Massive tornado levels Kansas town
City administrator Steve Hewitt estimated 95 percent of the town of 1,400 was destroyed and predicted rescue efforts could take days as survivors could be trapped in basements and under rubble.
Among the only structures that survived was the Bar H Tavern, the town?s only bar. It was briefly converted into a morgue.
Survivors of the storm, which was blamed for a ninth death in a nearby county, picked over the remnants of their homes and possessions, still dazed by the twister?s strength and scope.
National Weather Service meteorologist Larry Ruthi said the path of damage was 1.4 miles wide, estimating it would be classified a ?upper F-4 or an F-5? tornado, the strongest possible.
Jackie Robertson and her family spent Saturday afternoon collecting wedding photos, a wallet and other belongings from the debris that had been her home.
Robertson, her husband and a friend spent Friday night in a cellar when the violent weather struck the region.
?My heart just aches for everyone,? she said. ?It is so surreal. This is where I live.?
The town, previously best known as the home of the world’s largest hand-dug well ? 32 feet in diameter, 109 feet deep when it was finished in 1888 ? was a nightmare of splintered homes and smashed vehicles, the air redolent with the smell of sap from trees stripped of bark.
Residents said they heard the tornado warning sirens ? a common feature of towns in “Tornado Alley” ? about 20 minutes before the storm hit.
Jose Peraza said he was driving his oil rig into town when he heard the siren and driving hail started pounding the area. He pulled over and hid with several other people in a convenience store freezer.
He said the storm ripped the side off the freezer, and when he came out he found the twister had thrown his truck ? weighed down by 40,000 pounds of oil ? ?like nothing.?
The dead included eight 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.