By Jan Landon
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

On the evening of May 4, 2007, the world came crashing down around Rod and Shirley Bradley in Greensburg, Kans.

Tornado sirens sounded at about 9 p.m., and the Bradleys rushed to the basement of a relative’s nearby home. Then the electricity shut off, the sirens went quiet, and the EF-5 tornado—the strongest and most devastating kind possible—hit the small town in south central Kansas.

Winds were more than 200 mph. “We heard the crashing and the screeching as it wrenched everything it could and the dirt and dust descended upon us, making it hard to breathe,” Shirley Bradley recalls. “It lasted, they reported, not much more than a minute.”

Devastating storm
The tornado was 1.7 miles wide and traveled 22 miles. In the time it was on the ground—half an hour—it damaged 95% of Greensburg’s buildings and took 12 people’s lives.

When the Bradleys came out of that basement physically unharmed—rescuers broke kitchen windows to get them to safety—all they had were the clothes  they were wearing and two small flashlights. Since they were rescued in the dark, they didn’t see until the next Monday what had happened to the home where they had lived together for 54 years.

Starting over in Overland Park
Dr. Rod Bradley grew up in Greensburg. After completing medical school, he returned to live there with his wife and worked as a doctor while they raised  four children.

Despite their losses from the tornado, the Bradleys talk about how lucky they are—specifically, they speak of their children, who supported them. Since the devastating storm, they have lived with their son, Scott, and family in Overland Park.

Six months have passed and the Bradleys are looking forward to having their own place again—this time at Tallgrass Creek They will spend Thanksgiving with their family, and the next day they will move into their two-bedroom apartment on the fourth floor of Bluebird Crossing.