Greensburg, Kansas
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Greensburg is a town in Kiowa County, Kansas, United States. The population is 1,574 as of the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Kiowa CountyTemplate:GR. Greensburg is also home to the World's Largest Hand-Dug Well.
On May 4, 2007, a mile-wide EF4 tornado annihilated the area and severely damaged about 95 percent of the town. At least 60 people were injured (some critically) while at least seven people lost their lives.[1]
Geography
Greensburg is located at 37°36′16″N 99°17′37″W / 37.60444°N 99.29361°WInvalid arguments have been passed to the {{#coordinates:}} function (37.604316, -99.293488)Template:GR.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 3.9 km² (1.5 mi²), all land.
Demographics
As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 1,574 people, 730 households, and 453 families residing in the city. The population density was 407.9/km² (1,055.9/mi²). There were 887 housing units at an average density of 229.8/km² (595.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.01% White, 0.83% Native American, 0.06% Asian, 1.02% from other races, and 1.08% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.59% of the population.
There were 730 households out of which 23.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.3% were married couples living together, 6.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.9% were non-families. 35.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 19.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.14 and the average family size was 2.76.
In the city the population was spread out with 21.5% under the age of 18, 6.5% from 18 to 24, 20.5% from 25 to 44, 25.2% from 45 to 64, and 26.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46 years. For every 100 females there were 91.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.1 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $28,438, and the median income for a family was $39,188. Males had a median income of $28,426 versus $20,875 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,054. About 8.4% of families and 12.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.6% of those under age 18 and 8.0% of those age 65 or over.
Attractions
Greensburg is home to the world's largest hand dug well. Work had begun on the well in 1887 to provide water for the steam engines of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad. When the well was completed in 1888 it was 109 feet deep and 32 feet in diameter. The well was used as the town's water supply until 1932. In 1939 it was opened as a tourist attraction allowing visitors to descend to the bottom of the well. The adjacent museum displays a 1000-pound pallasite meteorite.
On October 16 2006, a related smaller meteorite measuring 154 pounds (70 kilograms) was dug up near Greensburg; the excavation proceedings showed that the Brenham meteor strikes occurred roughly 10,000 years ago, during the Pleistocene epoch, rather than 20,000 years ago as previously thought.[2]
A younger attraction was the Twilight Theatre, which first showed movies in 1915. There was also an old soda fountain in the downtown drug store.
Tornado
On May 4 2007 at about 9:40PM CDT a large tornado ripped through Greensburg leaving at least 90% of the town in ruins. Leveling downtown and the Jr. High and High schools. One man said "the only thing [he] could see standing was a grain elevator." So far 7 people have been confirmed dead including 6 people in Greensburg and 1 person in a smaller town nearby.[3] [4] A motel on the west edge of town, a tractor supply company and other businesses as well as homes have been destroyed.
The tornado was part of a larger mesoscale convective complex which produced severe weather from South Dakota to Oklahoma[5].
Shelters have been established at the Haviland high school and Barclay College in nearby Haviland, Kansas and the Oddfellow Lodge in Macksville, Kansas. [6] The American Red Cross is maintaining a registry of "Safe and Well" families at their disasters website disastersafe.redcross.org.[4]
References
- ^ "7 die as tornado levels Kansas town". AP. 2007-05-05. Retrieved 2007-05-05.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Unusual meteorite found in Kansas, retrieved October 17 2006
- ^ "Huge twister hammers Kansas town". CNN. 2007-05-05. Retrieved 2007-05-05.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b "Tornado moves through central Kansas". Retrieved 2007-05-04.
{{cite web}}: line feed character in|title=at position 22 (help) - ^ National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center. "Local Storms Reports". Retrieved 2007-05-05.
- ^ "Greensburg Suffers Significant Damage In Tornado". Retrieved 2007-05-04.