After last night's tornadoes, which claimed two lives in Kansas (including one in the 2nd Congressional District) and did tens of millions of dollars worth of damage to the city of Manhattan, the campus of Kansas State University, and the 1st District community of Chapman, our thoughts and prayers are with all of the residents of each of those Kansas towns- and with all of the parents of students who might still be in Manhattan.
From the Topeka Capitol-Journal:
A tornado also hit the Kansas State University campus in Manhattan, damaging several campus buildings and tossing cars around in parking lots. Several local businesses also received extensive damage, according to the National Weather Service.
"We have reports that the northern part of Kansas State University took a pretty good hit," said Weather Service meteorologist Ken Harding. "Cars were tossed and there is a lot of damage up there."
The university said in a statement that no injuries had been reported.
From the Manhattan Mercury:
A tornado between two and four blocks wide touched down near the Manhattan Regional airport late night Wednesday and bounced across Manhattan, the Kansas State University campus, and then went back up into the clouds near Moore Hall on the campus. It inflicted tens of millions of dollars of damage -- at least $20 million on the campus alone, authorities said.
[...]
No confirmed totals are available, but an estimated 30 homes in the Miller Ranch area -- in the southwest portion of the city -- have been flattened, with only foundations remaining. Many more are severely damaged. The University Heights area near E.J. Frick Drive was also hard-hit.
Congresswoman Nancy Boyda, along with both United States Senators and Governor Kathleen Sebelius will be in Manhattan this evening to survey the damager
2007 was a hard year for a lot of people in Kansas, particularly in the Second Congressional districts. Late snow, the Greensburg tornado and May flooding, and then more flooding later in the summer left our farmers looking at ruined crops and no idea as to what would come next.
Congresswoman Nancy Boyda's office, along with the offices of our two US Senators, worked hard to make sure as many Kansans as possible were covered by FEMA with disaster aid, and communities from Osawatomie to Burlingame thank them for their dedication to the people they were elected to serve.
Boyda also announced this week that even more assistance will be made available to her constituents.
Congresswoman Nancy Boyda (Kansas Second District) announced today that Kansas farmers and ranchers who suffered crop, feed, and livestock losses in federally declared disaster areas in 2007 may be eligible for new assistance from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
"A whole lot of folks suffered damage to their crops and livestock as a result of Kansas weather last year," Rep. Boyda said. "With this new disaster aid, Congress is extending a helping hand."
Congresswoman Boyda's hard work on our behalf has benefited us again and again this past year, and we'd positive the people of the district see and appreciate her efforts.
Thank you to the rest of the Kansas delegation for helping ensure every district of Kansas got the assistance that was so desperately needed.
In another one of those "it doesn't matter what party you're in to know what correct," the entire Kansas delegation banded together to ask President Bush to approve FEMA aid for Kansans effected by this week's terrible ice storms.
The text of the letter, courtesy of WIBW-TV in Topeka, is as follows:
"We write today to once again ask that your attention be directed to the spate of disasters that have struck the state of Kansas this year.
"As you know, multiple large winter storms spread thick ice throughout Kansas this week. This event was made worse by consecutive days of precipitation and dropping temperatures, which quickly solidified ice on power lines and trees. The damage to date includes wide scale power outages and a great deal of damage to homes andbusinesses. Over 100,000 people are without power, a great deal more cannot leave their homes, and at least 4 people have died due to icy conditions. Currently, in many parts of the state, Kansans are making due without power and without access to supplies.
"As you might imagine, yet another disaster striking our state this year comes as disheartening news for Kansans who have already endured a blizzard that destroyed infrastructure and endangered livestock, a tornado that wiped an entire town off the map, and floods that compounded with an oil spill to destroy grave amounts of property and businesses.
"In the immediate wake of this most recent storm, the Governor of Kansas declared a state emergency. Today, she also requested that you authorize FEMA to provide public assistance to aid in the recovery. We wholeheartedly support this request and thank you for your support to date. The federal government, including FEMA and the National Guard, deserve endless amounts of credit for their rapid and effective responses in Kansas this year. This, combined with the can-do attitude and spirit of giving inherent in Kansans have mitigated the long term effects of the disasters we've faced this year to an incredible degree.
"Thank you in advance for your consideration."
Our hopes and prayers to out to everyone who is struggling through this storm, and we thank Governor Kathleen Sebelius, Congresswoman Nancy Boyda and the rest of the Kansas delegation for acting so quickly to secure federal aid.
This blog is not affiliated in any way with the Kansas Democratic Party, the Democratic National Committee, Congresswoman Nancy Boyda, the Office of Congresswoman Nancy Boyda, or the campaign to re-elected Congresswoman Nancy Boyda. All commentary herein not directly attributed must be considered the opinion of the authors of this blog and not of any other individual, including Congresswoman Nancy Boyda.
After last night's tornadoes, which claimed two lives in Kansas (including one in the 2nd Congressional District) and did tens of millions of dollars worth of damage to the city of Manhattan, the campus of Kansas State University, and the 1st District community of Chapman, our thoughts and prayers are with all of the residents of each of those Kansas towns- and with all of the parents of students who might still be in Manhattan.
