May 25, 2007

   Gone - Rural Tornado Stories John Schlageck

Seems farmers and ranchers are always racing the clock. This is especially true in central and southwest-central Kansas where a multi-county outbreak of tornadoes, hail and torrential rains hammered the countryside as well as their rural communities.

The storm system of May 4-5, traveled more than ninety miles cross country beginning in Kiowa County and ending in Barton County. Some weather reports claim this storm may have spawned more than 130 separate funnel clouds – many of which touched down.

While no one knows for sure, one thing is certain – it left a trail of leveled homes and out buildings, torn up machinery, destroyed crops, dead livestock, uprooted trees and twisted pivot irrigation systems. Some farmers were still planting their corn crop when this system formed.

Kiowa County farmer Ki Gamble was planting approximately 10 miles southwest of Greensburg that Friday when he heard on the radio a tornado had been spotted near Sitka and moving toward him. He drove his tractor and planter into a shed and headed to his farm home a half-mile north of Greensburg.

"The television reports were saying the tornado would miss Greensburg," Gamble recalls. "But when the baseball-sized hail started coming sideways, I decided to go into the cellar."

Bolting the door behind him, the Kiowa County farmer settled next to his wife, Kim, children and his wife’s family who’d dropped by. It was about that time, Gamble asked everyone to be quiet.

"Don’t you hear that?" he asked. "It’s the tornado. It’s coming."

His family huddled together as the twister roared over the cellar. Gamble said it sounded like a 100 car unit train with the track lying on their heads.

When it quieted, he left the cellar and could see insulation, clothes and other debris in his trees. A few minutes later the wind started blowing again. Some Greensburg residents said this was a second tornado on its way through town.

"This tornado came and took the rest of our town away from us," Gamble said. "After I came out of the cellar the second time there wasn’t anything left in the trees and not much left of the trees."

The Gambles consider themselves the lucky ones. Although the tornadoes took most of their out buildings, bins, turned an 18-wheeler on its side, destroyed a windmill, twisted up three pivot irrigation systems and pulled up one mile of fence, they rode out the storm and escaped unscratched.

People have come from all over the country to help out. They’ve walked fields for debris and helped clean up the mess around the Gamble farmstead. The Kiowa County farmer left the clean up on his farm and hometown on May 16 to finish his corn planting.

"I feel guilty being out here," Gamble said. "It doesn’t feel right sitting in a tractor planning corn knowing what happened just northeast of here."

While he and his family are taking one day at a time, they’re also looking toward the future when they can rebuild their farmstead. They still have the original farm home that was built in 1909. The Gamble family will rebuild that as well as building a new, larger metal building where they can maintain their machinery and store it.

As for their community, Gamble says this is a fantastic opportunity for the people of Greensburg. He says they’ll rebuild a new town with a new infrastructure, new school and other buildings – and they’ll do it right.

"We will build a new, modern Greensburg," the Kiowa County farmer said. "One for the 21^st  Century. We hope to keep the children and open school in a temporary facility on Aug. 15."

Gamble said the town’s people are determined. More than 50 existing businesses plan to come back. They’re also looking at adding another 12 new ones.

On May 4, 2008, Gamble and his wife hope to have their farmstead renovated including the new, expanded machine shed.

"We plan to have a tornado party there," he says. "It will be a celebration of our lives, families and all those people who helped us during this difficult time."