The Greening of Oz: Sustainable Architecture in the Wake of a Tornado

On May 4, 2007, an EF5 tornado destroyed the town of Greensburg in south central Kansas. In the desperate days immediately after the catastrophe, town leaders—including the ex-cop mayor, the city manager, and an environmentalist from Colorado—launched a program to rebuild Greensburg green. Just like the name of the town.

Before the tornado, Greensburg was slowly dying, a village about to be buried in the Great Plains. Now it is a mecca for eco-tourists.