A town flattened

last updated 8 January 2015

Greensburg, Kansas

At least 11 people died last week when dozens of powerful tornadoes swept through Kansas. Most of the dead perished in a mile-wide twister, packing 205-mph winds, that obliterated Greensburg, a town of 1,500 in south-central Kansas. “There is no place to go back to work to,” said nurse’s aide Cheryll Behm. “All of Main Street is gone.” The National Weather Service said that the storm that hit Greensburg was an “enhanced F5,” the most severe classification. Parts of Kansas were declared a disaster area, freeing up federal funds for the recovery effort. “We need support,” said Greensburg city administrator Steve Hewitt. “We want everybody to know this is a huge catastrophe.”