Kansas toll hits 12 -- but the rubble gives up a survivor

A survivor was found beneath the mounds of rubble here, raising hopes that more people may still be alive in this tornado-ravaged town.

“We’ve searched the whole town twice over, but we’re going to keep looking as long as there’s a chance that more can be found,” said Trooper Allan Lytton of the Kansas Highway Patrol.

The survivor was found late Sunday evening, two days after a tornado more than a mile wide shredded this county seat. Authorities announced the good news Monday morning, just as they began allowing displaced residents to rummage through the splintered wood and cracked mortar for salvageable items.

Though there were glimmers of optimism, rescue crews also found two more bodies, one in the Greensburg rubble and one in a nearby lake. Eleven people have now been confirmed dead in the region, raising to 12 the total killed by tornadoes in Kansas.

Authorities did not immediately identify the survivor, who was taken to a hospital.

Anxious to see their homes and businesses, Greensburg residents lined up before 8 a.m. But many had their return cut short when emergency workers found that a large railroad holding tank was leaking anhydrous ammonia, a farm fertilizer.

All residents were allowed to return later in the day. But the hazardous chemical spill underscored concerns by state and federal officials that Greensburg remained unsafe after the tornado destroyed 95% of the town. Some reiterated that the search for survivors should take priority over allowing frustrated homeowners to retrieve valuables.

“The last thing we want to do is have someone come back to something unsafe, and suffer an injury,” said Kansas Adjutant Gen. Tod M. Bunting, adding, “Some of this debris is 30 to 40 feet deep.”

Residents who returned to Greensburg were forced to realize that their lives had been ripped apart. But many found pieces worth saving, and left optimistic.

“It’s heart-wrenching, but everyone’s spirits are high,” said the Rev. Kendal Utt of Dodge City, who helped the pastor of the First United Methodist Church of Greensburg, the Rev. Gene McIntosh, search for valuables. The tornado tore the roof off the church and destroyed its altar, but McIntosh found the church records intact.

“They have gone through the shock part,” Utt said. “Everyone is doing what they can to pick up what they can find.”

The twister that hit Greensburg registered at the highest level on the tornado scale, with 200 mph winds. It was one of dozens reported over the weekend in the Sunflower State, according to the National Weather Service. Kansas lies in the middle of the Midwestern region known as Tornado Alley.

As Kansas tried to recover from tornadoes and flooding, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, a Democrat, complained that the Bush administration had hindered the emergency response by taking National Guard resources from her state to assist in the Iraq war.

“Every state is in pretty much the same situation, due to the resources being devoted to the war,” Sebelius said in an interview.

“Frankly, this is not a new message, or a Republican or Democratic issue. Every time we get together as governors, this comes up. But we’re here in the midst of a terrible situation in Greensburg and we don’t have the equipment that we are accustomed to.”

Sebelius acknowledged that she had not asked neighboring states for assistance, but noted that those states were facing their own tornado and flood threats. Bush administration officials quickly countered that if Kansas needed equipment, it would be provided.

The Kansas National Guard has sent roughly 50% of its trucks, 25% of its Humvee vehicles and numerous helicopters to the war effort, and Sebelius said that was hampering attempts to move supplies to Greensburg and flooded areas near Topeka, the capital. Kansas still had sufficient National Guard troops to send to affected areas, according to the governor’s spokeswoman.

The director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, R. David Paulison, toured Greensburg on Monday along with members of Congress. President Bush is scheduled to visit Wednesday, according to Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.).

FEMA will bring mobile homes and travel trailers to temporarily fill the void left by the tornado, which destroyed about 400 homes and buildings in Greensburg.

miguel.bustillo@latimes.com