Anniversary of the Greensburg Tornado

Larry Schwarm

Today is the 14th anniversary of the Greensburg Tornado. The F-5 storm was 1.7 miles wide and, as it moved north, it was nearly perfectly aligned with the 1.7 mile wide town. Ninety-five percent of the buildings of the town -- 961 businesses and homes -- were damaged or destroyed. The total destruction of block after block was stunning.

But there was very good news: the tornado warning system saved 96% of the people who would have been killed if the tornado had struck without warning. It was the capstone in the development of the U.S. tornado warning system and the work of dozens of scientists. 

The town has made a comeback as the "world's greenest community." You can see the history of the tornado along with the replacement to its quirky "world's largest hand-dug well" if you visit the town.

Greensburg Tornado Museum - KSTravel

I highly recommend the museum and salute the residents of the town on their recovery.

ADDITION: I saw this for the first time this evening. 

The light you see at left is the lights on the police car of officer Tim Buckman who had his lights on as he drove west to make sure people had been warned. Unfortunately, he miscalculated (he did not have radar or other weather monitoring equipment in his car) and was over taken by the tornado in the background. He perished from his injuries a few days later.