The Sacramento Bee from Sacramento, California • A20

OZ AO9090 OZ "IVNId 3383VS V1N39VIAI yiovna -Q- A20 The Sacramento Bee Sunday, Nay 6, 2007 Associated PressOrlin Wagner A grain elevator is one of the few structures left standing Saturday after a tornado struck Greensburg, Kan. City Administrator Steve Hewitt estimated 95 percent of the town of 1 ,500 was destroyed by the storm. Tornado: Tm surprised half the town didn't die' victim was a sheriff's deputy in nearby Pratt County who was driving to Greensburg to help the tornado victims. More than 50 people were taken to the hospital, including 16 in critical condition, Watson said. Rescuers pulled about 30 people from the basement of a partially collapsed hospital early Saturday, but most of them had minor injuries, Watson said.

Greensburg's famous well 32 feet in diameter, 109 feet deep when it was finished in 1888 -was damaged but intact, Hewitt said. "We may have lost buildings, we may have lost our water tower, but we still have our attraction," he said. "Those are the things we are going to have to rally around." The twister was part of a storm front that spawned tornadoes along a line stretching northeast from Greensburg through central Kansas. At least seven more tornadoes were reported late Friday and Saturday in Illinois, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Nebraska, though damage was minimal, officials said. No injuries were reported in any of those states.

Compiled from the Associated Press, Los Angeles Times and Wichita Eagle. Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, who has declared a disaster emergency for Kiowa County, said President Bush had assured her was doing all he could to expedite a request for federal resources. "We're pretty used to storms in Kansas," she said in a telephone interview, noting that a 1991 storm had killed 20 people as it hit parts of Wichita. "But I think this is kind of unprecedented -this entire small community was wiped out.

"All my downtown is gone," City Administrator Steve Hewitt said. "My home is gone. My staff's homes are gone. And we've got to find a way to get this to work and come to work every day and get this thing back on its feet. It's going to be tough." Hewitt predicted rescue efforts could take "a good couple (of) days" as survivors could be trapped in basements and under rubble.

National Weather Service meteorologist Larry Ruthi said the path of damage was 1.4 miles wide and estimated that the tornado will be classified an "upper F-4 or an F-5" tornado, the strongest possible. Eight people died in Kiowa County, said Sharon Watson, a spokeswoman for the Adjutant General's Department. The ninth Michael Lacy, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Dodge City. "We had 30 minutes' notice on the whistle, and that made a real difference," said Scott Huck-riede, who lost his home and his photography business. "I'm surprised half the town didn't die.

Huckriede, 49, who lives on Main Street, said as he emerged from his basement, he could see that half his house was gone. He began to wave his flashlight around outside, but could not see any buildings, so he walked down Main Street. "I could not recognize the intersection, and I was born and raised here," Huckriede said. J.D. Colclazier, 11, and his father are storm spotters volunteers who are trained to look for developing tornadoes.

They were outside when they saw the twister headed toward them. They ran home to retrieve his 8-month-old puppy, Sophie, and climbed down to their basement. When they heard the sound of the tornado approaching, J.D.'s father told him to get underneath a couch. Four minutes later, everything became quiet, so they went upstairs. Their house had disappeared.

"The roof was gone and two of the walls were gone. The trees FROM PAGE Al that the tornado had tossed it aside "like nothing. At least nine people were killed and dozens hurt in the storm that destroyed an estimated 95 percent of the 121-year-old town's buildings. The air was redolent with the smell of sap from trees stripped of bark. Greensburg, a southwestern Kansas town of about 1,500, is known as the home of the world's largest hand-dug well.

Emergency crews called off the search for victims Saturday evening as a fresh wave of tornadoes ripped through the Plains from South Dakota down to Oklahoma. The Kansas Adjutant General's Department said it had confirmed reports of eight tornadoes touching down, including one that injured 1 1 people when it struck a pair of restaurants in the central Kansas town of Osborne. The consensus in Greensburg was that the death toll could have been much worse. Many credited the tornado warning system with giving so many of the town's residents time to seek cover in cellars and basements before the tornado hit. A warning was issued for Kiowa County at 9:19 p.m., almost half an hour before the tornado hit Greensburg, said The Hutchinson (Kan.) NewsTravis Morisse A couple walk along a street lined with shredded trees Saturday in the devastated town of Greensburg, Kan.

After a tornado leveled the town, the smell of sap from trees stripped of bark filled the air. Greensburg along with a curfew from 8 p.m. Saturday until 8 a.m. today. Jimmy Brozk, 27, the manager of a tire store who was allowed to enter the downtown area to survey the damage to his business, said his store was "the only thing standing around there." "My brother lost his house," he said.

"My other brother did too. It's horrendous." Hundreds of Greensburg residents took shelter in the nearby town of Haviland. were gone. The neighbors' houses were gone," said Colclazier. "There was a church down the street and it was gone.

The tornado caused extensive damage to City Hall, the Kiowa County Memorial Hospital, the city's two main schools and Dillon's supermarket. Homes were swept off their foundations, and shredded trees, downed power lines and overturned trucks stretched out block after block. On Saturday, a mandatory evacuation was in force in Kji A lifetime without problems Sunburst Shutters stands behind every Polywood shutter with a lifetime guarantee covering any defects in material and workmanship. If anything ever goes wrong with your shutters, Sunburst Shutters will repair or replace it free of charge. Unlike other window treatments, Polywood shutters won't warp, crack, fade or discolor.

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