The Greensburg Tornado

The town of Greensburg, Kansas seems to be getting back on its feet after the devastating tornado ten days ago, but it was by no means a typical tornado. It took out a good chunk of the the town and was newsworthy enough to make BBC Radio's newscasts. A lot of folks there are simply glad to be alive.

My mother actually suggested, rather jokingly, that the tornado was divine punishment for Kansans who vote Republican and oppose the theory of evolution. Leaving aside the fact that Kansas has a Democratic governor - a woman, no less - and that its voters threw anti-Darwinists off the state education board a few years back, it's worth noting that Kansas is prone to tornadoes because of its flat, barren landscape and because of the extreme atmosphere of the lower Great Plains. The state wasn't named Kansas - a Native American word meaning "south wind people" - for nothing.

And besides, Judy Garland never became famous for saying, "Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Connecticut any more."