Tornado Erases Greensburg, Kansas

[confused04 14]

As many of you have already heard, a massive, half-mile wide tornado slammed into the small community of Greensburg, Kansas, destroying approximately 95% of the town.  Photos of the damage are horrific and humbling.  As of yesterday, the tornado was officially rated on the new Enhanced Fujita scale and was given the highest intensity rating of EF-5.  Only the grain elevator escaped severe damage while the rest of the town was decimated.  This will mark the first F5 since Moore, OK (even if the scales are not completely congruent).  So far this year, 68 people have died in tornadoes including those from Greensburg, Sweetwater, OK and Enterprise, AL.  This year has seen a significantly higher death toll from tornadoes as the total from 2006 was less than our current tally.  Condolences go out to those who have suffered this disaster first hand and their families.

[MrFingers 0]

can we blame global warming?

[Angrymidget134 0]

i live in Kansas and those storms continued to pound us two days after the tornado(including Greensburg)so it was really hard to clean up plus there was alot of flooding

[euphonial 0]

This pictures are just horrifying, and awe-inspiring in the purest sense of the word . . . God bless the people of Kansas and all other states affected by this event.

[Barbarossa 51]

I was around for the Moore, OK tornado. It was amazing and I only have the utmost sympathy for the families and community involved.

I think Global Warming jokes are inappropriate; people have died, so get a heart. There is a thread for that tripe.

I don't think I have ever seen that amount of destruction (in person), with the definite exception of my drive through Louisiana about 3 mos after Katrina. Debris was everywhere. A drive down I-240W showed a landscape like something from a post-apocalyptic movie... trees bent at strange angles, rigs over-turned, sitting atop collapsed buildings, homes just... gone, smaller, yet strangely surreal scenes that the media loves... teddy bears and children's shoes strewn across the highway...

Barbarossa

[siso43 13]

i think we have problems, when we nothing doing we lose the control and than we have big problems. And i belive we need a long time to control this terrible change in the world.

[Micah 16]

Storms like these happen every year (sometimes even every month). They get worse because of the increase in development and population.

[MrFingers 0]

Originally posted by: Barbarossa

I think Global Warming jokes are inappropriate; people have died, so get a heart. There is a thread for that tripe.

quote>

Fair enough

[coolotter88 2]

how far is it from significant areas of Kansas like Wichitaw?

[Duke87 1,070]

MrFingers

can we blame global warming?quote>

Originally posted by: BarbarossaI think Global Warming jokes are inappropriate; people have died, so get a heart.quote>

Well, that could have been a serious question...

After all, global warming means more storms and bigger storms... I suppose that could translate to more tornadoes and bigger tornadoes, too...

[MrFingers 0]

Originally posted by: Duke87

MrFingers

can we blame global warming?quote>

Originally posted by: BarbarossaI think Global Warming jokes are inappropriate; people have died, so get a heart.quote>

Well, that could have been a serious question...

After all, global warming means more storms and bigger storms... I suppose that could translate to more tornadoes and bigger tornadoes, too...quote>

You're wrong, but we should do this on the global warming thread.

[screamingman12 30]

I hope that this system dies out before it hits the East.

[Duke87 1,070]

Originally posted by: screamingman12 I hope that this system dies out before it hits the East.quote>

Well, most of the east coast is generally less hospitable to tornadoes since they don't like hilly terrain. They still happen, just not as often and when they do they aren't very powerful and dissipate quickly.

So we here don't have to worry about tornadoes, really.. and a thunderstorm isn't that big of a deal usually, either...

[Frankie_Grove 32]

Originally posted by: Duke87

MrFingers

can we blame global warming?quote>

Originally posted by: BarbarossaI think Global Warming jokes are inappropriate; people have died, so get a heart.quote>

Well, that could have been a serious question...

After all, global warming means more storms and bigger storms... I suppose that could translate to more tornadoes and bigger tornadoes, too...quote>

Tornados are quite common on the Great Plains...no reason to drag that global warming nonsense into this....Part of living on the Plains is the risk of tornados..

[Porter 68]

To answer some questions....

As a Kansas citizen (Olathe, KS... Home to Garmin GPS) Greensburg is about 110 miles away from Witchita. The state has declared the two counties effected federal disaster areas. There were other buildings left in the town... Just that the Grain elevator was the only building in the path of the tornado that wasn't completely destroyed. Greensburg is known formerly for the home of the world's biggest hand-dug well, and houses about 2000 residents, of which 1400 are now homeless.

Everyone here has been working to help those effected, and to search for even more survivors. Such as today, someone was pulled out of the remains of their home with only exposure to be treated.

Things like tornados are truely common in this part of the nation... the only reason this has gotten so much attention was the fact that the tornado hit the town so directly. Also, keep in mind that F5 doesn't always mean its that bad. It's when it hits a densly populated (or even moderately in this case) that a tornado does it's worse.

Take, for example the La Cynge tornado of 1951. If that same tornado were to take place today, not only would it completely destroy the world HQ of Sprint-Nextel and Garmin, but also do damage literally in the billions... and this tornado would have only classified as a EF3. So don't always look at the EF scale for the severity of a tornado.

And... in cold irony... Kansas started its "Most Livable State" campaign right before all this happened....

Any other questions?

[jgehrts 18]

Duke87 -- the notion that tornadoes "don't like" hilly terrain is a common misconception. The real reason is that atmospheric conditions are generally more conducive for tornadoes in the Plains ... but large tornadoes can and do occur in the eastern part of the nation. The largest outbreak in US history impacted a number of eastern states.

porter66083 -- I wouldn't say that the EF scale isn't always a good indicator of the severity of a tornado.  The EF scale, just like the formerly used F scale, is a scale based on damage.  Higher rating number = higher amount of damage.  To me, that seems like it WOULD be a good indicator of the severity of the storm.  (That said, a mile-wide tornado could be classified an EF0 if it doesn't hit anything.)

[daniel01 0]

wow that was a massive tornado, its on the news constantly in Oz.

powerful storm, such a tragedy

daniel01

[slowerisfaster 0]

Originally posted by: jgehrts Duke87 -- the notion that tornadoes "don't like" hilly terrain is a common misconception. The real reason is that atmospheric conditions are generally more conducive for tornadoes in the Plains ... but large tornadoes can and do occur in the eastern part of the nation. The largest outbreak in US history impacted a number of eastern states.

quote>

Thats true; there was actually a tornado just south of where I live (Erie county, PA) a week ago. Thankfully no one was hurt and the damage was minimal. In the mid 80s there was a big outbreak of tornadoes in this area which sadly killed several doezen people. My thoughts go out to all the families in Kansas.

[football_fever 6]

Actually the width of a tornado doesn't have much to determine the severity of it. Wind speed is the main factor, and generally they are wider as the wind speed increases but it isn't always the case. This EF5 in KS was 1/2 mile wide, where there have been mile-wide F3 or F2 with much lower wind speed.

Anyway, I saw the destruction on CNN, and it is indeed horrific. I didn't see a single building with little damage. Every thing was levelled. I really couldn't believe it.

[coolotter88 2]

yeah, I doubt width has much to do with anything until the wind speeds pick up and start destroying things in a wider path. if you have a mile wide tornado with really low wind speeds, it'll just seem like high winds blowing leaves around.

[screamingman12 30]

I ment like around Richmond/DC more precisely, Fredericksburg, VA, where I live.

[sEAhAwk fAn121 0]

I have been to Greensburg and it was a very nice town... very proud of their Worlds Largest Hand Dug Well... and i am horrified by the thought that i have been there and all that i remember is gone...

a couple years ago another town in eastern Kansas was wiped off the map... Frankin to be specific... it neighbors the much larger Arma, KS and they kinda feed off of each other. The problem with Greensburg is its the only large town in the county. there is near by Pratt but its about a 30 minutes drive away. Greensburg will have a hard time recovering but i think it will be rebuilt.

EDIT: haha porter i go to La Cygne alot because my cousin lives right outside of town... the powerplant there looks really cool at night hehe

Coming from a resident of Overland Park, Kansas!