Disaster Services International

The town of Greensburg, Kansas needs your help. Have been hit by a massive EF-5 tornado, there is not much left. We are working to help provide relief efforts along with others around the nation and insuring that those that have been affected are helped.

Greensburg, Kansas

Not very often does a state lose almost (95%+) a whole town at one time. On May 4th, that is just what happened to Greensburg, Kansas. Do to new technology, the National Weather Service (NWS) was able to provide between 20 and 25 minutes of warning to the city and thus, played a huge role in limiting the death toll to it's current level of 10.

Like a lot of people from across the US and around the world, the views of the devestation to Greensburg just makes us sick. Helping victims through a disaster like this, is just what we are developed for. One of our thoughts is that we would rather be here to help and not be needed, than to not be here and our help requested. So our efforts are going to help insure that the people of Greensburg are able to get back onto their feet and get back to a sort of normal life.

Greensburg Fire Station

The National Weather Service has provided the following information about the Greensburg Tornado to help people understand the size and power of this storm.  If you have not seen any video of the storm yet, we recommend that you view this link on Youtube.com .  This video will give a small feeling of what it was like that night, from the view of a stormchaser. 

The Greensburg Tornado has a rating of EF-5 (F-5) according to the Enhanced Fujita Scale.  An EF-5 is the most destructive type of tornado that can be procuded, with winds in excess of 200 miles per hour.  The officially reported windspeed for this tornado was 205 miles per hour.  To understand how severe that was, you have to consider, when Hurrican Katrina made landfall in Louisiana, it was a Catagory 3 with winds reported at all 125 miles per hour.  This tornado was nearly twice the speed of Katrina.  The tornado covered a physical area of 1.7 miles wide, which is one of the reasons that it was so destructive to Greensburg.  This storm was also so powerful that it was able to maintain its destructive power for a total of 22 miles.

This tornado is the most destructive and first EF-5 recorded since the Enhanced Fujita Scale was officially used beginning on February 1, 2007.  The last recorded F-5 tornado to hit in the US was the May 3, 1999 tornado that struck in the Moore, Oklahoma area. 

Tornado Radar Image

After extensive surveys in the area, the National Weather Service office in Dodge City revealed that a second large tornado later developed just a few miles east of the Greensburg wedge. Rapidly, the second tornado after developping just east of Greensburg, grew to about a mile wide as it moved northeast. In Pratt County the tornado destroyed more homes, including one that was swept off its foundation. The tornado also affected several other communities, including Trousdale in Edwards County and Macksville in Stafford County. The same supercell spawned additional tornadoes that caused significant damage across Barton County where it affected the towns of Ellinwood and Claflin about two hours after the Greensburg tornado. Another tornado later hit the Holyrood area causing additional damage.

In this time of need, we reach out to those affected and ask for your support as a community to help make a difference.  You can be assured that your donation will reach those affected by this disaster and that we will continue to assist as long as we can.  So please make you 100% deductible donation today.