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.
Get Hayle Barbour on the job!
It’s always the cities. Look at a county by county map of NY and you’ll see that the STATE is mostly red. The blue areas are the cities, or counties with cities in them.
On the other side of the river is Kansas City, Kansas.......
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.
Probably the “midwest hillary”-you know the one with the Chicago accent.
Not to mention handing out little finger sandwiches at White House functions.
Based on her snide remarks, it’s obvious that Kathleen Sebelius couldn’t care less about helping the citizens of Greensburg. She feels compelled to heap on more punishment since they voted overwhelmingly for the opposition.
Term limits, Sebelius is out, and she doesn’t have a prayer at beating either Pat Roberts or Sam Brownback.
“And the equipment that was sent to Iraq has likely been gone for 3-4 years... Which means that Kathleen has spectacularly failed to plan.”
I don’t know about her planning, but the equipment almost certainly has gone out at various times, not all at once. More equipment is shipped over as machinery is destroyed or wears out, or as new units are called over. At least that the way it’s been where I live.
I imagine she’ll find state and local equipment to fill in, unless she’s a completely useless dolt.
Why has she not subcontrated out the cleanup to private companies who could be their now working???
Ms. Sebelius, I wouldn’t take Blank-O for my role model if I were you - I don’t think she’s even running next time is she? you’re a governor in tornado alley. You should have improvised for this eventuality.
If you get out of the way, I bet the locals, church groups, Wal-Mart etc. can get the job done.
I counted twenty gas buggies goin' by tharselves
Almost ev'ry time I took a walk
'Nen I put my ear to a telephony
And a strange womern started out to talk
Yep, ev'rything is up-to-date in Kansas City
They've gone about as fur as they c'n go.......
Leni
My guess is that there are at least 100 dump trucks, 100 bulldozers and 100 front-end loaders parked on private property and owned by private citizens in a 200 mile radius of where I live.
I would bet that if we had a disaster and governor called for help, at least 50% of the citizens who own these items would volunteer to help out free or for the cost of fuel to run this equipment.
I would guess that the rural citizens of Kansas are made of the same stock.
But why call for volunteers when you can whine like a rat and blame Bush?
I lived there once!.......KC,KS......
Fast wind doesn't necessarily equate overall power. A tight, 1/8th of a mile-wide tornado with wind speeds of 280 MPH will not do the damage of a 3/4 of a mile-wide at 230 MPH but under the old system the smaller tornado would have been labeled as "more powerful".
Even the "F" in the F-scale, Fujita, knew his classification was flawed and at the time he developed the system, he knew that professional estimations of wind speed, based on power, were somewhat hit-or-miss.
Think of it like this: would you rather get t-boned in an intersection by a Cooper Mini going 90 MPH, or an 18-wheeler doing 75?
I asked her to help me cut down a tree that was dying next to our house this weekend, “Just hold this rope TIGHT!” I said.......”ARE YOU CRAZY?” was her reply............
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