From Main Street to No Streets
Greensburg, Kansas was virtually obliterated this weekend by a giant tornado almost a mile wide. Tornadoes are terrifying (as a child I was petrified by the twister in the Wizard of Oz; the wind picking up, Dorothy's terror as she looks for Toto. That movie is no joke). Imagine though, when the wind calms, trudging upstairs from your storm shelter to find... nothing. No main street, no house, nothing but the grain elevator left standing. (One of my nearest and dearest is from Kansas, and he said to me when we heard the news about Greensburg, "Grain elevators were our skyscrapers... they made even the smallest and least populated town seem promising from a distance...it's at least hopeful that Greensburg still has that symbol.") However, It's a daunting prospect... today, we're going to talk about other towns that have been devastated by twisters, and find out how they fared, both emotionally and economically after the twister blew through. Please weigh in if you've been in the way of "tornado alley." Did you stay, or move to safer ground?
1:50 PM ET | 05- 7-2007 | permalink




