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.
Why is she wearing the Kevlar vest with the nut protector, and the other lady is not?
I meant my post 65, sorry.
Yeah, it’s amazing...I had no idea W has been president that long. :)
That would probably be incorrect. The old wind speed calculations are highly in accurate and with new radar technologies they are more accuarately able to determine speeds. If they had to go by old technologies they would have walked through and determined wind speed by the damage it caused, the damage on the ground is right on target with other F-5’s in the past. So no it wouldn’t have been an F-3, it would still be an F-5 according to the old scale(using the old technology). There is a reason you know why the new speed tops out at 236mph and not the 300+ MPH.
It’s....Not....Just....Wind....Speed.
Ohhhhkaaaaayyy, one question:
If a tornado with a 1 mile width and winds of 205 MPH touched down on the plains of Nebraska, traveled 3 miles, and no property was damaged....What would it rank???
Kansas has strong 3-party system. Republicans, RINOs, and Democrats.
You think US congress RINOs are bad, try having half the party be them.
Kansas governorships usually go Dem, RINO, Dem, etc.
What are they gonna do when President Bush is out of office? I can see it now - 100 years from now when there is a natural disaster and response isn’t instantaneous, the excuse will still be “It’s Bush’s fault”.
Why wouldn't it be like that. Heck, Bush has been responsible for:
Well, maybe it was just Cheney and Halliburton that were responsible for some of them.
where did she Bash Bush?
IF they want to play politics with disasters, go right ahead. We can now prove that at least two Female DemoNcrat Heads of State are morons and have no clue about “disaster preparedness”!
Hey Hitlery,, you listening??
Tornado size means nothing.
There have been giant wedges with weak winds and tiny tens of yard tornadoes that will rip houses from their foundations and toss them to the side.
Have any Freepers organized relief? material/money/shelter/etc.
I'm about 1400 miles away but would be willing to drive out to help or contribute to a fund.
Guess what? Congress dragging its feet on funding results in the army having to retain and reposition more NG equipment.
The problem with NG equipment can be laid right at the feet of the Dem congress. The army WANTS to get more equipment to NG units.
What an a$$ she is... They can’t even START to clean-up yet, there’s too much crap in the way isn’t there?
The Dem Congress has been in power, what, 4 months? Why didn't the Republican congress do anything about it in the years prior? Or did they wake up last week and discover that they had really been running the Guard down for the last 5 years?
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