Tornado Greensburgh,KS

Greensburgh,KS on the UP Golden St route, was wiped out about 9:45 Fri night by a massive sized tornado. Atleast 7 were killed. The same storm moved north crossing the BNSF La Junta Sub near St.John doing damage there which delayed Amtrk #4 about 3 hours. The folks in Greensburgh need our prayers & thoughts. A very sad day out here in the heartland.

The town has a railroad tourism connection:

The Big Well, in Greensburg, Kansas, was a water well designed to provide water for the Santa Fe and Rock Island railroads. It was built in 1887 at a cost of $45,000, and served as the municipal water supply until 1932.

It is billed as the world’s largest hand-dug well, at 109 feet deep and 32 feet in diameter. It was designated a National Museum in 1972; in 1973 it was awarded an American Water Landmark by the American Water Works Association. Visitors entered the well for a small fee, descending an illuminated stairway to the bottom of the well.

http://www.bigwell.org/bigwell.html

http://www.kansas.com/

http://www.kansas.com/static/slides/050507tornadoaerials/

Dave

…Tragic, the loss of life and property…!

It might be convincing now to anyone with doubts whether wind might have the strength to overturn a railroad engine.

It didn’t seem to matter much here whether the building was masonary and steel or wood…it was destroyed.

As for that big well…They sure must have a low water table in that area if it has just 15’ of water at the bottom of a 109’ hole…!

Don’t think I’d be very anxious to go down in it to find out…{How much water is in it}…

Unfortunately, Greenburg was under a tornado warning again several times this evening. I’m not sure if there was another confirmed touchdown in the town itself, but there was a storm spotter report of a tornado on the ground two miles west of the town with the tornado moving east. Not a good situation.

Sounds to me as if that well was the only safe place to be when that sucker came through.

Go to http://www. pressofAtlanticcity.com go down to Nation and read the story of 4 Kan Soldiers. Them people should be shame.[V]