Greensburg tornado

In the evening hours of Friday, May 4, 2007, amid a tornado outbreak across the central United States, a large, violent and devastating EF5 tornado moved through Kiowa County, Kansas, causing catastrophic damage to the town of Greensburg. Commonly referred to as the Greensburg tornado, it tracked 28.8 miles (46.3 km) through the area, killing 12 people directly and injuring 63 others. The tornado was the first to be rated EF5 on the Enhanced Fujita scale after the retirement of the original Fujita scale in the United States on February 1, 2007.
The tornado touched down in northern Comanche County, moving to the north while continuously widening. The nocturnal wedge tornado eventually entered into Kiowa County, crossing U.S. Route 183 before entering the city limits of Greensburg. The tornado heavily damaged Greensburg as it moved through; 662 structures in the town sustained some form of damage before the tornado left the area. Northwest of Greensburg, the tornado suddenly turned, moving in a counter circular direction before dissipating. The tornado was on the ground for shortly over an hour and reached a peak width of 1.7 miles (2.7 km) to the south of Greensburg.
The tornado devastated Greensburg, damaging 95% of the town and leaving monetary losses of $250 million (2007 USD) in its wake. Rebuilding efforts after the tornado were intensive, and several major government agencies collaborated with state agencies to help rebuild the town with the goal of making it a "green town" using a Long-Term Community Recovery (LTCR) plan. The plan included requiring all buildings in Greensburg to gain LEED Platinum certification, along with installing wind turbines in the city. The Kiowa County Memorial Hospital, which was destroyed by the tornado, was the first hospital in the United States to achieve carbon neutrality following its rebuilding in 2010. Kiowa County was also declared a disaster area in the immediate aftermath of the tornado.
The tornado greatly affected the economy and population of Greensburg as a whole; the population of Greensburg dropped from 1,574 residents in 2000 to 777 residents in 2010 as a direct result of damage produced by the tornado. Greensburg still sees difficulty attracting residents due to the cost of homes in the area, although it has become a point of interest among eco-tourists visiting to see the "green town" built by the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Long-Term Community Recovery plan.
On May 4, a low-pressure area stalled over the High Plains and additional moisture coming from the Gulf of Mexico moved in behind the warm front and increased amounts of instability across much of the region, with convective available potential energy (CAPE) values as high as 4,500 J/kg (joules per kilogram), which is a metric that indicates the amount of fuel in the atmosphere that is available to a developing thunderstorm. In addition, the dry line, which marks a divided line between the dry and humid air mass, was positioned over the southern High Plains. This allowed for the initiation of scattered supercells on May 4. High wind shear also allowed for intense rotation in the atmosphere. All of the ingredients were present in the atmosphere for the development of supercell thunderstorms, high-energy storms that are capable of producing tornadoes and other severe weather.
The Storm Prediction Center issued a moderate risk for severe weather across western Kansas and small portions of Oklahoma, Colorado and Nebraska for May 4, while temperatures were in the mid to high 80 °F range (near 30 °C). Storms began to develop in the late afternoon hours in western Oklahoma and the eastern Texas Panhandle. The most intense supercells developed in the early evening hours across northwestern Oklahoma and southwestern Kansas. One of these intense tornadic supercells eventually produced 20 to 22 tornadoes, including the Greensburg tornado.
At around 7:00 pm CDT, the National Weather Service office in Dodge City, Kansas began to detect a mesocyclone associated with a parent supercell. Several minutes later, a bounded weak echo region (BWER) began to be present on radar, located on then storm's northern flank. As the storm continued to move northeast, strong inflow was being detected in the lower levels of the supercell, and the supercell began to slow to 26.8 miles per hour (43.1 km/h). At around this time, two more BWERs were detected.
Discrete circulation soon began to be monitored within the Greensburg supercell, which was beginning to become stronger. Shortly after this circulation was first detected, the Greensburg tornado would touch down. The cell went on to produce at least 21 other tornadoes, including five confirmed satellites of the Greensburg tornado.
The National Weather Service issued advanced warnings of the tornado that were sent out to the public up to 39 minutes before the tornado actually hit Greensburg, a metric that was above the average advanced warn time of 10 to 18 minutes. The warning was upgraded to a rare tornado emergency 10 to 12 minutes before the tornado hit; storm chaser Lance Ferguson had relayed to the National Weather Service that a large tornado was on the ground near Greensburg. A tornado emergency hadn't been issued by any forecast office nationwide since the 1999 Bridge Creek–Moore, Oklahoma F5 tornado.
It is believed that these warnings saved lives and that more people may have died had the warnings not been issued so far in advance, as the warnings gave time for residents to move to their shelters before the tornado destroyed the town.
Television stations serving Central and Western Kansas broadcast live coverage of the storms, including the Greensburg tornado before and as it hit Greensburg. Jay Prater covered the storm for the KAKEland Television Network, while Dave Freeman broadcast coverage on KSN. One survivor of the tornado stated that Freeman's coverage had saved his life, and several survivors took shelter because of the broadcast. Freeman was praised for his live coverage of the event and as a result was named as the National Weather Association's Broadcaster of the Year for 2008, his second time winning the award after receiving it in 1992.
The rotating supercell that later produced the Greensburg tornado was accompanied by several short-tracked tornadoes. One of these rope tornadoes, located on the westernmost side of the mesocyclone began to rapidly strengthen, taking on a wedge shape shortly after touching down at 9:03 pm.
As the main tornado continued through rural areas, many trees were snapped and debarked, ground scouring occurred, and oil tanks were destroyed, with oil strewn across pastures and a road. It continued to grow in size as the very large wedge tornado approached the city of Greensburg from the south. As the tornado crossed Highway 183 south of town, it reached its maximum width of 1.7 miles (2.7 km). Several farmsteads along the highway were damaged or destroyed, numerous livestock were killed, and trees were denuded and debarked in this area as well. At 9:41 pm, the National Weather Service office in Dodge City issued a tornado emergency for Greensburg, as indicated that "a violent tornado was on a direct path for portions of Greensburg … this is an emergency situation for Greensburg".
The large tornado continued due-north following Main Street into the south side of Greensburg. Multiple homes, including an entire row of seven adjacent residences, were completely swept away and scattered across a field at the south edge of town. Three of the houses were well-bolted to their foundations, and ground scouring occurred nearby. Damage in this area was given varying ratings. The tornado weakened slightly as it entered residential areas in southern Greensburg, but remained violent as it directly impacted Delmar Day Elementary School, completely leveling a section of the building and flattening many homes nearby at EF4 intensity. Continuing north, downtown Greensburg was completely devastated by the tornado; the Greensburg City Hall and many other businesses were destroyed, including Fleener's Furniture Store, Dillon's Grocery Store and Sutton's True Value Hardware Store. A motel on the west side of town was severely damaged and vehicles were lofted and rolled by the tornado.
The Greensburg High School was heavily damaged at EF4 intensity. Several fire hydrants were ripped from the ground in town as well. The city's water tower was completely toppled and smashed, and the visitor's center at the Big Well was completely destroyed. Train cars were also overturned and hazardous materials teams were called to inspect the wreckage. A tank car carrying about 14,000 U.S. gallons (53,000 liters) of ammonia started to leak when workers lifted it. A large grain elevator in the northern part of Greensburg remained standing after being hit by the tornado, one of a few structures to survive the event. Meanwhile, the Greensburg meteorite, which was feared to have been blown away, was found and recovered near the Ellis Peck Farm east of Greensburg a few days afterwards. The Greensburg Mennonite Church was destroyed in this area. Trees throughout the town were completely stripped of all bark, the greatest number of debarked trees being located near homes that sustained EF4 damage.
A damage survey conducted by Timothy P. Marshall, Joshua Wurman and several other experts found that a total of 53 homes were slid off of brick foundations that anchored the homes to the ground. 194 homes sustained EF0 damage; the vast majority of these homes were located along the outer path of the tornado on the east and west side of town. The survey also concluded that damage on the tornado's east side was more severe than damage of that on its west side.
As the tornado exited the city limits of Greensburg, it began to weaken. The tornado turned to the northwest, tracking in a counterclockwise circular direction; the tornado dissipated in a farm field to the northwest of Greensburg at 10:05 pm. The total path length was 22.8 miles (37 km), and the width of the funnel reached 1.7 miles (2.7 km). Overall, 95% of Greensburg was destroyed. A total of 961 homes and businesses were destroyed, 216 received major damage and 307 received minor damage. The National Weather Service rated the worst of the damage caused by the tornado EF5 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale (EF scale), which is used to rate and assess tornado damage. EF5 damage was determined to have been inflicted to seven residences. The tornado was the first to be rated EF5 on the EF scale after the retirement of the original Fujita scale in the United States on February 1, 2007.
During the early stages of the tornado's life, numerous videos and later research showed that at least five confirmed satellite tornadoes existed around the main tornado. Two of these satellites were anticyclonic tornadoes, which rotate clockwise instead of the counter-clockwise motion that most tornadoes in the Northern Hemisphere exhibit. A University of Massachusetts team observing the storm using a mobile radar system detected 10 satellites, five being part of the Greensburg tornado. One of these satellite tornadoes likely crossed over the same damage path produced by the main tornado. The largest satellite tornado was located around 1.85 miles (3.0 km) southeast of the main tornado.
Greensburg took a direct hit from the tornado and was left in ruins as a result, with 95% of structures within city limits sustaining some degree of tornado-related damage. Over 800,000 cubic yards (610,000 m) of tornado-related debris was removed from Greensburg in the aftermath of the tornado. Initial recovery attempts in the days following the tornado were stunted by disruption of electricity and other hazardous conditions that made it difficult to clean up the town. Then-President George W. Bush declared a disaster area for Kiowa County, along with 41 other Kansas counties. Immediately after the tornado, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) dispatched on-scene coordinators to Greensburg; the agency was tasked with addressing fuel releases and mitigating damaged transformers. The EPA left Greensburg in June 2007, shortly over a month after the tornado.
The population of Greensburg dropped from 1,574 residents in 2000 to 777 residents in 2010, a metric that was directly influenced by the tornado. The tornado ruined the town's economy, leaving industrial businesses practically non-existent with no way for residents to earn money. The town's economy was still affected by the tornado ten years after the event; the town has seen trouble attracting residents because homes sold at a higher price that those of neighboring towns.
Several notable businesses were destroyed by the tornado, including Dillon's Grocery Store and Fleener's Furniture Store; the former was the only full-service grocery store in Kiowa County and the latter was the only furniture store located in county limits. A Daylight Donuts coffee shop and the local bank were heavily damaged or destroyed by the tornado.
The Greensburg High School, located around one block east of the tornado's inflow, was heavily damaged and as a result was later demolished. As the tornado moved through the area, northward-facing winds battered the building, causing the top floor of the main building and the southern wall of an adjacent building to collapse inward. The east-facing walls of the high school also collapsed inward; the west-facing walls collapsed in an outward direction due to the movement of wind. In a damage survey conducted after the tornado, it was found that the building's large window sills anchored by hinge lines were unable to hold up against high winds, causing the collapse. Damage to the high school received an EF4 rating.
The Delmer Day Elementary School, located in the southeast portion of Greensburg, was the subject of an in-depth damage survey, which detailed how the school collapsed. Similarly to the Greensburg High School, the elementary was located to the east of the tornado's inflow, and strong winds initiated a collapse on the school's south and east-facing walls. A lack of steel vertical columns along the school's window sills, accompanied by weak hinge lines, was concluded to be the cause of the collapse. Like the high school, damage inflicted to the school was eventually given an EF4 rating.
Both the Greensburg High School and Delmer Day Elementary School were heavily damaged to such an extent that they were no longer usable as public education facilities for Greensburg; school was canceled for the remainder of the calendar school year as a result. Schooling was temporarily done in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)-provided trailers. Greensburg Schools superintendent Darin Headrick stated that "Our biggest concern was that if we didn't have a school in town as quickly as possible, people wouldn't have a reason to move back"; a permanent countywide school began to serve Greensburg in 2010.
The Kiowa County Memorial Hospital was reinforced with internal vertical steel beams which extended along the floors and ceilings, along with double-thick masonry walls. Despite this, the hospital sustained heavy damage, and a 9,900 pounds (4,500 kg) steel beam was lifted from the hospital's frame and lofted into a vehicle to the hospital's northeast. The damage survey conducted by structural engineers Timothy Marshall and other engineers concluded that winds of 147 miles per hour (237 km/h) were needed to lift and toss the beam, which garnered damage to the hospital an EF3 rating. The tornado also tore off the roof of the hospital, collapsed the walls of the building and scattered medical equipment around. Staff and patients in the structure took shelter in a basement and as result were unharmed.
The hospital was unable to functionally be used as a care facility as a result of the tornado. Workers on-site checked for victims in the facility, finding none, and a secondary care location was set up at the Heart to Heart International trailers in Olathe, Kansas. On May 21, three weeks after the tornado, a temporary "tent hospital" operated by the 190th Air Refueling Wing stationed in Topeka, Kansas was set up. Recovery efforts began immediately following the tornado; workers at the Kiowa County Memorial Hospital decided to begin rebuilding the hospital within 24 hours of its destruction.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency made two visits to Greensburg in May 2007, both following the tornado. During these visits, structural engineers with the URS Corporation conducted a damage survey separate to the one made by engineers with the Haag Company. The survey studied 46 residential structures in Greensburg that were damaged to varying degrees. The damage survey found that the worst tornadic damage cut a 5-block wide swath through the center of Greensburg and that zero tornado shelters were located in Greensburg during the survey. The survey also noted recommendations for the newly implemented Enhanced Fujita Scale, recommending that two new Degree of Damage (DOD) indicators be added to the list of 23 existing indicators to evaluate the scale of damage to load-bearing masonry buildings and timber-frame buildings.
The UMass X-Pol (X-band, mobile, polarimetric Doppler radar) is an X band pulse-Doppler radar system with a 1.2-inch (3.0 cm) wavelength that is installed on a modified Ford F-350 pickup truck. The instrument was constructed at the Microwave Remote Sensing Laboratory at the University of Massachusetts (UMass) and has been used in several studies of tornadoes since 2003.
During the event, meteorologists working with UMass deployed the instrument for approximately 70 minutes, detecting ten tornadoes produced by the Greensburg storm. The aim of the observation was to document the early stages of the Greensburg tornado's life. The study was noted as being one of a few ever conducted to observe both an EF5-rated tornado and two separate storm modes, which refers to separate movement types of severe storms.
Following the tornado, many families signed up to reside in the 200 temporary housing units aligned in rows, or "FEMA shelters" provided by FEMA, where residents lived for up to eighteen months. 500 of the 750 residents who remained in the town lived in these housing sites, dubbed "Femaville" by some residents of Greensburg. The temporary housing units came equipped with items like blankets and dishes to help living conditions while recovery efforts were underway. Schools and other public buildings in the neighboring towns of Mullinvile, Bucklin and Haviland were also used as temporary shelters for victims of the tornado. In addition to providing shelters, FEMA declared that it would pay for 100% of cleanup costs after the event, including at least $6.7 million for housing assistance and at least $10 million for repairing infrastructure in the town. FEMA also hired 21 Greensburg residents to work in recovery positions; the 7,604 volunteers registered by AmeriCorps working to help recovery efforts logged a total of 57,786 volunteer hours.
Then-President George W. Bush visited Greensburg twice following the tornado to survey damage. In a speech he made during his first visit to Greensburg, Bush said: "There is a lot of destruction. Fortunately, a lot of folks had basements here in this part of the world and lived to see another day. Unfortunately, too many died."
Almost 500 soldiers from the United States National Guard were deployed to Greensburg to aid with recovery efforts, and the crews provided machinery and communications for the area.
Shortly after the tornado, Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius stated that she wanted Greensburg to be "the greenest city in the state". FEMA activated the Long-Term Community Recovery (LTCR) program, which was designed to help recovery efforts with joint cooperation with the State of Kansas and other federal agencies willing to help. The United States Department of Energy (USDoE) collaborated with other agencies during the rebuilding process, and converted Greensburg's main energy source from fossil fuels to wind, collected using wind turbines. As a result, the Greensburg Wind Farm was developed, consisting of ten 1.25-megawatt turbines.
One of the most critical issues that Greensburg residents pointed out was finding a way to return to their homes. As a result, the LTCR prioritized rebuilding of housing units in Greensburg to avoid a decline in Greensburg's population. The decline in population that Greensburg saw from 2007 to 2010 also heavily affected the town's economy, which the LTCR aimed to combat by preparing an Economic Development Strategy (EDS). The goal of the EDS was to not only boost Greensburg's economy, but to also encourage people to move to the town.
Along with changes to Greensburg's energy sources, the LTCR also required that all buildings built within the city limits of Greensburg meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum certifications. A tornado-resistant "silo home" built within Greensburg attracted attention after building of the structure completed in 2009; journalist Jennifer Goodman wrote in a September 2009 publication of Architect Magazine that "the tiny town in Kansas once ravaged by a tornado is drawing eco-tourists from all over the world …". The publication also noted that 400 tourists from as far away as Europe visited Greensburg from July to September 2007 over a period of two months.
Although the hand-dug, 109 feet (33 m)-deep Big Well was not destroyed, its respective water tower and an above-ground gift shop that was a centerpiece of the town's history was destroyed in the tornado. The original building was replaced with a circular structure that includes exhibits showcasing the town's history before and following the tornado; the museum reopened on May 26, 2012. Caitlin Matile, who is the tourism director and manager of Greensburg, stated "we do a very good job of displaying things … what it was, what it is now"; new stairs were added into the well to let visitors reach the bottom.
Construction of a new water tower was put as a high-priority task because it was a crucial aspect of Greensburg's recovery. Professional Engineering Consultants (PEC) was tasked with designing the new tower, which was completed in 45 days; construction was completed by Maguire Iron in a span of 172 days. The water tower was declared complete in May 2008, after having its exterior coated with approximately 165 U.S. gallons (620 L) of Series 700 HydroFlon, a protective thermosetting fluoropolymer designed for use on water towers.
The Kiowa County Memorial Hospital was the only building that was an exception to the LEED platinum requirement, although the hospital later garnered an LEED Platinum certification. In 2010, after planning to be rebuilt and being completed in March of the same year at a different location within Greensburg, the Kiowa County Memorial hospital became the first in the United States to operate using carbon neutral energy.
Two 50-kilowatt wind turbines were installed on the site of the hospital to further reduce fossil fuel usage. The new hospital opened in March 2010, at a cost of approximately $25 million (2010 USD). The Kiowa County Memorial Hospital was the only building that was an exception to the LEED platinum requirement, although the hospital later garnered an LEED Platinum certification. In 2012, the hospital became the first to use entrapped rainwater to run water-based utilities, such as toilets. The rebuilt hospital is equipped with fifteen beds, two trauma rooms and other rooms included in typical hospitals, while using renewable energy to remain functional as a care facility.
Twelve people were confirmed to have been killed by the tornado, all of whom lived in Greensburg. Ten of the fatalities occurred immediately during the tornado, and two others occurred later in hospitals as a result of tornadic injuries. One of the two in-hospital deaths was a police officer who was taken off life support while being treated for a tornado-induced head injury hours after the event at a hospital in Wichita. The twelfth and final person died from a separate head injury in September 2007 as a result of the tornado;
Approximately 90 people were taken to hospitals within the first day following the tornado. Greensburg's main hospital, the Kiowa County Memorial Hospital, was destroyed by the tornado; those who were injured had to be treated in several nearby cities with functional hospitals, including Dodge City, Pratt, Kinsley and Wichita. The Pratt Regional Medical Center in Pratt received the most tornado patients of any other hospital in the area, with 59 people being transferred to the facility for treatment. Six patients who were already being treated for unrelated injuries at the Kiowa County Memorial Hospital prior to the tornado were transferred to the Comanche County Hospital, although none sustained tornadic injuries.
A study carried out by the University of Kansas Health System in April 2013 concluded that the critical mortality rate, a measure of the number of deaths in a certain population, from the tornado was 18% and that age was related to the degree of injuries sustained from the tornado.
The tornado and its aftermath have been featured in two television series: Greensburg, which documents the aftermath of the tornado and the miniseries Build It Bigger: Rebuilding Greensburg; the former series was created by actor Leonardo DiCaprio. Depictions of the event are also present in several pieces of literature, including The Greening of Oz by author Robert Fraga. In the book, Fraga writes "The reconstruction is nearly complete, and it's a model for towns everywhere in this country. A new town has grown up out of the prairie with a spectacular collection of public buildings".
37°36′15″N 99°17′35″W﻿ / ﻿37.60417°N 99.29306°W﻿ / 37.60417; -99.29306