Greensburg aid sought

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, May 18, 2007

From staff and wire reports

The entire Kansas congressional delegation has sent a letter to President Bush requesting the federal government cover 100 percent of the cost of reconstructing Greensburg.

A tornado destroyed most buildings in the southwest Kansas community May 4, killing 10 people in the city.

Republican Sens. Pat Roberts and Sam Brownback and Reps. Jerry Moran and Todd Tiahrt, along with Democratic Reps. Nancy Boyda and Dennis Moore, urged Bush to authorize the Federal Emergency Management Agency to cover all costs of reconstruction. Normally, FEMA is responsible for 75 percent, with state and local governments matching the rest.

The letter, made public Thursday and dated Wednesday, expressed appreciation for FEMA's timely response to the disaster and gratitude for Bush's visit to Greensburg.

"As you might imagine," the letter says, "this small Kansas community operates almost exclusively on their sales and property tax base, which will not be available for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, the county does not have the funds to literally build a town from scratch and the state is stretched to the limit funding recovery from record blizzards that inundated western Kansas this winter."

The "truly catastrophic" damage in Greensburg weighs in favor of moving above the standard 75 percent coverage, the letter says.

FEMA waived part of the match requirement earlier this year when it covered 90 percent of recovery costs associated with fierce winter storms in Kansas. The agency also is covering 90 percent of costs for Hurricane Katrina recovery.

FEMA covered 100 percent of cleanup costs after the 9/11 attacks in New York, one of the few times the agency has waived all requirements for state and local matching.

On Saturday, Roberts will speak at the Greensburg High School commencement ceremony at the Greensburg Golf Course.

In a related matter, Darin Headrick, superintendent of schools in Greensburg, told school board members Wednesday night he hopes to hold classes in late summer locally in three temporary mobile units: one for kindergarten through fifth grade, one for sixth through eighth grade and one for the high school.

"All three campuses will be around a common facility that will house a temporary gymnasium and food service," Headrick said.

Days after the tornado struck, Headrick said he expected to be operating out of borrowed classroom space in the nearby towns of Mullinville and Haviland.

Fort Hays State has provided help with planning and technology, Headrick said.

"They are working on Internet systems and working with the library system," he said.

The district's learning materials were all destroyed by the tornado, a 1.7-mile-wide monster packing winds of 208 mph. Staff members will have a basic needs list to the district by today, Headrick said.

Classes are scheduled to start Aug. 15.

"We are faced with the challenge of addressing every area of our school district, and we have 89 days to get it done," he said.

The district, which has yet to compile a damage total for insurance purposes, is receiving assistance from private industry, as well as state and federal government sources.

"I can't say enough about the help we are getting," Headrick said.

The district's offices have been relocated to Haviland, 10 miles away, in space provided by that town's school district and the Haviland Telephone Co. Wednesday night's meeting was at the rural home of school board president Ki Gamble.