Storm-Hit Kansas Residents Return Home

By ROXANA HEGEMAN and STEVE BRISENDINE

GREENSBURG, Kan. – The death toll from a tornado that nearly obliterated this farming town climbed to nine as cadaver-sniffing dogs scoured rubble alongside residents who were allowed to return to the rubble of their homes.

A body was found Monday in the Kiowa County State Fishing Lake west of town, but a report of a 10th victim proved to be a wig in the debris that was misidentified as a body.

Search and rescue operations were to continue Tuesday.

"Every day that goes by, it is less realistic to find someone alive," said Sharon Watson, a spokeswoman for the Kansas Division of Emergency Management. "But we will hold out hope."

Since the tornado flattened Greensburg on Friday night, emergency responders have struggled to find out how many of its 1,600 residents may be safely staying with friends or relatives, rather than in shelters.

The massive tornado, an enhanced F-5 with wind estimated at 205 mph, was part of a weekend of violent storms that tore across the Plains and were also blamed for two other deaths in Kansas.

The death toll could have been much worse, but for a 20-minute warning – a rarely issued "tornado emergency" alert – that gave people time to take shelter in basements and storm cellars.

"When you look around at the devastation here, it is amazing that there aren’t more deaths," Watson said. "You really can’t look in any direction without seeing destruction, without seeing houses that are demolished, piles of rubble."

The names of five of the dead were released Monday. They were Claude Hopkins, 79; Larry Hoskins, 51; David Lyon, 48; Colleen Panzer, 77; and Ron Rediger, 57. All of them were from Greensburg. The names of the others were still being withheld, pending notification of relatives.

The 1.7-mile-wide Category F-5 enhanced tornado, the most powerful to hit the U.S. in eight years, destroyed about 95 percent of the town. It also left 13 people hospitalized, four in critical condition.

The last day anyone was found alive was early Saturday morning, when two elderly women were pulled from the wreckage of a Mennonite church.

Five trailers to house displaced families have arrived, and 20 more are on the way, said FEMA Director R. David Paulison, who toured the town by bus on Monday.

The government’s response to the disaster was undermined by ongoing National Guard deployments to the Middle East, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius said.

"I don’t think there is any question if you are missing trucks, Humvees and helicopters that the response is going to be slower," Sebelius said. "The real victims here will be the residents of Greensburg, because the recovery will be at a slower pace."

White House spokesman Tony Snow rejected the criticism, saying the National Guard had equipment positioned around the country to respond to disasters when requested by states.

Sebelius said she would address the issue with President Bush when he arrives in Greensburg to tour the damage on Wednesday.

The weekend storms continued across parts of the Plains on Monday. One man drowned in western Oklahoma when a flood swept his vehicle off a rural road, authorities said.

The National Weather Service has issued flash flooding warnings for 10 Oklahoma counties and several rivers were above flood stage. Thunderstorms are expected to continue until about Thursday.

In southwest Iowa, nearly 1,600 residents of Red Oak and all of tiny Coburg were urged to evacuate Monday as the East Nishnabotna River and a creek rose out of their banks.

Flooding in Kansas along the Wakarusa River cut off its namesake community south of Topeka. Residents used boats to rescue 22 people from their homes in the small town, said Willie Peterman, a district chief for an area fire department.

In Rossville, northwest of Topeka, Dennis Hall was busy placing sandbags around his split-level ranch home.

"All we can do is wait," Hall said. "We just don’t need any more rain."