much damage often!
Good Lord, so much devastation.
Six generations in one place, wonderful. Your determination to build the town again, and to build the best way, is heartening.
May you never have a new tornado post for MyWorld.
Blessings to you, Anita. Hope to meet you here someday.
Thank you, Dina... and I DO hope to see you there! :)
Wow! This should be interesting to learn about. I am sorry that your town and you and your family have had to go through such a terrible tragedy. I live in "tornado alley", too, so we have had many stories of destruction in this area. I'm glad to see that your town is rebuilding as a green town. So many places don't seem to learn anything when they rebuild. I live in a dome, so I always feel safer than most when it comes to tornadoes and earthquakes. I look forward to learning more about your town and how it rebuilds.
OH MY! What a dreadful event. The "silver lining" is that you are now becoming a safer greener town. How cool that even your town's name contains the word green in it!
Thanks Mary.. the things going on here are very exciting!
Some people have said it was just meant to be.. lol
Our town was named after "CAnnonball" Green, a stagecoach line owner/driver... he once threw Carrie Nation out of his stage coach for preaching to him about his cigar...lol
What an amazing post. The pictures are heartwrenching.
Take care and thanks so much for sharing.
Thank you.
That's an amazing my world. I know you have mentioned this on your skywatch posts but to those images is incredible.
My computer crashed and I lost most of the photos I took after the storm... and there weren't too many because I was so busy with going through the debris looking for things to salvage... I'm glad I saved at least a few pictures...
Your story was amazing!The pictures really bring home the devastation. We get a lot of tornadoes here too, but haven't been hit so badly as that. Your story and pictures were so interesting, and hoping to hear now what *good* things have happened now!
Wow, this is what I was hoping for when I joined this meme, to see the world through other eyes. I weep for the loss of your friends and neighbours, but also in joy at your courage that shines through like a beacon. I know from experience what it feels like. We had a similar experience with a wild fire, where you realize that only life itself is important.
I'm so glad I met you through My World.
That's a powerful story. I am sorry for your loss. Gripping and strong photos.
Wow what a powerful post. This storm actually passed right over our home but before it started it's real damage. You were all in our prayers afterwards and just this month our church sent volunteers to help you
Thank you Arija, Sandycarlson, Sarah... What doesn't kill us makes up stronger... Kansans are descendants of the pioneers - we're good at starting over stronger and better than before...
Wow, this is really devastating. I've never been through a tornado and never want to be. I live in an earthquake state and I'd rather deal with the earthquakes. I don't want to be around for "the big one" but none I've been in so far have ever caused the kind of havoc seen in your pics. :-(
How very sad, yet very encouraging at the same time. I look forward to reading more about your journey!
Wonderful .. cant wait to see Greensburg in all its green glory!
:-Daryl
Oh, how interesting it will be to see the progress in your town! I stopped at your SkyWatch over the weekend, but I was in such a hurry I didn't find out you were from Greensburg. We had an EF-5 tornado in our area last spring. It destroyed the south part of Parkersburg, Iowa.....hit other places and then we watched it grind along the landscape 2 miles south of us. It destroyed many farmsteads in the neighborhood I grew up in. We felt so fortunate to have been missed! Take care.....I'm going to visit your blog regularly.
Such a tragedy. Glad it's being rebuild.
Thanks for the info about your place. This is probably the only post of its kind in this meme. So sad and so very much different from my place but I do wanna share my place also to you.
Anita, These pictures made me feel so sad. I didn't know about Leonardo's series...must look ito it.
xoxox
Hi, Anita, after re-reading some of your blog, I looked at this video on youtube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcrtmlJP05Y&feature=related)--I could see the damage done to the entire town...
I am in south Texas, 30 miles from the coast--hurricanes galore! I have never seen or been in a tornado~God bless you and your family!
:)Hugs,
Kat
There are quite a few videos on YouTube with great pictures...
Thank you!
We lost both our schools, all of our churches, our hospital, our entire mainstreet...
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