Storytelling powerful in greensburg series
Diana Staresinic-Deane, Special to The Gazette
Friday, May 1, 2009
“Greensburg : A Story of Community Rebuilding,” Discovery Communications, 2009, $39.98
Just in time for the two-year anniversary of the tornado that devastated Greensburg, Discovery Communications has released “Greensburg: A Story of Community Rebuilding” on DVD. The 13-episode series tells Greensburg’s story of loss and rebuilding through the eyes and hearts of the city’s community members.
I’m just one of the thousands of people to pull off U.S. 54/400 to peer over the edge of the Big Well. Even so, I grieved right along with the rest of Kansas when I saw those early images of raw destruction coming out of the little southwestern Kansas town. I wanted to watch the “ Greensburg ” series because of my strong interest in Greensburg ’s “Green” movement. What I became addicted to, though, was the show’s storytelling.
Co-producers Leonardo DiCaprio and Craig Piligian take us into the lives of real people as they struggle with the decisions they face in the immediate and long-term aftermath of the tornado. A 12-minute storm destroyed 95 percent of the town, leaving it without homes, businesses, schools, or utilities.
“Do you rebuild?” one resident asked in the first episode. “Because this is a whole town.”
Even mayor Lonnie McCollum, a lifelong Greensburg resident, resigned his post and moved away because he didn’t have the heart to deal with the destruction.
Yet people like city manager Steve Hewitt looked at the disaster with a different eye.
“Before the storm, Greensburg was a struggling town, hanging in there, surviving,” Hewitt says. “When you drive through and see the devastation, if you’ll dream a little bit, you can see a lot of opportunity.”
Greensburg was in a unique position to build a brand-new town from scratch, and soon Hewitt and the city council were leading a movement to build a well-planned, environmentally friendly city.
As new mayor John Janssen put it, “If you’re trying to build back a town that’s dying, it’ll just finish dying. ‘Green’ is the answer to the problems for Greensburg.”
Not everyone jumps on the Green bandwagon. Nearly 500 people are living in FEMA trailers with no jobs or schools to go to. The planning phases and funding gaps cause delays in construction. Dispersed Greensburg residents are frustrated with the lack of immediate progress. By the next election, four people are running for mayor and 15 are running for five seats on the city council — all in a town with a pre-tornado population of 1,500.
Despite the dissenters, the town’s Green initiative gains momentum, and soon Greensburg becomes a destination for outsiders interested in helping the town build Green. As I watched Greensburg ’s story unfold, I really wanted their little town to succeed.
In addition to the DVD set, visit the Planet Green website for short videos shot by Greensburg High School students. For more information on the town or the Green movement, visit their web sites or become a fan of the City of Greensburg on Facebook.
On the Net:
http://planetgreen.discovery.com/tv/greensburg/
http://www.greensburgks.org/
http://www.greensburggreentown.org/
• On the Shelf is written by staff and volunteers of the Emporia Public Library.