Fingers of God

The movie Twister described the most destructive tornadoes, F5s on the Fujita scale, as nothing short of being a finger of God.

Well, we've had yet another demonstration of nature's fury as the town of Greensburg, Kansas was wiped off the map by a monster twister. The town, with 1,500 residents was demolished by the monster twister that came through this weekend shredded every single building and structure in town. Not a single building escaped some damage. Officials say that 95% of the town was destroyed. Only the grain elevator remains standing.

Yet, there was reason to be hopeful. The death toll wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been, and search and rescue discovered survivor in the wreckage late last night.

Survivors returned Monday to a Kansas town that was flattened by a milewide tornado, some finding little remaining of their homes.

While owners surveyed property, searchers probed rubble from Friday's gigantic twister, whose 205-mph winds killed nine people.

Officials in Greensburg told The Associated Press that searchers had found someone alive in debris from the storm. A Kansas Highway Patrol spokesman told AP the person was found late Sunday. No other details were immediately available.

The town managed to get an earlier warning than usual - 20 minutes rather than because the NWS recognized the growing monster from radar sweeps of the area. Had this storm hit late at night, it is quite possible that the toll would have been devastating. As Instapundit notes, it might be a good idea to purchase a system like this - to alert you to impending severe storms - even at night.

An ongoing problem is that the weather pattern that spawned this monster storm has not moved on. The entire region is still threatened by severe weather.

There are also reports claiming that the National Guard is slow in responding to the situation because it lacks equipment due to the Iraq war. Curiously, the President already declared the area a disaster area and FEMA is on the ground providing assistance.