Greensburg, KS Tornado

[Teresa]

Sis said that everything but the underground part of the well is gone and that the water tower looked like someone had taken a twig and snapped it with their fingers.
She took lots of pictures so when she sends them to me, I will post them on here.

We are in Garnett right now and this weekend, filming cowboy action shooting events for
Down Range. TV and CasCity.com, and right now it looks like we are getting closer to having some nasty weather.
I hope not, as I hate being in a motel and not home when stuff like this is around me.

[Wilma]

On another thread of interest in this area, the first report wasn't entirely accurate, for which the reporter apologized.  I do not find any need for the apology.  We can only report what we hear unless we happen to be an eyewitness.  It is good that we get some kind of a report as soon as possible.  We can sort out the truth later.  So, you people that talk to someone involved in the tornado or have talked to someone that was there, please share with us.  Your report will be so much better than what we are getting thru the media.

[genealogynut]

Folks, I am seeing red, and am on my soapbox!!!!!!!!!  After reading this story about 4 Fort Riley soldier raiding and looting, and 2 Red Cross impersonators stealing, and taking advantage of those folks who just lost about everything, it's too-o-o-o-o bad that I'm not the judge!!!!!  I think they should be severely punished.......and not just some light tap on the wrist, saying "Naughty boy, you shouldn't do that." Have those looters/thieves no shame? 

http://www/kake.com/home/headlines/7360861.html   Well, I just tried this and it doesn't want to work----(so what's new?)  I've put this URL in Google and it worked fine!!  Anyway, if you will go to KAKE.com and read the headlines about the Fort Riley soldiers looting and the Red Cross impersonators, that should pretty well cover it.

[Janet Harrington]

But what is good is that those people did get arrested and are in jail in Pratt County.  Hurrah for good law enforcement during this trying time in Greensburg.

[Jo McDonald]

I talked to Sherri again yesterday evening -- as we have talked every day since this terrible storm.  She was pretty upset from the actions of the TV news media --- they are IN THE WAY of those that are trying to gather what is left of their posessions - and showing the same things on their news channels every day - and this is what really upset her----They are eating ALL OF THEIR MEALS at the Red Cross center --- don't you think they could provide their own food and water - and not take from those that have no way to fix any food for themselves?
  Or---- maybe put down their microphones and put on a pair of gloves and offer some help?
  I realize they show what is important so all can be informed -- but there is nothing new to show --- so they need to move over and let those that have their lives to put back together have the space to do so.

[MarineMom]

I "lifted" this from the Dodge City Daily Globe webpage I think it shows the spirit and courage of majority of the folks I have met since moving to the mid-west and not the whiney "why me" attitude of some other parts of the nation

Bright side of a tragedy
By Walter Jones
Dodge City Daily Globe



Jason Hunter/The Topeka Capital-Journal 
GREENSBURG – Many of the people of Greensburg are determined not to let a wind storm blow away their sense of humor, as exhibited around town many ways:
% The reason is simple for Malena Starr to have a muddy rug spread on her front lawn in the only area cleared of rubble.

"Want to keep looking like a home," she explains.


 
Besides, she was celebrating the hog in the freezer that was found in good order – good news since she had just bought it last Wednesday.

% Jane Lang just bought a house in Greensburg last Wednesday. Her good news is that she hadn't even moved in. Though her barn is lost, the house is in good shape, she said.

"Hopefully, we'll be in the house soon so we can open it up for other folks," she said.

None of those "other folks" are people she knows.

Lang picked her Greensburg home by seeing it online from her Santa Ana, Calif., residence while she was looking for an affordable place to retire. She didn't know what a storm siren was when she heard it Friday night.

% The most boring job could belong to Bryan Chestnut, a security guard with the Wackenhut company hired to protect a State Farm claims trailer.

"So far, everybody's been real friendly," he said, as compared to the verbal abuse he encountered in Slidell, La., after Hurricane Katrina. "You can't really fault them. I'd be upset, too, if I lost everything."

Claims adjuster Linda Sharp has been to enough natural disasters to know that the real tension usually comes when homeowners are allowed to return to their property and see in daylight how much they have lost. Walking through Greensburg brought a tear to her own eyes, she said.

But the difficult encounters she had braced for never came.

"They've been relatively calm," she said. "... I thought once they saw it they would be emotional."

% The postal inspectors sifting through rubble at the Greensburg Post Office were so careful to safeguard every letter that they even saved each metal letter that had formed the sign embedded in the building's brick front wall.

% Meteorology may be a mystery to some, but Traza Rickey has an explanation for her hometown's devastation.

"People are making jokes that the reason the storm came is because Greensburg put in a liquor store," she said, "... and the funny thing, is it's still standing."

% Odd signs have turned up everywhere, like "for sale, new sky lights, newly remodeled" at one house, or "student driver" resting on the back of a new car half buried under a storefront. One demolished truck had spray painted across the tailgate "free for a good home." And a downtown store had an old sign propped in the display window, "10% off Sale -- glassware."

% Mullinville Red Cross volunteer Paula Watson choked up as she recounted the outpouring of charity. "My daughter said, 'There are people who hate each other who are hugging.'"

[CrumCowgirlMama]

It's crazy how something like this can bring people together. Everytime I see the victims on tv they're smiling and seem happy. I don't think I could ever be that strong if something like that happened to me.