Greensburg, KS....why we're out here

On the way up to Hays, KS last Saturday our team took a slight detour off of the route north to swing through Greensburg, KS. For those of you that don't know Greensburg was witness to a devastating tornado just over two years ago, on 4 May 2007. It was the first tornado to be rated an EF-5 on the new Enhanced Fujita scale for tornado intensity. By many accounts the small town was "wiped off the map" by the event.

It was both sobering and heartening to see the town 2 years after the tornado. Sobering in that many of the scars were still there. Vacant slabs where homes once stood, trees still standing yet stripped of their bark and no longer bearing leaves. Yet it was also heartening to see the reconstruction underway, new homes going up, a new school, and the sign welcoming you to town that read "Greensburg, KS Rebuilding... Stonger, Better, Greener".

I snapped a few pictures as we came into town on the main road, however quickly stowed the camera as we turned off of onto one of the side streets. It just didn't feel right and I knew if I was living in a place that had been ravaged by a tornado I probably wouldn't particularly care for people driving by snapping pictures as though it was some kind of attraction. And honestly the few pictures I did take don't come close to doing justice to the scene.

It may sound trite, but to me this is why we're out here doing this project. It's not about the thrills or getting cool video, or even necessarily about the scientific curiosity of understanding how these storms work. Rather, its to keep events like Greensburg from being so tragic. While we're not going to be stopping tornadoes from tearing through towns like Greensburg anytime soon, if our research can help better warn or prepare people for their impact then I see it being worth the money and time being spent out here. Eleven people died on that May evening two years ago, and one of the best ways to keep that from happening is to continue to advance our understanding of these storms and use that knowledge for better warnings and longer lead times so people can get to safety.

Anyway, sorry for the downer of a post here....I promise future posts will return to pretty pictures and stories of my adventures with weather balloon launching ; ).