WSJ on the World's Largest Hand Dug Well

By -
In each edition, the Wall Street Journal runs a "human interest" story on its front page below the fold. About once a year, usually in spring, the paper runs a story about an attraction in Kansas. It looks like today's story is going to be about the World's Largest Hand Dug Well in Greensburg.  The online link is here. (subscription may be required)  UPDATE:  Just went out to the driveway and picked up my WSJ and it is indeed today's human interest story.

The town is recovering from an F-5 tornado that destroyed 95% of the city on May 4, 2007. The story discusses a proposal to build an upgraded well museum.

I write about Greensburg in Warnings because of the 200+ lives saved by the meteorological profession that horrible May night. Plus, I've always liked Greensburg.

It seems that just about every Midwest kid visited the well at one time or another growing up. My family visited on the way to our first-ever vacation to Colorado.  And, here is a photo of my bride-to-be, age 7, at the well. There was always a quirky aspect to the well that I loved.

As the article points out, the museum was destroyed and the well itself was damaged. Only in Greensburg would you get a "decoration" like the one in front of what was left of the well a year after the storm. Photographer Katie Bay and I posed with the wire tornado.

This is what was left of the museum building (background) with the well structure in the foreground.

There was damage to the well itself because the extraordinary intensity of this tornado.


So, good luck Greensburg with the new museum fund raising effort! And, stop by the next time you are headed through town.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hilary's Forecast Path Shifts West; Updated 9:20am PDT

By -
Image
The forecast path of the center of Hilary has shifted a bit to the west. This increases the threat to the Southland, especially in terms of flooding.  Rainfall Note the heavy rains are forecast for Los Angeles County. Serious flash flooding may result. Because the forecast path has shifted to the west, that increases the threat of serious flooding in Los Angeles County north into Yosemite and the southern Sierra. It lessens the threat in Utah and western Arizona. While the threat of widespread flooding in Utah and Arizona lessens, note that some thunderstorms with localized heavy rain show up on the map.  In Nevada, the more western path increases the risk of serious flooding around Mt Charleston and into the central part of the state.  Here is the updated  (9am PDT) flash flood risk map. Wind There are already about 40,000 people without power in California, mostly in the center of the state.  The maps above are the peak gusts forecasted with the storm. The highest winds, in general,
Read more

Dangerous Travel Conditions - People Reportedly Stranded

By -
Image
-- Note, more current info available. Scroll up. --- Updated Information as of 8am PDT You are risking your life if you attempt to travel through the purple area.  While the rain has not begun in coastal California, I would urge you to use this time to make any preparations. Power outages have occurred already in southeast California. Here is the latest radar as of 7:55am PDT. As of 6:40am PDT , the radar indicates moderate to heavy rain falling over desert areas of Southern California and far western Arizona (click to enlarge).  Rainfall amounts for the 24 hours ending at 7am PDT show more than two inches have already fallen. There are reports from reliable sources that roads are already washed out and that people are stranded in isolated parts of the desert.  Below is a high-resolution computer model's rainfall forecast from 5am PDT to 11pm PDT Sunday. More than a foot of additional rain is forecast to fall. This will lead to catastrophic flooding.  Here is a map of current watc
Read more

Update on Tornado and Wind Potential; 12 Noon PDT

By -
Image
There was at least one tornado and at least one funnel cloud yesterday.  --- original forecast --- Hilary (the swirly symbol) continues to move NNW paralleling the coast of Baja California, Mexico. The area outlined in red has a significant risk of tornadoe s the rest of the afternoon.  Below is a list of peak wind gusts so far.  Peak winds may increase farther north as the afternoon progresses.  Addition at 12 noon PDT: Sure enough, winds have increased.  Note: If you are in the San Diego area, I recommend not  traveling east on I-8. Heavy rains may cause flash flooding that will involve the highway. 
Read more