NCDC Storm Data for the 2007 Greensburg tornado

by United States National Climatic Data Center

Location	Date	Time Local/Standard	Path Length (Miles)	Path Width (Yards)	Number of Persons Killed	Number of Persons Injured	Estimated Damage Property	Estimated Damage Crops	Character of Storm
Kiowa County 14 SSE Mullinville 2 NW Greensburg	04	2003CST 2105CST	25.8	3000	11	63	250.00M		Tornado (EF5)

 This killer tornado started in Comanche county and crossed into Kiowa county at 2003 CST / 2103 CDT. It curved north then northwest before making a complete loop northwest of Greensburg. Thus, the path was 25.8 miles.

 This tornado destroyed nearly 95 percent of the town of Greensburg and despite adequate warning, unfortunately took the life of 11 people, some that were in basements. First responders arriving on the scene requested three refrigerated refer trucks thinking there would be hundreds of fatalities. It also destroyed a dozen homes and a church south of Greensburg but did not cause injury. In all, 961 homes and businesses were destroyed, 216 received major damage and 307 received minor damage.

  As the tornado was dissipating it turned northwest, west, south and then back east making a loop. This was documented on both high resolution doppler radar and through the ground survey. Also as the tornado was dissipating a new circulation quickly grew northeast of town.

  Several oil storage tanks were destroyed causing an environmental concern. In the town of Greensburg, hazardous material was strewn everywhere. As of July 26th, the debris was still not fully cleaned up. Two landfills were filled with debris from the town and this was even as most was burned. Hundreds of thousands of dump truck loads were taken out. It was estimated that approximately 400,000 cubic yards of debris was removed. The major highway running through town was closed for 1 full month.

  At one time there were over 150 law enforcement officers (from all over the country) present. Military was called in for debris removal and rebuilding.

  Damage of insured losses exceeded $150 million, but including un-insured losses, was roughly 250 million dollars.

  **** NOTE **** The 11th victim passed away on September 19th, 2007 after a long battle with a head injury sustained during the tornado. M77PH, F76PH, M49PH, F72PH, M79MH, M52PH, F78PH, M63IW, F52PH