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https://reasonstobecheerful.world/what-is-the-future-of-americas-greenest-town/>
"On the night of May 4, 2007, when an EF5 tornado 1.7 miles wide swallowed
their town whole, Gary and his daughter Alanna Goodman were watching
Wedding
Crashers in their upstairs living room. Gary had just called his wife Erica,
away in Garden City, Kansas, on business, to comment on the massive hail that
had interrupted the movie. Then the sirens started blaring.
It was common practice in Greensburg, Kansas, to run the aging siren system for
only about three minutes during warnings. Residents would retreat to their
basements, wait for silence, then go about their business. But according to
Erica (and town lore, told and retold as part of the collective narrative of
the event), on that Friday the county’s emergency management coordinator was
storm chasing. Erica says he was in neighboring Comanche County when he
witnessed three tornadoes drop and combine to make an almost two-mile-wide
wedge and head straight north toward Greensburg.
“He called dispatch and he said, ‘Turn the sirens on,’ And she said, ‘How long
should I run them?’” recalls Erica. “And he said, ‘Don’t you dare turn them off
unless you hear from me.’”
Dispatch sounded the sirens until the wind razed the power station."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
