Greensburg Episode: The Crossroads

Two and a half years after the tornado, Greensburg is looking more like a town. Homes are being built and a LEED platinum City Hall and Business Incubator are completed, but not everyone likes the modern look of the public buildings or the high costs. City Administrator, Steve Hewitt, defends the modern looking, energy efficient buildings.

At a town meeting, Steve Hewitt gets hit with complaints from the community. Shirley Butler speaks up and makes it clear she?s unhappy with how the city is spending money on employees. Another resident wants to know why they don?t have money for firefighters yet there is money to pay for Steve?s assistant. The truth is, that Steve is going to lose employees because the emergency funding that flowed into Greensburg after the tornado is drying up. Steve is not without supporters in town. The City Council President, Gary Goodheart, knows that Greensburg wouldn?t be where it is at today without Steve. Gary is concerned that if Steve loses staff, he will be forced to work even harder. Steve?s recent knee and hip surgery have put him at a crossroads. He can?t work more; and, unless he slows down and spends more time with his family, he might not have a family to come home to.

Kerri and Doug Ulrich and their two children survived two major setbacks in Greensburg. They lost two homes in six year?one to an electrical fire and then the tornado of May 4, 2007 destroyed their second home. It was a difficult decision, but the Ulrichs felt they had no choice but to move away. As the green rebuilding revitilized Greensburg, and a new state-of-the-art sustainable school neared completion, Kerri and Doug decided the best decision for their family was to start over, again, in Greensburg. At Halloween, the Ulrich children, Morgen and Kaden, think it?s great to trick-or-treat in Greensburg neighborhoods again.

The final high school football game is being played on the new field. The crowd tries to stay upbeat, but the Greensburg Rangers are slaughtered, ending the season in defeat.

The students in Greensburg have attended classes in temporary trailers since the tornado. The new school is scheduled to open in August of 2010. A class of third graders takes a tour of the construction site. The school will be one of the greenest in the country and a major draw to families moving to town. One of the new families in Greensburg are the Kyles. Tim Kyle grew up in Greensburg and his wife, Kari, grew up nearby. After getting married, they moved to Arkansas to find work. The birth of their son convinced them to come back and raise their son around family. Kari fulfilled her dream of starting a coffee shop in town.

The wind farm turbines and blades are on site 5 miles outside of Greensburg. Building a wind farm and getting Greensburg off the grid has been a personal goal of Steve Hewitt?s since the tornado. It?s another feather in Steve?s cap.

Susan and Scott Reinecke have been building a home for 2 ½ years and things aren?t going well. Their contractor declared bankruptcy and one of the subcontractors filed a lien demanding payment of $35,000 in 10 days or Scott and Susan will lose their house to pay the debt. It?s a financial disaster that has Scott wondering if he and Susan could end up homeless.