Hurricane-hit Greensburg rebuilds as model green village
Published Tuesday, 6th May 2008
Greenbang loves a happy ending (not like that) and this story, courtesy of Associated Press certainly has one.
After being battered by a hurricane, the town of Greensburg swept away the dead witches and ruby slippers (Greenbang made that last bit up) and decided to rebuild the town greener than ever.
Greensburg has been putting up new buildings to the LEED Platinum standard – the greenest certification there is. There’s also “solar panels, wind turbines, tinted windows, water-saving toilets and other energy-efficient technology”, according to the AP, with houses built from recycled materials, with better insulation and low energy lighting.
The AFP, meanwhile, says Greensburg’s got an “eco-lodging project, a recycling center and a water conservation system to turn rain into drinking water”.
All this greenery has attracted the attentions of president Bush, who paid a visit to the hurricane-surviving town late last week. Bit of a shame that after one tragedy, another disaster was waiting to pop up.
And, according to NPR.org, even the churches are built green these days:
“What we had before, we couldn’t hardly afford to heat and cool. It’s just so much better than it ever was before, but we get to build a new normal. We get to build a new normal. I think that’s exciting,” [resident Ted] Kyle says.
Awwww.
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Hurricane Katerina was the closest thing that came to Kansas gittin hit with a hurricane. The picture that you have is of maybe F-1 tornado. That tornado might pick up and I mean might pick up a 200 pound man. More than likely though it will make his ears pop and spin him around a couple of times.
Greensburg, Kansas was hit with a massive F-5 tornado which wiped up 90% of the towns buildings and seriously damaged the rest.