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?
Blog Of The Nation
When we think about tornado history, we should never forget the destruction caused by the March 18, 1925,"Tri-State Tornado". It lasted from Ellington, Missouri through parts of Illinois and finally dying in Indiana.
I have been listening to TOTN today re the tornados. I was in the Palm Sunday tornado in Crystal Lake, Illinois in 1965. WE were fortunate that our house was not hit but many of our friends lost everything. This was before we had ever heard of tornado warning systems. I can remeber receiving calls and people asking us if we were okay. We had no idea what they were talking about. I do remember my cat clawing at our screen door to come in and hearing what we though was a very low jet plane. Seeing the after math of destruction has never left me. I remember many nights in the basement and I still today will watch the skies where I now live. Our town did rebuild the shopping center that was destroyed as well as the subdivision that was destroyed. We were much more aware of tornados and what to do after that. I was in the town 2 years ago and you would never have known that any thing like that had ever happened.
As a child, I moved from South Dakota to New York. After several months, I raised my hand and asked why there were no tornado drills. Pandemonium broke out, I got into trouble and I never mentioned tornados again. Now, I live in Oklahoma and like everyone else, we're very aware of tornados.
According to press reports, virtually all the churches in Greensberg were severely damages or wiped out. But in his infinite wisdom, the Almighty left the town tavern intact, one of the few surviving social institutions for the community. Providence? Hmmm
I thought Matrix 3 was a very good movie. The movie had multiple deaths to the crew.
Severe thunderstorms, and the tornadoes they spawn, are awe-inspiring in their power. My heart goes out to the people in Greensburg.
Speaking of finding no main street there, the Sciam blog's carrying a story about alleged flaws in the rebuilt New Orleans levees (http://blog.sciam.com/index.php?title=bracing_for_katrina_ii&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1&showComments=1). They picked it up from National Geographic (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/05/070506-orleans-levees.html). Harry Shearer's been beating this particular drum on Le Show for a while, too. With an an active hurricane season predicted, another direct hit on New Orleans isn't out of the question. Any chance you all might look into it, or maybe ask the NPR news folks to do so?
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