Greensburg Tornado Damage
On May 4th 2007 a huge devastating tornado wiped out the entire town of Greensburg in south western Kansas. It was the first ever tornado to be rated EF5 on the enhanced tornado intensity scale, destroying at least 95% of the city and killing ten people. The 2 mile wide tornado struck the town of 1,800 residents at about 9:45 p.m. local time, 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.
June 21st I was back in Greensburg. My mission was to capture images of the devastation, talk to the local people and take the information back home to the UK in order to raise awareness of the event. I was hoping by way of media coverage and a future exhibition this can be expedited, which in turn will raise much needed money for the Greensburg cause. Unfortunately, disasters of this nature become yesterday's news too quickly. It is so important to sustain coverage and aid in order to rejuvenate a sense of normality (if that is possible).
From a research point of view I was looking for many usual signatures associated with tornadic damage. These signatures I have witnessed before with such damage in both the UK and overseas, albeit in lesser intense events. Buildings pierced with projectiles, localised rotation damage, bark stripped trees etc. In fact so widespread and intense was the destruction that I witnessed very few of these signatures. This shocked me but was also a valuable learning exercise. There comes a point within the rotational destruction of vortexes where damage becomes unrecognisably specific. This I assume is where and why the EF5 intensity scale was attributed.
Read MoreJune 21st I was back in Greensburg. My mission was to capture images of the devastation, talk to the local people and take the information back home to the UK in order to raise awareness of the event. I was hoping by way of media coverage and a future exhibition this can be expedited, which in turn will raise much needed money for the Greensburg cause. Unfortunately, disasters of this nature become yesterday's news too quickly. It is so important to sustain coverage and aid in order to rejuvenate a sense of normality (if that is possible).
From a research point of view I was looking for many usual signatures associated with tornadic damage. These signatures I have witnessed before with such damage in both the UK and overseas, albeit in lesser intense events. Buildings pierced with projectiles, localised rotation damage, bark stripped trees etc. In fact so widespread and intense was the destruction that I witnessed very few of these signatures. This shocked me but was also a valuable learning exercise. There comes a point within the rotational destruction of vortexes where damage becomes unrecognisably specific. This I assume is where and why the EF5 intensity scale was attributed.
