Greg, Mark and I went to Greensburg, Kansas, today. I had not been there since right after the tornado of May 4, 2007. This photo above, of the dead tree on the left and the other tree in the middle, was taken in the middle of town. Obviously, many homes are gone and have not been rebuilt - at least not yet.
Greensburg is rebuilding green. They have passed, unanimously, an ordinance to build all city buildings to LEED Platinum level standards. They are the first city in the US to have such an ordinance.
I'm so impressed with the resilience of the people of Greensburg. Although, for those who do not live nearby and may not be aware, many residents have not returned to Greensburg and probably will not. A series of events led to that, most of which can be summed up that people have created new lives elsewhere in the intervening time period. The reasons they've done that are sometimes as simple as they moved to be closer to family elsewhere, and as complex as they couldn't move the trailer they bought to live in back into Greensburg due to city regulations.
Obviously, there is no model for Greensburg officials to follow.
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