Established in 1886

Population ~1,400

Greensburg, KS

May 4th 2007

EF-5, 1.7 miles-wide for 22+ miles Winds of 205 mph

The Wedge Tornado minutes before destroying Greensburg

Two rope tornadoes that were with the wedge

Preliminary track of 3 largest tornadoes in Kiowa county on May 4th. The 2nd tornado just east of Greensburg grew to 2 miles in width! - National Weather Service

Average Size vs Greensburg Size

Relativity

Greensburg

Before After

Note: You don’t see much green in the “After” picture because most of the trees were stripped of their leaves & branches and a majority of the lawns in town are now covered with splintered wood and debris.

Aerial view of Greensburg looking south-east

Kiowa County Memorial Hospital(Only hospital for 30 miles)

Fire Station

Community Services

Looking west down Highway 54 with Main St. running perpendicular

What remains of only stoplight intersection in town

SW Corner of Hwy 54 and Main St. Intersection

This corner…

…now looks like this

Kiowa County Historical Museum

Then & Now

Dillon’s Grocery Store(Only full-service grocery store in county - triage center after tornado)

Sutton’s True Value Hardware Store(Only full-service hardware store & lumber yard in county)

Fleener’s Furniture Store(Only furniture store in county – Established in 1907)

Note the red farm equipment in the rubble was not an original part of the store!

Main Street

Kiowa County Signal (Newspaper Office)

and Daylight Donuts (Local coffee shop)

Kiowa County Library (books on the shelf)

Post Office

Main Street (con’t)

Duckwall’s(local five & dime)

Before

Twilight Theatre - Historic County Movie Theatre (Community-owned theatre that had a pressed-tin ceiling and first showed silent films in 1917; Most recent admission prices:$4.00 for adults and $2.50 for kids)

Hunter Drug Store

Old Fashioned Soda Fountain in Hunter Drug Store where Richard Huckriede has served “Dickie Drinks” since 1952

Before & After

Main Street (con’t)

Greensburg Tractor & Implement(Local John Deere Dealership)

Pre- & Post-Tornado

Greensburg High School Gym – Host to Sports, Proms & Graduations

Missing 3rd Floor

Auditorium

Before GreensburgHigh

School (GHS)

Auditorium

(She had just received new desks that day)

Mrs. Mac’s Math/Physics Room & Chemistry Lab

South Wing of GHS

Main Entrance to South WingFront Office

http://www.usd422.org/

Biology Room

South Wing Hallway(Note trophies still in the case!)

Rest of South Wing of GHS

Mrs. Mac rescued 2 of her desks!

Class Lockers & Break Area (“The Pit”)

Auditorium Library

Band/Vocal Room

Inside GHS

Delmer Day Elementary School & Jr. High

“Storm Shelter” of Grade School (Shower Facilities)New Practice Gym(and maybe bleachers from football field?)

Football Field missing bleachers

Baptist Church

Methodist Church minus steepled roof

Christian Church

Churches of Greensburg

(~11 Total)

Catholic Church - The 2 ladies in grey lived next to and attended this church as kids & their father helped erect the bell tower – unfortunately he passed away last year, but they rang the bell in his honor after the storm to celebrate that it was still standing.

Mennonite Church – Completely cleaned up within a week of the storm (God really can work wonders!)

Water Tower

The World’s Largest Hand Dug Well

(aka The Big Well)

Before &

After

Viewing Dome over Well

Gift Shop

Arrow to Big Well that hung near Kwik Shop on Hwy 54

2nd World’s Largest Pallasite Meteorite (1,000 lb meteorite originally discovered near Greensburg & was on display at the Big Well – Largest one was found in same area & is in the Smithsonian)

http://www.bigwell.org/

Kwik Shop Gas Station

Local High

School Hangout

For more than a week after the storm, the nearest gas station was 10 miles away.

Around Town

Anyone want to play “Pick-up-sticks”?

Anyone for a swim?No, this house was not originally built here.

Even the houses that are still standing look like this on the inside and will probably have to be torn down.

• Homes (1,700 Total in Greensburg)Destroyed: 961Major Damage: 105Minor Damage: 67Affected: 11 (broken windows, shingles & gutters –

which means “Minor Damage” = ?)

• BusinessesMajor Damage: 110

Minor Damage: 24

(One loss estimate, covering only insured damage: more than $153 million)

Overall Assessment

Bed springs

Storage Units

Picture still hanging in Methodist Church

Lawnmower still strapped in

Oddities of Mother Nature

Jacket pinned to tree by metal bar

Good News (Things that were mostly intact)

GHS Ranger Bus (Saved by Mrs. McMurray who had taken the Forensics Team to State Forensics that day)

Carriage House (Retirement Home)

Kiowa County Courthouse

Before & After

Greensburg State Bank (double-bricked walls - safe deposit boxes might be okay?? ….if you have a key)

President Bush Visits Small Farm Town, USA

This family ownedthis motel

Her parents used to own this motel

When Pres. Bush visited a destroyed home, the homeowner said she would have "invited him in for a cup of coffee, but I didn't have time to dust."

“I am struck by the strength of the character of the

people who live here in the Plains...who refuse to

have their spirit affected by this storm; as a matter

of fact, who are willing to do what it takes to

rebuild in a better way. America is blessed to have

such people.”

- President George W. Bush

"Everything you can think of that makes up a

town has gone — except for the people,“

she said. "But, you know, Kansans are

pretty resilient. There will be a period of

mourning and grief, and then the rebuilding

will be underway."

- Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius

Our Spirit is Strong

And the clean-up and recovery begins…

The Kansas National Guard, Kansas Department of Transportation and contractors have hauled over 20,420 total dump truck loads to the Kiowa County landfill as of May 27th. It equals 210,153 cubic yards of debris, which is enough to fill 64 Olympic swimming pools or an 11 ½ story building the size of the Greensburg Football Field. An estimated 100,000 cubic yards of debris still remains.

...with help from caring people nation-wide

Volunteers have contributed over 24,734 hours as of May 27th!

If you would like to help:

• Greensburg Rebuilding Fundc/o Greensburg State Bank P. O. Box 787 Greensburg, KS 67054

(Every dollar donated will go to rebuilding our city.)

• Greensburg Future Fund (through South Central Community Foundation)

Call Denise Unruh at (620) 672-7929

(Money will go to the future of education in Greensburg, as well as health and community rebuild.)

• Big Well Rebuilding FundCity of Greensburg239 South Main St.

Greensburg, KS  67054

• Green for Greensburg FundUnited Way of the Plains245 N. WaterWichita, KS 67202

Make check out to: Green for Greensburg Fundor Donate online at: https://vsadmin.united-e-way.org/uwgdf/donate/

(Types of services supported could include: counseling, medical services, vouchers for rent or utility assistance, or other services; 100% of each gift will go to direct disaster recovery assistance.)

• The Salvation Army350 North Market

Wichita, KS 67202 

Make check out to: “The Salvation Army” and put “Greensburg Tornado” on the memo lineorCall: 1-800-SAL-ARMY

• American Red Cross

Greensburg’s Local Chapter Phone Number: (620) 672-3651

We are Greensburg!For information about Greensburg residents go to: http://forums.prospero.com/kr-tornado/start

For the latest on the recovery process go to: http://kwch.com/Global/story.asp?S=6517827

For more about Greensburg before and after go to: http://www.ksn.com/news/local/7478582.html

Pictures used in this presentation are from the following: The Associated Press, Reuters, The Wichita Eagle Photo Staff, and other news groups; Amy Beth Christenson; David Kabal, and other online contributors.

In memory of those we lost…