Post #27 Report 5/4-5/6 KS/OK

Before I begin, my thoughts and best wishes are with the residents of Greensburg, Kansas. An EF-5 tornado ravaged the city of Greensburg killing 9 and injuring several more. The town is completely destroyed and uninhabitable. Countless lives were saved thanks to the advance tornado emergency that was issued by the NWS DDC 20 minutes before the mile wide tornado arrived. The emergency agencies in Kansas responded rapidly and effectively as they converged on the city. Many lives were likely also spared by the swift rescue efforts. Jon Merage and I stayed in Greensburg back on the night of 4/23 after the Protection, Ks tornadoes. The hotel desk clerk, a wonderfully friendly man accomidated us and even gave us a jump start when our car battery died. I was troubled to see this man in an interview on CNN lastnight. He lost everything but his life in this disaster. This situation has left me contemplating ways that I can help. Aside from donating food/clothing, I am unsure how else I may help especially considering my broke college student lifestyle.

Ok, aside from the horrific disaster, there was some tornado chasing during all of this. Jon and I were out from friday through monday. Nothing seemed to work out well during this chase. We saw no tornadoes, got pulled over, the car broke down, drove nearly 2000 miles, spent lots of money, and to make things worse, Greensburg, KS was destroyed by a huge tornado. Many of the tornadoes happened after dark so that couldnt be helped but our targeting was horrible. We were constantly intercepting storms from the north or playing catchup the whole time. Fortunately, Im still in good spirits over our chases of 4/23 and 4/24 otherwise, I would be completely depressed. I did finally manage to get some real awesome lightning shots which will be coming as soon as I get done with my finals today. Looks like some quiet time is coming which will limit chasing prospects. It will work out because I really need to save up some cash for chasing in late May and June. Back to studying for now, lightning shots coming soon.