page_title: Dennis McKinney
section_title: Tornado and recovery
hierarchical_section_title: Dennis McKinney / Tornado and recovery
caption_attribution_description: English: Greensburg, KS May 16, 2007 - The center of town twelve days after it was hit by an F5 tornado with 200 mph (approx 321 km/h) winds. Debris removal is moving at a record pace, but reconstruction will likely take years. Photo by Greg Henshall / FEMA
context_page_description: Dennis McKinney is a former Kansas State Treasurer. He was a member of the Kansas House of Representatives where he represented the 116th House District for ten terms, the last six as the Democratic Party's leader in the Kansas House. In January 2017, he was a Democratic candidate for the party's nomination as the 4th District of Kansas nominee in the U.S. House of Representatives. At the Democrats' 4th District nominating convention February 10, 2017, he narrowly lost to James Thompson.
context_section_description: On the evening of May 4, 2007, the first of a series of powerful storms and one of the strongest tornadoes of the century, an EF5 tornado with a 1.7-mile-swath, and  winds exceeding 200 miles per hour (320 km/h), flattened 95% of McKinney's hometown of Greensburg, Kansas.
  The tornado left the area without power, plunging it into darkness. The destruction included the city hospital, schools and McKinney's own house in town. Together with his daughter, Lindy, in their basement, they barely survived the complete collapse of their residence.
  As the funnel passed, McKinney emerged from the wreckage to search for, and assist, stricken neighbors. Joined by the Superintendent of Schools, Darren Hedrick, they soon found and extricated a mother and her nine-month-old son from where they had been buried, deep in the rubble of her home.
  Not all were so fortunate: Out of the roughly 1,500 residents, ten others were killed in Greensburg during the cataclysm, with more dying or found dead later, plus two more in neighboring smaller towns.  The destruction caused more than half the now-homeless and traumatized population to depart;  a third of the population—500 people—moved away permanently.
  McKinney immediately declared his intent to remain and rebuild. With city officials, McKinney helped guide the community in the mobilization of rebuilding efforts and resources. On May 23, still homeless from the storm, McKinney was in the State capitol shepherding a relief bill for Greensburg through the Legislature. It passed unanimously in both houses, transferring an additional $25 million to a pre-existing $10 million state emergency fund, and granting another $5 million in business restart grants for the community.
  Elected officials from President George W. Bush, Governor Sebelius and U.S. Senator Pat Roberts, soon visited the recovering municipality.
  Utilizing state of the art, sustainable technology, and marshalling prodigious public, corporate and private funding, Greensburg was rapidly transformed into perhaps the "greenest" city in America. A year into the restoration and recovery, McKinney wrote, "The Kiowa County we had a year ago was a testament of the tenacity of our grandparents. The Kiowa County we are building today will be testimony to future generations of our resilience."
caption: City center, twelve days after the tornado struck (2007)
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