Bush promises to help rebuild Kansas town

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Bush promises to help rebuild Kansas town 
'Most important thing now is for our citizens to ask for the good Lord to comfort'

President George W. Bush vowed to make available federal aid to rebuild the tornado-ravaged town of Greensburg, Kansas, as US weather forecasters warned Sunday that more deadly twisters were possible across the American heartland.

The president's remarks were in response to the calamity caused when a giant tornado flattened the southwestern Kansas community late Friday, killing at least nine people and injuring more than 60 others.

"I'm confident this community will be rebuilt. To the extent we can help, we will," the president said, in brief remarks after attending church services Sunday.

"The most important thing now is for our citizens to ask for the good Lord to comfort those who hurt," he said.

The National Weather Service issued a daylong tornado watch for parts of southeastern Kansas, western and northern parts of neighboring Oklahoma, and a small section of northwest Texas, until about 2300 GMT Sunday.

Weather officials said hail measuring 2.5 inches (6.25 centimeters) in diameter was possible, along with lightning and windgusts of up to 70 miles (110 kilometers) per hour.

Tornadoes -- violently rotating columns of air extending from a thunderstorm to the ground -- are among the most violent storms in the United States, and are capable of tremendous destruction with wind speeds of 250 miles (400 kilometers) per hour.

Twisters can leave behind a trail of destruction greater than one mile in width and 50 miles (80 kilometers) long.

Although they can occur anywhere in the United States at any time of the year, peak tornado season in the southern and midwestern states is March through May.

Authorities said Friday's twister damaged or destroyed about 90 percent of the commercial and residential buildings in Greensburg, a town of some 1,800 residents around 120 miles (200 kilometers) west of Wichita.

"They said to me it's hard to describe how bad this community was hit. I have declared a major disaster for that community and I hope that helps," Bush said Sunday outside the St. John's Episcopal Church.

He hailed the "pioneer spirit" that built the Midwest, and which he said Kansans would draw upon to rebuild, with government support.

"It's going to take a long time for the community to recover. And so we'll help in any way we can," the US president said.

The massive tornado made a direct hit on the small prairie town, ripping homes off their foundations and even damaging below-ground shelters, according to reports.

Rescue operations Sunday focused on finding survivors amid the rubble, as Kansas governor Kathleen Sebelius planned to tour the devastation.

The White House said the disaster declaration makes federal funding available to affected individuals across Kiowa County, where Greensburg is located, for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, and other relief.

Water, electric and gas utilities were all shut off. An overnight curfew was enforced and lifted on Sunday morning.

Television images showed the town virtually leveled, with roofs shredded, branches sheared off trees and school buildings wrecked.

"It sucked the door off of our storm shelter," Greensburg resident Kevin Hillhouse told Wichita television KAKE.

Emergency workers said they were rushing to restore communications sites after the storm wiped out both land line and cellular phone services.

The massive wedge-shaped tornado, caught on film by self-styled "storm chasers," struck at about 10:00 pm (0300 GMT Saturday).

One of the storm chasers, Darin Brunin, told CNN the storm was "a mile (1.6 kilometer) wide."

People in the town said warning sirens went off about 20 minutes beforehand, giving most a chance to get into storm cellars.

Weather reports put the tornado at between F3 (severe) and F4 (devastating) on a scale of F0 to F5. An F4 storm carries winds of 331-416 kilometers (207-260 miles) per hour.

The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration reports that in an average year some 1,000 tornadoes are reported across the United States, resulting in 80 deaths and more than 1,500 injuries.