The town of Greensburg, Kansas, was demolished on May 4, 2007, about two weeks before I became the editor of Midwest Contractor. As I grew into my job, I began to report on the cleanup and recovery of the town. In the beginning, most of the stories involved the immense need for equipment to tear down existing debris and how national manufacturers and Midwest renters and dealers donated equipment to help. Later I started reporting on the rebuilding efforts, including Greensburg's commitment to having all city-owned buildings certified LEED Platinum, the highest "green" standard. I followed the city's progress but hadn't visited the town until early March. That was when I met Stacy Barnes, assistant to the city administrator.

Stacy grew up in Greensburg before getting married and moving to Manhattan, Kansas. The night of the tornado, she was out on the town with some friends. About 10 p.m. (roughly 15 minutes after the F5 tornado leveled the city), she checked her voice mail and found several messages from her sister telling her that her hometown had been destroyed. She left for home immediately. She said it was a 3-1/2-hour drive but "it felt a lot longer than that." The whole country knows what she found when she arrived.

What I saw was a town on the mend, with a long way to go. The old county courthouse was still standing, seemingly intact, but with serious structural and water interior damage. City hall was destroyed, and Stacy's current office was a temporary trailer near the court house. There were a lot of those trailers parked around the town where the worst of the damage had been done — not surprising, since nearly 95 percent of the town was destroyed when the 1.5-mile-wide tornado passed through.

When I asked her how long she was going to stay, she replied she and her husband were "here to stay." They are building a house on the south side of town and plan to raise their family there. "Statistically, we should be safe from tornadoes." I asked her why she wants to stay.

"I just want to be a part of the rebuilding of my home town," she shared. "I can't image not being part of something bigger than myself."

In rural towns, especially in the Midwest, the water tower, with the city's name printed on it, is the first thing you see as you are driving home. As a stranger, I looked for that as I drove along strange roads. Nothing. Stacy told me it had been destroy along with most of the town. On my way out, I located where the new tower would be raised. I pulled up to where the pieces of the new tower lay and talked to field foreman, John Cash. His company, Maguire, Inc. of Sioux Falls, S.D., is a water tower specialist. He told me they'd have the new tower up in a week or so, if the weather cooperated. When I called him the other day, he told they just left town after finishing the iron work.

As I drove out of town, I looked across a still desolate landscape. I hoped that the next time I was here, there'd be more houses and buildings rising from the ruins.

I also talked to Stacy the last week of March. She told me the tower was up and would be painted soon, inside and out. Then they'd start filling it. Another sign of recovery. I asked her what had been one of the greatest losses the town suffered. "The Hunter Drugstore, " she replied immediately. It was the local soda shop, with plenty of history, even for a town founded in 1886. She was sure they'd rebuild it soon.

In addition to her city administration work, Stacy is also the interim Big Well manager. Huh? "Don't you know that Greensburg is the home of the world's biggest hand-dug well," she bragged. Looks like a lot of city pride and optimism, something survived the destruction. Next time I'm in town, I may just check out the Big Well.