Breathtaking and grim reminder of the horror of the Greensburg, Kansas twister a year ago on May 4, 2007; fire hydrant literally put out the ground by the tornado
Rebuilding efforts continue a year the devastating EF5 twister (indicating winds greater
than 200 mph) which roared at 9:45 p.m. last May 4 (2007) out of the darkness of the
southwest Kansas night leveling Greensburg, Kansas. This photo, taken in the wake of
the storm, drives home the destructive power of that twister. It was the first “5”
classification twister on the Fujita scale to rake any part of the United States since the
devastating Moore, Oklahoma of May, 1999. Evan Ammeson forwarded this photo to
us—it was taken by National Weather Service-Dodge City, Kansas Warning Coordination
Meteorologist (WCM) Jeff Hutton. Evan notes the fire hydrant visible near the center of
this photo which was clearly ripped out of the ground by the force of that frightful
twister and is laying amid all the debris and the leafless trees left in the wake of that
storm.
Check out our webcast of this year’s Fermilab seminar available here on the
WGN-TV website for the fascinating presentation on this horrifying storm presented by
Larry Ruthie of the NWS-Dodge City office who joined us at the early April seminars.
Also, check out storm chaser Chad Cowin’s presentation and the segment her shared
with our Fermilab audience from the stunning Storms of 2007 tape put together by a
group of this country’s best known storm chasers. All proceeds from the sale of that
incredibly well produced tape have been and continue to be donated to the city of
Greensburg and to the Red Cross there to help in the rebuilding of the tornado ravaged
community. Our thanks to Evan Ammeson for calling Jeff Hutton’s photo to our
attention!
Tom Skilling
WGN-TV Chief Meteorologist
