She should stop bitching and start asking neighboring states to assist. But, OH NO, that wouldn’t make the ‘news’.
Doesn't seem to bother her to dress up for a photo-op.
Posted on 05/07/2007 5:53:35 AM PDT by bw17
By Associated Press
Monday, May 7, 2007
Greensburg, Kan.— Paramedic Annette Gasten and her German shepherd, Greta, had a grim weekend searching amid the piles of wreckage left by one of the strongest tornadoes to rake across the Plains.
Every business on Greensburg’s main street was demolished and officials estimate as much as 95 percent of the town was destroyed. Tree trunks stood bare, stripped of most of their branches. All the churches were destroyed.
At least eight people in this community of 1,500 were dead, putting the state’s total death toll at 10. No one was found Sunday in the debris.
“Even though I have been to other disasters, this one was a lot worse — the amount of damage,” Gasten said. “It is such a large area that was destroyed that it made it difficult” to search.
Residents were to be allowed back to their homes Monday morning, giving rescuers a better idea of whether any missing residents might be buried under rubble.
Since the tornado hit Friday night, emergency responders have had little indication of how many people in this south-central Kansas town of 1,500 may be safely staying with friends or relatives, rather than in shelters.
Only residents will be allowed back into town. Law enforcement officials will be checking identification and compiling a list of people whose whereabouts still haven’t been determined. Residents must leave by 6 p.m.
Fresh search and rescue dogs will be brought in Monday from Missouri as the hunt for possible survivors and bodies continues across a landscape dotted with mounds of debris, some as deep as 30 feet.
The National Weather Service classified the Friday night tornado as an F-5, the highest category on its scale. The weather service said it had wind estimated at 205 mph, and carved a track 1.7 miles wide and 22 miles long.
The twister is the first classified as an F-5 since May 3, 1999, when a tornado killed 36 people in Oklahoma City on May 3, 1999. It is the first F-5 since the weather service revised its scale this year, in an effort to more comprehensively gauge tornadoes’ damage potential, with less emphasis on wind speed.
The Greensburg twister late Friday was part of a storm front that also spawned tornadoes in parts of Illinois, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Nebraska, though most damage elsewhere was minimal, officials said.
In western Oklahoma, at least eight homes were destroyed, several more were damaged and one person was injured. A woman was trapped when her mobile home was blown off its foundation in Seminole in Seminole County but she was rescued and was shaken but not hurt, said sheriff’s dispatcher Terry Thomason.
Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius said Sunday evening that the state’s response will likely be hampered because much of the equipment usually positioned around the state to respond to emergencies — including tents, trucks and semitrailers — is now in Iraq.
“Not having the National Guard equipment, which used to be positioned in various parts of the state, to bring in immediately is really going to handicap this effort to rebuild,” said Sebelius.
Sharon Watson, a spokeswoman for the adjutant general’s office, which manages state resources during emergencies, acknowledged the strain.
“We are never at 100 percent because we are allocated a certain amount from the National Guard Bureau. With the war, we are much shorter than we would be. We have about 40 percent of what is allocated,” Watson said.
She said the state has a shortage of heavy equipment transport trailers, pallet-sized loading systems, Humvees, dump trucks and other large equipment that would be help move massive amount of debris.
Surprisingly, Greensburg/Kiowa County has had a rodent member in the state House of Reps, Dennis McKinney, since 1992 (he’s being interviewed on the Today Show by Al Roker as I type). I wonder how that happened given the almost 6-to-1 GOP lean.
Know why Gov. Kathy (D) shuns underpants?*
No, they aren't. I did work with the NWS for a time and if you really wanted to raise some blood pressure, just bring up the topic. Real meteorologists know better. They understand how weather works and what drives it.
* No, And I’m not sure I wanna......
Has the Dem Gov started crying yet?
True! But the Dem gov and Senator are okay with being short on "stuff" and a few deaths of innocents---if it gives them a chance to Bash Bush and get on the boob tube a bit more. Then they can write a book!
also named Kathleen
Very sad thing when a pol tries to make`political hay’ out of her own constituents’ suffering.
I heard the tavern was the only building that wasn’t flattened, and they were using it as a morgue.
LOL!
Would that be the president who sent Kyoto to the Senate, only to have it “barely” defeated, 95-0?
Excellent point. That's exactly what she should have done. The private sector is always more efficient than the public sector.
Gee, you don't suppose that any of their neighboring states that WEREN'T affected by this Bush-caused disaster could send some help, do you?
Nah, gotta blame the Federal Government for EVERYTHING!
Sebelius must be “in no ways tahhrrred”.
Thanks for that photo. It’s hard to comprehend the level of destruction.
Here in Jackson, Katrina was still Cat-2, and most of the people afterwards simply cleaned up, put the debris out in the front of the house, and let the city take it to the dump. In N.O., there are still dead neighborhoods. On the coast, there's still lots of rebuilding, but we're getting the Hwy. 90 bridges to Ocean springs and Bay St. Louis back up and going.
Frankly, the new scale works against Warmingists. This tornado was an EF5 partly because it was around 1.4 miles wide. Had it been .4 miles wide, it would likely have been categorized an EF4.
Under the old Fujita scale, it would have probably been a 5 either way.
If it is a statement of fact, that they are missing equipment, then I have no problem with it.
If it is not true, then it is an attempt at Bush-bashing.
She should stop bitching and start asking neighboring states to assist. But, OH NO, that wouldn’t make the ‘news’.
Doesn't seem to bother her to dress up for a photo-op.
Here is the comparison I made in post 40.
Yeah, on the old scale a F3 tornado has winds of 158–206 mph. On the old scale a F5 tornado has winds of 261–318 mph. The new scale ranks a F5 tornado as having wind speeds of >200 mph.
So this was basicaly a F3 last year and a F5 this year.
I can actually call BS on that. Having served in both the KSNG and Reserves in Dodge City, the National Guard in Kansas has almost always had to contract out equipment movement, usually from the reserves. I spent a week doing just that in 2001 just before and during 9/11. Also if you go on Google Earth you will notice that both Dodge City and Great Bends NG units have equipment there(don’t know how current the images are) also in Dodge(also both Dodge and Great Bend’s Reserve units have HET’s sitting in their yards according to Google Earth), Garden City, and many other fairly nearby towns the KDOT has equipment yards for heavy equipment and trailers for highway repair.
Let’s not forget that Greensburg is not that big of a town and doesnt require that much heavy equipment. Too much equipment would not only become a hindrance but a safaety hazard there.
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