The Greensburg Tornado - 04/05/07

[pottyprof]

As reports, pictures and video of this tragic event are still coming in, I thought we should have a thread specifically for this to keep the discussion threads clear for daily details.

The tornado struck the town of 1,800 at about 9:45 p.m. Friday, leaving a broad swath of destruction. Residents reported that tornado sirens sounded for about 15 minutes, then fell silent when the power was knocked out.

From Associated Press.

Updated: 5:23 a.m. ET May 5, 2007

GREENSBURG, Kan. - Rescuers searched early Saturday for people believed trapped in a partially collapsed hospital after a massive tornado roared across this southwest Kansas community.

The tornado struck Friday night, leaving a broad swath of destruction in the Kiowa County town about 110 miles west of Wichita. For hours later, the same storm front continued to spawn tornadoes along a path stretching northeast from Greensburg through central Kansas.

Emergency medical crews, law enforcement personnel and search and rescue teams from throughout southwest Kansas and as far east as Wichita raced toward Greensburg after the twister struck.

All communications to the Kiowa County town of about 1,600 people were knocked out by the tornado, and the Kansas Department of Transportation sent its Communications on Wheels mobile unit from Wichita to restore 911 service.

No fatalities were immediately reported from violent weather along a front that stretched from the Oklahoma border to Nebraska.

At least six people from Greensburg were admitted to Pratt Regional Medical Center, the nearest hospital, and more were expected through the night, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Roads into and out of Greensburg, including U.S. 54, were closed for several hours to allow emergency vehicles to reach the town.

[pottyprof]

Latest from Kansas.com

Tornado kills 1, causes major damage in Greensburg

BY TIM POTTER AND HURST LAVIANA

The Wichita Eagle

GREENSBURG - "I can't believe the destruction I'm seeing," Sedgwick County Fire Marshal Tim Millspaugh said shortly after arriving in Greensberg to help search for people trapped in a hospital after a massive twister destroyed most of the west side of town. "It's every bit as bad at the 1991 Andover tornado and the 1999 Haysville tornado."

Elsewhere in town, at least one person was found dead and their body taken about 2:30 a.m. Saturday to the Bar H tavern, which is serving as a temporary morgue.

Greensburg resident Vicki Weaver, 54, said the tavern is the only one in Kiowa County.

"Everybody came here for a good time and conversation," she said. "Now for it to be turned into a morgue, it's hard to fathom."

The tornado struck the town of 1,800 at about 9:45 p.m. Friday, leaving a broad swath of destruction. Residents reported that tornado sirens sounded for about 15 minutes, then fell silent when the power was knocked out.

For several hours, the same storm system continued to spawn tornadoes along a path stretching northeast from Greensburg through central Kansas.

Early estimates were that as much as 60 percent of the town had been heavily damaged by the tornado, and there were reports that several homes south of town had been leveled.

About 20 firefighters trained in search and rescue arrived from Wichita and Sedgwick County at about 3:30 a.m. Saturday to look for people in the hospital's three basements. The building lost much of its roof and most of the east wall collapsed, said Wichita Deputy Fire Chief Mike Rudd.

Six people -- four adults and two small children -- who had taken shelter there were found "very scared, very shook up," said Sedgwick County Deputy Fire Chief Rick Brazill.

Extensive damage was reported to buildings along Main Street, where City Hall, the post office and the public library are located. Block after block has been reduced to rubble. The trees have been stripped of their leaves. Smashed cars, their doors ajar, emit ghostly a glow.

School buses were lined up in town to take people to shelters the Red Cross set up in nearby Haviland.

Emergency medical crews, law enforcement personnel and search and rescue teams from throughout southwest Kansas raced toward Greensburg after the twister struck.

All communications around Greensburg were knocked out by the tornado, and the Kansas Department of Transportation sent its Communications on Wheels mobile unit from Wichita to restore 911 service.

Law enforcement officials were going door-to-door looking for anyone trapped or injured.

As of 3 a.m. about 50 people had been admitted to Pratt Regional Medical Center, the nearest hospital. Kim Stivers, the hospital's director of community services, said the patients ranged from good to critical condition.

Three patients were sent to Wichita's Wesley Medical Center -- two were in critical condition. Greensburg is about 110 miles west of Wichita on U.S. 54.

Initial reports from storm spotters estimated that the path of the damage could be as much as two miles wide.

KWCH Channel 12 meteorologist Ross Janssen said reports from storm spotters indicated the tornado was a "wedge" tornado. He said the 1991 Andover tornado that killed 17 people, and the 1999 Oklahoma City tornado that left 36 dead, were wedge tornadoes.

"When we're talking 'wedge,' we're talking very large at ground and at the cloud base," he said.

EMS crews from as far away as Hays were being dispatched to the area, and hospitals in Wichita, Great Bend and Dodge City were asked to remain on stand-by status.

The National Weather Service said Greensburg, the county seat, which is known for having the world's largest hand-dug well, took a direct hit from the twister about 9:45 p.m.

Matt Gerard, lead forecaster for the National Weather Service in Dodge City, said an off-duty Weather Service employee saw a "huge wedge" tornado traveling north across the countryside toward Greensburg.

The tornado was one of at least two that developed in and around largely rural Kiowa County and moved northeastward toward other settlements. Another tornado was also reported near Great Bend about 1 a.m., and damage was reported in Ellinwood, east of Great Bend.

"We know there are power outages and reports of injuries, but we don't have confirmation at this time," Kansas Adjutant General's office spokeswoman Sharon Watson said near midnight.

An emergency operations center in Topeka was monitoring the situation to see if the state could help local agencies with the cleanup.

There are National Guard members living in the damaged area, Watson said, but they were unable to communicate with officials in Topeka.

By midnight, KDOT crews had closed parts of U.S. 54 near Greensburg. The road closures were intended to give emergency vehicles better access to the area.

American Red Cross volunteers from Wichita, Pratt, Garden City and Salina have set up feeding stations for volunteers in Greensburg; a shelter for affected families was opened at Barclay College in Haviland, at 607 N. Kingman St.

[AudMun]

It just seems unreal sitting here at nearly 8:30 the following morning, watching the devastation on the Weather Channel and knowing the Tornado warning has only just finished for a cell we watched develop yesterday afternoon.

Stewart

[NL]

Some photos of the 'Greensburg' tornado breakout 04-05/May/2007

Courtesy of Dan Robinson..

[Paul R]

8 confirmed fatalities from last night's tornadoes.

[NL]

8 confirmed fatalities from last night's tornadoes.

And now 90% of Greensburg destroyed, not suprising as the 'wedge' is now believed

to have been a half mile wide beast, the town itself is just over a half mile wide and just over a mile long.

[TEITS]

As exciting as tornados are let's show a little respect to those victims in Greensburg. I know the chase team want to see some action but lets not forget the damage these twisters cause because all I read on this threads is people posting how exciting it is without a thought for those poor victims.

[Rustynailer]

As exciting as tornados are let's show a little respect to those victims in Greensburg. I know the chase team want to see some action but lets not forget the damage these twisters cause because all I read on this threads is people posting how exciting it is without a thought for those poor victims.

That was pretty bad Eye, I must say the American policeman handled everything in a very dignified and respectful manner.

Be careful out there people.

Russ

[NL]

Now ha'way Teits nobody wants to to hear of injuries or death whether it be storms natural disasters or accidents. You talk of folk on here not having any thought of the victims of these severe storm outbreaks which is totally uncalled for, some of the younger ones on the forum might get overly excited but that is purely because of age, experience and not fully understanding that unfortunatley some people get caught up in these events and sadly die.

Just last night the SPC declared emergency status in many counties and the way it was worded could have been easely

misconstrued as excitement, but when people warn of impending danger an air of 'excitement' (whether it be caused by fear , concern or just pure awe) does come about..Paul Sherman phoned last night and told me of the destruction that these Tornadoes had caused and believe you me it really brings it to the fore...

Our thoughts and prayers go out to all the victims families who have been affected by not only this severe outbreak but to all...

[kold weather]

I'll have a better look at the set-up later this afternoon when the 12z obs are in, but for now I don't see too much wrong with what TEITS is saying, its the same thing I try to preach in the hurricane forum, just to have a little respect because people have died, but I do totally understand what you mean NL and I also agree with you.

[rc28]

Don't know if this has been posted already but new tornado footage:

Also, there is loads on the Greensburg one like this which shows radasr images of it:

Here

It is certainly a sobering sight to see such devastation happen to that town- 95% of it destroyed, if that was in the past when there were not the kind of warning systems they have today then many more would have died as it happened during the night when no one would have seen it coming.

[pottyprof]

As exciting as tornados are let's show a little respect to those victims in Greensburg. I know the chase team want to see some action but lets not forget the damage these twisters cause because all I read on this threads is people posting how exciting it is without a thought for those poor victims.

Dave... I understand what you are saying. This is the reason why following the Greensburg tornado, news reports were posted in the thread to bring home the reality of the situation. As bad as the situation is out there, life continues and so does the excitement and interest in tornadoes. There was some debate on stormtrack a while ago about this same thing. Its not a case of not having respect for the victims of these storms, as obviously, anyone who has any feelings at all will feel deeply sorry for them.

[Greyowl]

Images like this one do bring home the power and destuctive potential of nature.

Greensburg.

[the-human-man]

Images like this one do bring home the power and destuctive potential of nature.

damn, is that greensburg? i heard that it got destroyed by a really powerful tornado...

poor people

[Greyowl]

As reports, pictures and video of this tragic event are still coming in, I thought we should have a thread specifically for this to keep the discussion threads clear for daily details.

The tornado struck the town of 1,800 at about 9:45 p.m. Friday, leaving a broad swath of destruction. Residents reported that tornado sirens sounded for about 15 minutes, then fell silent when the power was knocked out.

Can you move over the image I just posted on the day 7 thread please Potty. Thanks

[TEITS]

I have to say TEITS that your remarks are rather harsh. There is a NW chase team out in the US and they have kindly kept us informed of how their big adventure is going (of which many of us are extremely envious (me included)). This is area is dedicated to their adventure.

Moving this thread into the extreme weather worldwide area of the forum.

It's a tragic event. Trouble is these things do happen, and they will keep on happening. There is nothing we can do about it.

No my remarks are not harsh whatsoever.

All im trying to say is whilst we all get excited at the prospects of the tornados let's not forget them poor souls who are affected by these. I can understand the excitement as the NW chase team is out there but what annoyed me was the lack of sympathetic posts towards those victims at Greensburg. We may not be able to do anything about it but at least we can be respectful!.

Just remember what may look awesome on the Sat pics/ Radar pics is far different to those poor people who are under it!.

[NL]

In 'Tornado Alley' would'nt you think that dwellings should by law have storm protection ie bunker,.. yes a whole life-time can pass without any need to take shelter, but having the assurance of protection would put so many people at ease.. so c'mon America (Government) you have the wealth ,do something about it..!!! And with GW ,storms are predicted to become more frequent and amplyfied !!

[Osbourne One-Nil]

I can see why the confusion arose...the thread in the original location says TEITS started it. Very odd indeed!

[kold weather]

I'd have thought most homes would have a bunker built underneath it anyway, if only for the slim chance of a direct hit?

[WhiteFox]

I'd have thought most homes would have a bunker built underneath it anyway, if only for the slim chance of a direct hit?

Building codes seem to be a bit lax over in that part of the world. I have a cousin who lives in Mission Hills just outside Kansas City and he is a builder. He says that he has been called out to almost new properties which are on the verge of collapsing due to subsidence. Most homes are built of wood, as they are through most of the US, and tornado bunkers are not mandatory. He himself has a basement which serves as a tornado shelter. According to him, when the sirens sound the first thing the guy across the road does is drive off in his new car to make sure it doesn't get damaged and sends his wife and his kids over to my cousin's house!

Anyway, tragic news indeed and although understanding TEIT's point, it is not possible to become involved on a personal level with every event across the world otherwise I would spend all of my time in tears. Nobody on here would deliberately hope for a severe event to kill people, but we all relish the power of nature.

[eddie]

Appologies if this has already been posted but its video of a tornado spawned from the same storm system as the Greensburg Tornado. Amazing footage...

50 - 100 yards from tornado

[kold weather]

looks like this is the storngest tornado since 3rd of May 1999 and rated the most powerful EF5:

http://www.kake.com/breakingnews/7347256.html

Some of those photos are stunning, really shows natures ture power and the set-up relaly was nearly perfect for monster tornadoes so its not that suprising that we finally saw a EF5 and this outbreak will go down as one of the legends I suppose.

[Glideslope]

Sorry if this link has already been put up, niece emailed from US with it...

further storm footage to the right.

http://www.weather.com/multimedia/videopla...hr_outlet_video

[TEITS]

I can see why the confusion arose...the thread in the original location says TEITS started it. Very odd indeed!

Even im confused because I put my post with the Youtube link into the day 7 Storm chase discussion thread and some how it ended up here.

So no I never started this thread.

[Osbourne One-Nil]

There is, it seems, a rational explanation, but I'm too tired to explain!