GREENSBURG, Kan. – President Bush sought to lift spirits Wednesday in the wake of a killer tornado, dishing out hugs while stepping through the rubble of what had been a close-knit town of 1,400.
The president said he came to Kansas to tour the wreckage in the hopes that he could “touch somebody’s soul by representing our country.”
“A lot of us have seen the pictures about what happened here, and pictures don’t do it justice,” said Bush, standing in the street in front of a brick one-story home that now has no roof. “There is a lot of destruction. Fortunately, a lot of folks had basements here in this part of the world and lived to see another day. Unfortunately, too many died,” he said.
On a day that alternated between rain and sun, Bush got his first look from a helicopter that hovered over the ruins of the southwest Kansas town that was flattened last Friday night. The twister killed at least 11 people. It was the most punishing tornado to hit the United States in years.
On a short ride into town after his aerial tour, Bush got a rundown of the damage and the recovery from city administrator Steve Hewitt and Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius. She and the White House had a spat a day earlier – apparently now resolved – over whether National Guard deployments to Iraq had hampered the government’s ability to respond here.
The president then went by foot down streets now little more than a snarled mess of mud, wood, glass and wires. Roaring at up to 205 mph and spanning 1.7 miles, the twister destroyed an estimated 95 percent of the town. Gone are almost all buildings, including churches, the city hall and the hospital.
Bush already had ordered emergency aid for the people, business and governments in the Greensburg area. His trip was about delivering something else – presidential empathy.
At one point, Bush stopped at a tractor dealership, the building gutted and its expensive plows mangled. It had been a major employer in town, and the president freely dished out hugs.
The surrounding neighborhood revealed a car stuck tail-first out of the top of a house. Trees were ripped of all limbs, looking like mere stakes in the ground. A spray-painted sign said politely: “Please pardon our mess.”
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