Search resumes in Kansas town destroyed by tornado; twisters affect other states

GREENSBURG, Kan. – Searchers went back to work after daylight Sunday, looking for anyone who might have been trapped since a tornado wiped most of this south-central Kansas town off the map.\n“At this point, it’s still a search and rescue mission,” Kansas state trooper Ronald Knoefel said. “We don’t want to give up hope.”\nAt least nine people were known dead from the Friday night storm, eight in the Greensburg area and one in a nearby county.\nIt was part of a weekend of violent weather, with other tornadoes dashing across the Plains states late Saturday. And on Sunday, the National Weather Service posted a new tornado warning for south-central Kansas, saying a funnel cloud was spotted near Corwin, 65 miles southeast of Greensburg.\nGreensburg remained off limits to its residents Sunday morning. Knoefel said a storm system that went through the area late Saturday blew debris from Friday night’s tornado back into the streets.\n“We’ll let people back in when it’s safe,” Knoefel said.\nPresident Bush declared parts of Kansas a disaster area, freeing up federal money to aid in recovery.\n“It’s going to take a long time for the community to recover,” Bush said Sunday, referring to Greensburg, after attending a morning service at a church in Washington. “And so we’ll help in any way we can.”\n“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.\nNational Guard engineers were being assigned to help with the search and assess the damage, said Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting, the state’s adjutant general.\n“Some of the rubble is just so deep,” Bunting said. “That’s really what our problem is.”\nAmong the few structures that survived was the Bar H Tavern. It was briefly converted into a morgue. Command operations for rescue efforts were moved into the town’s courthouse, which was damaged but also still standing. The massive concrete silos of a grain elevator still towered over what was left of the town.\nAll the churches were destroyed. Every business on the town’s main street was demolished. The town’s fire engines were crushed and other crumpled vehicles were thrown around. Tree trunks stood bare, stripped of most of their branches.\nThe fate of the town’s claim to fame, the world’s biggest hand dug well, was unknown because it was buried under a mountain of debris; the gift store at the well had disappeared.\nFor decades, meteorite hunters from around the world have been drawn here to hunt for meteorites. The town’s extensive meteorite collection, including one weighing 1,000 pounds , was one of the casualties of the storm.\n“It is very scary right now,” said Greensburg Administrator Steve Hewitt, who lost his home in the storm.\nHewitt estimated 95 percent of the town of 1,500 was destroyed and predicted rescue efforts could take days as survivors could be trapped in basements and under rubble.\n“This is one of the most devastating tornadoes we have had in Kansas,” said U.S. Rep. Jerry Moran.\nThe twister that struck Greensburg late Friday was part of a storm front that spawned tornadoes in parts of Illinois, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Nebraska, though damage was minimal, officials said.