TVN team to appear on CBS The Early Show tomorrow morning!

The TVN team will be interviewed live tomorrow (Tuesday) morning from Greensburg, KS on CBS The Early Show, as part of the remembrance of the devastating EF5 tornado that struck the town nearly a year ago on May 4, 2007.  As many of you remember, this massive wedge tornado was the strongest to touch down in the U.S. since the May 3, 1999 F5 that struck Moore, OK.  Sadly, 13 people lost their lives and 90% of the buildings were completely destroyed as the EF5 tornado parked over the town of Greensburg.  Below are two videos of this tornado from development until it moved into Greensburg, KS at around 9:45 pm CDT. 

A few days ago, we visited Greensburg for the first time since the tornado, and while the rebuilding process is moving forward rapidly, visual scars of the tornado are widespread.  Nearly all the trees in the town are dead or severely injured, and bare foundations of previous buildings can be seen everywhere.  Still though, a strong feeling of optimism and  determination is apparent with the locals as the town continues to rebuild stronger and more eco-friendly than ever.  Heading the rebuilding process is Greensburg GreenTown, a nonprofit organization established to provide the residents of Greensburg with the resources, information, and support to rebuild as a model green community.  News and updates of the rebuilding process, as well as donation information can be found at the following website:   

http://www.greensburggreentown.org/

Storm chasers not only played a significant role in the warning process during this tragic tornado event but providing ground truth to National Weather Service forecasters and Emergency Managers, but also have established a charity program called Project Greensburg, where profit from storm chaser highlight DVDs are being donated to the rebuilding process.  Information on this program can be found at the URL below:

http://www.thestormsof2007.org/projectgreensburg.htm

As the 1-year anniversary of the Greensburg tornado approaches, there will likely be a few storm chasing opportunities this week, and thankfully, most of the action will remain east of Southwest Kansas.  A strong storm system is forecast to eject from the Rocky Mountain region on Thursday, bringing the chance for tornadoes to the Southern Plains on Thursday.   The TVN team will definitely be chasing this event, and we'll follow the storm system east to the Atlantic Ocean if we have to by the end of the week.  Stay tuned for updates!!

Comments

[Richard Cave]

I saw the Greensburg tragedy unfold watching storm chasers on discovery. I was very moved over what I saw. This is one of the reasons why I would like to help by imaging tornadoes. It is a small way of understanding what happens in a tornadic event. However I know for a fact a lot more people would have been killed if "groundtruth" imagery had not been seen. I truly wish that tornado proofing and community shelters are needed in all of these towns.

Hopefully the new town will grow and peoples families and livelihoods will recover. We live in desperate times and it sometimes seems the planet is against us. People of America are children of adversity and will grow stronger.

My respect goes to the townsfolk of Greensburg.

Rich