One Of The Worst Disasters In U.S. History Happened Right Here In Kansas

Tornadoes aren’t a rarity here in Kansas, so when one comes along, most of us don’t panic much. Usually they stay out in the fields and leave cities alone for the most part. One of the worst disasters in U.S. history happened only 10 years ago, and has left its mark on multiple generations. You can always rebuild, but you can’t make it the same. To this day, this tornado is considered one of the largest and most destructive ever recorded.

During the tornado outbreak from May 4-6, 2007, there were an incredible amount of tornadoes reported. There were 25 on May 4th, 84 on May 5th, and 14 more on May 6th. The town of Greensburg wasn’t worried about too much on that May 4th, but there were already quite a few twisters, and the most deadly of the entire outbreak happened to push right through town that night.

Below is a video by Weather Beat (YouTube) showing just how hard it was to see what was coming, in the dark of night. You could only see the outline during lightning flashes, which were unpredictable. Can you imagine suddenly seeing a tornado this large during a storm?

The tornado itself touched down around 9 p.m., with storm chasers catching it southwest of Greensburg shortly after. It grew stronger, and began moving North towards the town as it reached a size of more than 1/2 mile wide. Several small tornadoes were spotted as the larger one approached the city, but they did nothing compared to what was about to happen. At 9:41, a tornado emergency was issued, signaling that it was headed directly towards a populated area, and that it’s life threatening.

Becky McCray/Flickr

It continued north, completely destroying houses and devastating the downtown area, including the Big Well visitors center, two schools, and the water tower.

Landon Taylor/Flickr

The tornado continued north, flattening neighborhoods before fizzling out in a field. The total path length was 22 miles, and the width reached 1.7 miles.

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City of Greensburg, KS - Government Facebook

Overall, 95% of Greensburg was destroyed, including 961 homes and businesses, with many more receiving various levels of damage. However, only 11 people were killed, which is much less than if a storm like this had struck 50 years ago.

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City of Greensburg, KS - Government Facebook

More tornadoes came from this original cell, causing smaller damage to area farms and livestock. Hours after the tornado passed, everyone was evacuated completely. The damage from this one tornado was estimated at $153 million.

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Lauren Ayres/Flickr

However, not all was lost. They quickly formulated a plan after cleanup and decided Greensburg would be a true "green town" of its own. It now operates on power supplied by ten wind turbines. The hand-dug well survived without any structure damage, and a new visitor's facility was built in the same place, along with a new water tower.

Chris Murphy/Flickr

Now, the stairs and inside look much more inviting than before. In addition to this, the Greensburg meteorite was found, and still holds a spot within the Big Well center, now a place to reflect on the disaster as well.

Chris Murphy/Flickr

The sun may set on many towns, but none with people as strong as Greensburg. They've got nowhere to go except up!

City of Greensburg, KS - Government Facebook

Who remembers hearing about this everywhere? If you’d like to share a personal story about this event, feel free to do so in the comments below. Or, if you’d like to look back at other significant Kansas tornadoes, check out this list here.