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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Workers dig through ruins in storm-hit Kansas town


Tyler McIntosh, 11, found a friend while collecting things in his home Sunday in Greensburg, Kan.
 (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Roxana Hegeman Associated Press

GREENSBURG, Kan. – Rescue workers on Sunday searched for anyone still buried in the heaps of splintered wreckage left after a massive tornado obliterated most of this south-central Kansas town.

Waves of thunderstorms rippled across the Plains states on Sunday, drenching rubble that the Friday night tornado scattered across Greensburg.

At least 10 people were known dead from weekend storms – eight in the Greensburg area and two others elsewhere in Kansas – one Friday night and another in violent weather late Saturday, state officials said.

Amid the destruction, rescue workers and officials held out hope that the death toll wouldn’t rise and that they can rebuild their town, from replacing the destroyed churches down to the town’s fire engines.

Search teams used trained dogs to sniff for bodies and used their hands and heavy equipment to clear away the rubble, but officials did not know how many people might still be missing.

“A lot of people have gone to other places, and it’s difficult to track them down,” said Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting, the state’s adjutant general.

National Guard engineers were assigned to help with the search. “Some of the rubble is just so deep,” Bunting said.

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 last tornado that strong killed 36 people in Oklahoma City on May 3, 1999.

Tree trunks stood bare in Greensburg, stripped of most of their branches. All the churches were destroyed. Every business on main street was demolished. The town’s fire engines were crushed.

Greensburg Administrator Steve Hewitt, who lost his home, estimated 95 percent of the town of 1,500 was destroyed.

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.

President Bush declared parts of Kansas a disaster area, freeing up federal money to aid in recovery.

“There’s a certain spirit in the Midwest of our country, a pioneer spirit that still exists, and I’m confident this community will be rebuilt,” Bush said.

Some residents were less optimistic.

“If I hear that people are going stay and we’re going to have a school, then I’ll stay,” said Greensburg High School shop teacher Peter Kern, who had lived in the town for the past year.

“If we don’t have a school, I don’t have a job.”