Storm chaser Lance Ferguson followed the system which begun in the Oklahoma panhandle. "What was just amazing is that the storm system just kept regenerating, it just kept recycling and kept doing its thing … Mother Nature's fury at its best," he told KWCH. "To see a tornado down on the ground for that long and to become that massive and that big, I haven’t seen anything like it before," he said. "It just kept getting wider and wider and wider."
What part of systems theory, energy interactions, and stagnant energy science is still not understood? What part of freedom inextricably interwoven with evolution, survival, wisdom, understanding and quality of life is still NOT understood on the energy front? Another physicist responds - Evolution Freedom Survival
Powerful Tornadoes Devastate SW Kansas (CBS/AP)
9 Die as Tornadoes Tear Apart Kansas Town (NYT/AP)
NYT May 5, 2007 By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
GREENSBURG, Kan. (AP) -- Tornadoes killed at least nine people and leveled most of this southwest Kansas town, a state official said Saturday. Rescuers with dogs searched door to door for survivors.
The dead include six in Kiowa County, where Greensburg is located, and one in nearby Stafford County, said Sharon Watson, a spokeswoman for the Kansas Adjutant General's Department.
The tornado that struck Greensburg late Friday damaged about 90 percent of the town about 110 miles west of Wichita, City Administrator Steve Hewitt said Saturday.
Dazed residents walked the streets, looking for loved ones and taking in the sight of crumbled buildings and smashed cars in the town of some 1,600 people.
Much of downtown was destroyed, along with City Hall, the high school and the junior high school, Hewitt said.
''I don't think we have a business left downtown,'' he said. A mandatory evacuation was ordered, he said.
Emergency personnel and search and rescue teams raced to Greensburg from throughout southwest Kansas. Trained dogs accompanied law enforcement officers who searched house to house for anyone trapped or injured.
''There is still a possibility we do not have all of the people accounted for in that town,'' Watson said. ''That is something we will be working feverishly to do over the next several hours.''
Hewitt said at least 50 people had been taken to hospitals, 16 in critical condition, but said exact numbers were impossible to come by. Rescuers pulled about 30 people from the basement of a partially collapsed hospital early Saturday, but most of them had minor injuries, Watson said.
A storm front spawned tornadoes along a line stretching northeast from Greensburg through central Kansas. Three small tornadoes also touched down Friday in rural southwestern Illinois, but officials said there were no reports of injury or damage. Two tornadoes struck in Oklahoma, damaging some structures but injuring no one, officials said.
Larry Ruthi, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Dodge City, said the storm system spawned at least three significant tornadoes, including the one that hit Greensburg. He said there were likely other smaller twisters.
The weather service described the tornado that struck Greensburg as a ''wedge,'' an especially broad and tall formation. Frederick Kruse of the weather service's Dodge City office said there were initial reports that the tornado was at least three-quarters of a mile wide on the ground.
Watson said the state fire marshal's office dispatched hazardous materials teams because railroad cars in Kiowa County had overturned. She said the National Guard was sending 40 troops to provide security around Greensburg.
Katie White said she was driving through town and pulled into the parking lot of a convenience store when she heard the warning. She said the store's owner pulled her and about 15 other people into the store's cooler. When they emerged, White said, the building around them had collapsed.
School buses lined up to take people to the nearby town of Haviland, where the Red Cross opened shelters at Haviland High School and Barclay College.
''We have more than 300 people in shelters in Haviland,'' Watson said. ''We have another 300 en route to take advantage of those shelters, and we anticipate that number to grow.''
At the high school, the Rev. Gene McIntosh described how he huddled with his family in the parsonage of Greensburg's United Methodist Church as the tornado roared overhead. McIntosh said sofa cushions protected his 11-year-old son and the boy's friend from falling debris.
''There was a lot of praying down there,'' McIntosh said.
Powerful Tornadoes Devastate SW Kansas
GREENSBURG, Kan., May 5, 2007
(CBS/AP) Tornadoes killed at least seven people and leveled most of this southwest Kansas town, a state official said Saturday. The dead include six in Kiowa County, where Greensburg is located, and one in nearby Stafford County, said Sharon Watson, a spokeswoman for the Kansas Adjutant General's Department. More than 70 people have been taken to area hospitals. Rescuers pulled about 30 people from a badly damaged hospital early Saturday and searched with dogs for others believed trapped in crumbled buildings after a massive tornado turned much of this community — located in Kiowa County about 110 miles west of Wichita — into rubble. Those rescued from the hospital basement had mostly minor injuries, said Sharon Watson, spokeswoman for the Kansas Adjutant General's Department. The tornado struck at 9:45 p.m. Friday. The City Hall was destroyed along with the high school, junior high school, water tower and most of the commercial district. "I don't think we have a business left downtown," city administrator Steve Hewitt said. "It's much more likely that you would see damaged buildings than anything that has not been impacted," Watson said. "Seventy-five percent is a minimum amount of damage that the city sustained." One woman told CBS affiliate KWCH that her house took a direct hit but was still standing for the most part. "The houses around us are flat," she said. "The West is there and the East is there, and it's flattened through the middle." "What went through out minds is, how do you rebuild? All of Main Street's gone, both of our schools are gone. Where do we go from here?" Paul Harden, who lives in the region and volunteered to help out with the cleanup, described the devastation he saw to CBS News Radio: "The Northwest part of town is completely devastated — there are no houses left there in several blocks. In the Southwest part of town it took roofs off, destroyed some houses. All of them will not be worth fixing in the Southwest part of town, it looks like." Storm chaser Lance Ferguson followed the system which begun in the Oklahoma panhandle. "What was just amazing is that the storm system just kept regenerating, it just kept recycling and kept doing its thing … Mother Nature's fury at its best," he told KWCH. "To see a tornado down on the ground for that long and to become that massive and that big, I haven’t seen anything like it before," he said. "It just kept getting wider and wider and wider." Dazed residents later walked the streets, looking for loved ones and taking in the sight of crumbled buildings and smashed cars. Emergency medical crews, law enforcement personnel and search and rescue teams from throughout western Kansas and as far east as Wichita raced toward Greensburg after the twister struck. The Kansas National Guard sent 40 troops to assist with security. Power and communications in the town of about 1,600 people were knocked out by the tornado. Watson said the state transportation department sent its Communications on Wheels mobile unit to restore 911 service. Roads into and out of Greensburg, including U.S. 54, were closed for several hours to allow emergency vehicles to maneuver. Some streets were left impassable by tangles of fallen cable. Ambulances took the injured to hospitals as far away as Dodge City, where Western Plains Medical Complex confirmed receiving one fatality, and nearby Pratt, where Pratt Regional Medical Center admitted about 50 people by 3 a.m. Three patients were sent on to Wichita's Wesley Medical Center, including two in critical condition. Search dogs accompanied some of the law enforcement officers who went house to house looking for anyone trapped or injured. School buses lined up to take people to the nearby town of Haviland, where the American Red Cross opened shelters at Haviland High School and Barclay College. The National Weather Service described the twister as a "wedge" tornado, an especially broad and tall formation. Precise measurements awaited daylight observation of the tornado's destructive trail, but Frederick Kruse of the NWS office in Dodge City said there were initial reports that the twister was at least three-quarters of a mile wide on the ground. At the high school, the Rev. Gene McIntosh described huddling with his family in the parsonage of Greensburg's United Methodist Church as the tornado roared overhead. McIntosh said sofa cushions protected his 11-year-old son and the boy's friend from debris and insulation that fell from the basement ceiling. "There was a lot of praying down there," McIntosh said. The parsonage was wrecked beyond repair, he said, but damage to the church remained to be assessed. Another group of survivors rode out the tornado in the cooler of a convenience store. Katie White was among that group. White said she had been driving through Greensburg on the way to her hometown southwest of the city and pulled into the store's lot when she heard the warning. The store's owner pulled White and about 15 other people into the cooler. When they emerged, White said, the building around them had collapsed. A farmer living about a mile away said the awning from the store's gasoline pumps landed on his property. Several other tornadoes were reported Friday night and early Saturday in Kansas, most of them developing along a line that stretched northeastward from Greensburg through or near Macksville, St. John, Great Bend and Ellsworth. Damage from those storms ranged from broken trees and power lines to roofs ripped from buildings, according to early reports.
Powerful Tornadoes Devastate SW Kansas (CBS/AP)
9 Die as Tornadoes Tear Apart Kansas Town (NYT/AP)
NYT May 5, 2007 By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
GREENSBURG, Kan. (AP) -- Tornadoes killed at least nine people and leveled most of this southwest Kansas town, a state official said Saturday. Rescuers with dogs searched door to door for survivors.The dead include six in Kiowa County, where Greensburg is located, and one in nearby Stafford County, said Sharon Watson, a spokeswoman for the Kansas Adjutant General's Department.
The tornado that struck Greensburg late Friday damaged about 90 percent of the town about 110 miles west of Wichita, City Administrator Steve Hewitt said Saturday.
Dazed residents walked the streets, looking for loved ones and taking in the sight of crumbled buildings and smashed cars in the town of some 1,600 people.Much of downtown was destroyed, along with City Hall, the high school and the junior high school, Hewitt said.
''I don't think we have a business left downtown,'' he said. A mandatory evacuation was ordered, he said.
Emergency personnel and search and rescue teams raced to Greensburg from throughout southwest Kansas. Trained dogs accompanied law enforcement officers who searched house to house for anyone trapped or injured.
''There is still a possibility we do not have all of the people accounted for in that town,'' Watson said. ''That is something we will be working feverishly to do over the next several hours.''
Hewitt said at least 50 people had been taken to hospitals, 16 in critical condition, but said exact numbers were impossible to come by. Rescuers pulled about 30 people from the basement of a partially collapsed hospital early Saturday, but most of them had minor injuries, Watson said.
A storm front spawned tornadoes along a line stretching northeast from Greensburg through central Kansas. Three small tornadoes also touched down Friday in rural southwestern Illinois, but officials said there were no reports of injury or damage. Two tornadoes struck in Oklahoma, damaging some structures but injuring no one, officials said.
Larry Ruthi, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Dodge City, said the storm system spawned at least three significant tornadoes, including the one that hit Greensburg. He said there were likely other smaller twisters.
The weather service described the tornado that struck Greensburg as a ''wedge,'' an especially broad and tall formation. Frederick Kruse of the weather service's Dodge City office said there were initial reports that the tornado was at least three-quarters of a mile wide on the ground.
Watson said the state fire marshal's office dispatched hazardous materials teams because railroad cars in Kiowa County had overturned. She said the National Guard was sending 40 troops to provide security around Greensburg.
Katie White said she was driving through town and pulled into the parking lot of a convenience store when she heard the warning. She said the store's owner pulled her and about 15 other people into the store's cooler. When they emerged, White said, the building around them had collapsed.
School buses lined up to take people to the nearby town of Haviland, where the Red Cross opened shelters at Haviland High School and Barclay College.
''We have more than 300 people in shelters in Haviland,'' Watson said. ''We have another 300 en route to take advantage of those shelters, and we anticipate that number to grow.''
At the high school, the Rev. Gene McIntosh described how he huddled with his family in the parsonage of Greensburg's United Methodist Church as the tornado roared overhead. McIntosh said sofa cushions protected his 11-year-old son and the boy's friend from falling debris.
''There was a lot of praying down there,'' McIntosh said.
Powerful Tornadoes Devastate SW Kansas
GREENSBURG, Kan., May 5, 2007
(CBS/AP) Tornadoes killed at least seven people and leveled most of this southwest Kansas town, a state official said Saturday. The dead include six in Kiowa County, where Greensburg is located, and one in nearby Stafford County, said Sharon Watson, a spokeswoman for the Kansas Adjutant General's Department. More than 70 people have been taken to area hospitals. Rescuers pulled about 30 people from a badly damaged hospital early Saturday and searched with dogs for others believed trapped in crumbled buildings after a massive tornado turned much of this community — located in Kiowa County about 110 miles west of Wichita — into rubble. Those rescued from the hospital basement had mostly minor injuries, said Sharon Watson, spokeswoman for the Kansas Adjutant General's Department. The tornado struck at 9:45 p.m. Friday. The City Hall was destroyed along with the high school, junior high school, water tower and most of the commercial district. "I don't think we have a business left downtown," city administrator Steve Hewitt said. "It's much more likely that you would see damaged buildings than anything that has not been impacted," Watson said. "Seventy-five percent is a minimum amount of damage that the city sustained." One woman told CBS affiliate KWCH that her house took a direct hit but was still standing for the most part. "The houses around us are flat," she said. "The West is there and the East is there, and it's flattened through the middle." "What went through out minds is, how do you rebuild? All of Main Street's gone, both of our schools are gone. Where do we go from here?" Paul Harden, who lives in the region and volunteered to help out with the cleanup, described the devastation he saw to CBS News Radio: "The Northwest part of town is completely devastated — there are no houses left there in several blocks. In the Southwest part of town it took roofs off, destroyed some houses. All of them will not be worth fixing in the Southwest part of town, it looks like." Storm chaser Lance Ferguson followed the system which begun in the Oklahoma panhandle. "What was just amazing is that the storm system just kept regenerating, it just kept recycling and kept doing its thing … Mother Nature's fury at its best," he told KWCH. "To see a tornado down on the ground for that long and to become that massive and that big, I haven’t seen anything like it before," he said. "It just kept getting wider and wider and wider." Dazed residents later walked the streets, looking for loved ones and taking in the sight of crumbled buildings and smashed cars. Emergency medical crews, law enforcement personnel and search and rescue teams from throughout western Kansas and as far east as Wichita raced toward Greensburg after the twister struck. The Kansas National Guard sent 40 troops to assist with security. Power and communications in the town of about 1,600 people were knocked out by the tornado. Watson said the state transportation department sent its Communications on Wheels mobile unit to restore 911 service. Roads into and out of Greensburg, including U.S. 54, were closed for several hours to allow emergency vehicles to maneuver. Some streets were left impassable by tangles of fallen cable. Ambulances took the injured to hospitals as far away as Dodge City, where Western Plains Medical Complex confirmed receiving one fatality, and nearby Pratt, where Pratt Regional Medical Center admitted about 50 people by 3 a.m. Three patients were sent on to Wichita's Wesley Medical Center, including two in critical condition. Search dogs accompanied some of the law enforcement officers who went house to house looking for anyone trapped or injured. School buses lined up to take people to the nearby town of Haviland, where the American Red Cross opened shelters at Haviland High School and Barclay College. The National Weather Service described the twister as a "wedge" tornado, an especially broad and tall formation. Precise measurements awaited daylight observation of the tornado's destructive trail, but Frederick Kruse of the NWS office in Dodge City said there were initial reports that the twister was at least three-quarters of a mile wide on the ground. At the high school, the Rev. Gene McIntosh described huddling with his family in the parsonage of Greensburg's United Methodist Church as the tornado roared overhead. McIntosh said sofa cushions protected his 11-year-old son and the boy's friend from debris and insulation that fell from the basement ceiling. "There was a lot of praying down there," McIntosh said. The parsonage was wrecked beyond repair, he said, but damage to the church remained to be assessed. Another group of survivors rode out the tornado in the cooler of a convenience store. Katie White was among that group. White said she had been driving through Greensburg on the way to her hometown southwest of the city and pulled into the store's lot when she heard the warning. The store's owner pulled White and about 15 other people into the cooler. When they emerged, White said, the building around them had collapsed. A farmer living about a mile away said the awning from the store's gasoline pumps landed on his property. Several other tornadoes were reported Friday night and early Saturday in Kansas, most of them developing along a line that stretched northeastward from Greensburg through or near Macksville, St. John, Great Bend and Ellsworth. Damage from those storms ranged from broken trees and power lines to roofs ripped from buildings, according to early reports.
No comments:
Post a Comment