Greensburg On Comeback Trail...

...And It's Green! The Early Show Continues To Help Twister-Leveled Town Rebuild

(CBS)  Greensburg, Kan. is undaunted in its reconstruction program.

The tiny town was all but flattened by a massive tornado on May 4, 2007 -- but its residents vowed to rebuild and, a year later, are well on the way. What's more, they've vowed to make theirs the greenest town in the nation.

The Early Show is visiting all week long, for its special series, "Tragedy to Triumph: Greensburg Rising."

We're helping to build an eco-friendly playground, mixing with the townsfolk, telling their stories, and providing special surprises all along the way.

On Wednesday, the University of Kansas Jayhawks, winners of this year's NCAA men's basketball tournament, shocked the Greensburg high school basketball team and town residents by visiting the school -- itself a source of inspiration.

Officials got it reopened on Aug. 15, a mere three-and-a-half months after the funnel changed Greensburg forever. And the high school team was as determined as the rest of the community, playing a 20-game schedule, all on the road due to the heavy damage the tornado did to the school gym, and making it to the state tournament for the first time in 30 years.

We learned all about the school's return, and the team's tale. Much more on that at the bottom of this story.

We saw the green going into Greensburg's arts center and an apartment complex, and learned about going green in our own homes.

Also Wednesday, we got a progress report on the playground, which is being put together in only a few days, and we put a Greensburg family in touch with one in Suffolk, Va. whose properties were badly damaged by the twisters that hit there Monday. The Greensburg natives used their firsthand experience to encourage the Virginia-ites about recovering from tornadoes:



As for the playground:



Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith learned about the green aspects of the arts center from Steve Thomas, host of the new Planet Green program, "Renovation Nation" (you may also recognize Thomas from his 14 years as host of "This Old House"), and co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez got insight on the center's eco-friendly nature from University of Kansas Architecture Professor Dan Rockhill, who designed the arts center along with 22 graduate students:



Thomas gave Early Show weatherman and features reporter Dave Price a tour of a home whose primary color can only be described as green:



And Thomas showed Harry around a green housing complex:



Finally, the story of the central, inspirational role the school, and the basketball team played in the town's rebirth -- and of the surprise visit from the Jayhawks:



Wilson's Sporting Goods donated lots of apparel and equipment, including its "green" basketballs, which are both green in color and made from recycled rubber. Wilson's "Rebound" basketball is the world's first "green" one. And NAMM, the trade association for the international music products industry, said it would donate as much money and equipment as it takes to get the school's music program up and running again.

[fabrat1]

shard88...that was good. I guess he missed the part of the story where a lot of people are building green what does he think that''s for anyway? I think it was just his way to add something about Obama in here where it really has no place but then again Obama has no place anywhere as far as I am concerned. I''ve really been enjoying all the stories this week and todays made me cry. It has to be so hard to get past something like this.

[shard88]

AL2008, What state are you from? Our Governor is doing her best to mitigate future pollution in Kansas. She has recently vetoed two bills that allow two COAL-FIRED power plants to be built. It is our legislature that should be doing more, by not passing the bills in the first place.

As far as a comprehensive plan to stop or prevent future tornadoes and hurricanes, are you serious? Outside of decreasing our carbon footprint what do you suggest? Cloud seeding? Reverse-doomsday weather control devices? Maybe if we just ask nicely the tornadoes and hurricanes will leave us alone.

[al2008-2009]

I%u2019m appalled at the governor%u2019s lack of response to the global warming thunderstorms and tornadoes. We have no comprehensive strategy in place whatsoever, let alone a detailed plan of action to mitigate the effects of these tornadoes, and mother earth continues to suffer while the governor%u2019s office refuses to go forward and do what%u2019s right for mother earth.
.
How long must we sit idly by while our mother continues to suffer from the warming taking place at a feverish pace? How long must our mother suffer before we have proper c02 taxes put into place? How long must the destruction of mother earth take place before we finally put responsible plans into action? How long must we wait until we beef up our corn ethanol production? At least Obama wants to cut c02 pollution by 80%; he is definitely our best hope.
.
We the people call upon the governor to implement a comprehensive antiglobal warming strategy at once and work in coordination with state and federal officials; these tornadoes and storms continue to worsen and the quicker we stop the warming the sooner we will see these storms cease. We need action now.

[dgoodwin728]

Morning Show Crew,
What you are all doing for these people in Kansas, is just incredible. When I tuned in Monday morning and saw this, I was so glad to see that people still do care about our neighbors. It is so awsome to see that an entire community has come together in such harsh circumstances to say "We will rebuild" and everyone is helping in some way. It really is amazing! Thank you for showing me there are still good people in this world.
David EMT/9-1-1 Dispatcher
Monmouth County New Jersey

[ef5tornado]

I am wondering why no one has contacted the South Central Kansas Tornado Recovery Organization as it is a large presence of the Rebuilding Effort in Greensburg. Many of the housing programs operate through this organization that is funded by donations.

[firesafe2]

My congradulations on covering this wonderful story.I am extremely encouraged by people wanting to rebuild using the Green technologies.

I just wish they had been exposed to the affordable,Green,water conserving,energy efficient techologies that are available.

We here in New Mexico,are fortunate to have State Regulators who work with us on a lot of these Green,affordable sytems.

Just a coulple of examples are,
1.Plumbing based Fire Suppression systems.These systems are part of the plumbing system and help the home owners reduce there insurance needs by 30%to 40%.
2.Radiant heating systems that are costing around $3.00 a square ft to install and run on a photo-voltaic capable Electric Boiler/circulator unit the size of the average persons thigh.{18''''x16''}
3.This radiant systems have been know to increase the value of a home by as much as 5%.

I really wish the Kansas Regulators were more forward thinking to be better able to help their residents in Greensburg.

Doug Lenberg
President-Fire Safe Homes
www.Firesafehomes.net