Surviving an EF5 Tornado: One Family's Story in Pictures
Gamble Farms: Greensburg, Kansas

Latest Update: (Friday, June 8, 2007). If you have read the text below, then not much has changed. This was the first week I saw Kim angry and discouraged. She is clearly not alone. Established businesses from before the tornado can't get building permits, the city is not accessible to their citizens and nothing is moving forward fast enough. In corporate America, you have to work any project in parallel, taking risk and working from the information you have knowing there are open questions. Government wants to have a step-by-step process and the order is more important than the result. Thus a slow pace which businesses don't have the luxury of having. The city should streamline the permits and in fact, I would argue give incentives to the businesses to return. Jump start the rebuild with the businesses that have committed to returning while in parallel, decide about how to attract new business or replace those lost. But, at the end of the day, if you can't get something as simply as a permit to build to a lifetime resident, then what can they get done? Oh - and the town meeting this week - well, let's just say that once again, no communication, no ability to ask questions in an open forum, and the focus seemed to be team building. They had a cohesive team at the first town meeting. This was the time to communicate some plans and some action items. Will there be any one left when they finally have a plan? Latest Update: (Sunday, May 27, 2007). Our text messaging was over 245 a few days ago. In Wichita, the Kansas Coliseum and Martina McBride donated tickets and bus transportation to the residents and utilized the service to communicate the details. Kim is here and we are all going to the concert this evening. Kim's personal note: Thank you to everyone for your help, donations, and thinking about us. I hope you'll check back and watch the rebuilding. It will be encouraging and inspiring. Right now, there are ups and downs. The most important thing we have is hope for the future and the desire to work hard and restore what we lost. We have to rebuild our business and our town so our kids and grandkids have a future and a reason to stay or to come back. What are the downs? After the destruction, the further demolition as we are all faced with tearing down the rest of what is left or burning it. It is another phase of losing what we had. At the same time, many people are ready to move forward and rebuild, but there are no processes in place yet to make that happen. There are lots of agencies and lots of assistance, but little coordination and planning beyond day to day that has made its way down to the citizens at this stage. It is still difficult to get information. When we do, it is not consistent. Individuals spend hours and hours filling out paperwork and trying to find out the details to rebuild only to be left in limbo. I received my first rejection letter from FEMA because we have insurance. I found out I should not appeal because then the decision will be final forever. Rather, I should amend my application and refile. The process is so overwhelming. I have completed all SBA loan applications only to find that I could probably get the same or lower rate with my bank. It is difficult to make decisions when you cannot get reliable and timely information. The red tape is incredible, yet I haven't found any avenues that really help us rebuild our business. We have to rely on our insurance and it obviously is not enough to absorb the level of losses we have. I filed an Economic Injury Direct Loan for the truckwash and laundromat because I had no income (no cash flow for the month) but I have no idea when it will come through if at all. Other filings on May 5 or 6- Registered with Red Cross which is for immediate assistance and is how they accounted for everyone. I registered with FEMA.They then send you a SBA packet in the mail. SBA must be filled out for home and a separate one for business, but SBA is not for a farm business. I had to fill out separate ones for my home, the North home and the house in town and the Truck Wash. Why couldn't I fill out one and attach pages for the other items. It is all just so confusing - that is all I can say. The farm is not covered under anything. Programs under USDA are not funded yet, so there are no avenues at this time for the farm business. Emergency Conservation Program was outlined to us at a Farmer's and Rancher's disaster assistance meeting, but it is not a funded program yet. Usually, it takes a year or two to get funded. It might be retroactive, if you have all your paperwork in order and if you are still in business in a year or two! On the plus side, I think all my paper work is done and filed. Now all I have to do is get a big storage tub to save all my receipts, documentation, and other paperwork in for my home, my farm, the destroyed houses we owned, and the TruckWash and Laundromat. I'm not sure that one will slide under my bed! Obviously, Greensburg has been inundated with volunteers and we are all so grateful! These people have come from all over the US and many have volunteered after other disasters across the country. Over and over again we hear about the character of the people here in rural Kansas. One checkpoint security person said he came here to help us and take care of us and almost feels guilty because the locals are always stopping to see if he needs anything, making sure he's OK, and just stopping to visit for a minute. Others have been amazed that the people here are so reluctant to accept vouchers and monetary help, even donations of food and clothing. It seems the easiest thing for us to accept is a person to come along side us and work...just doing the next thing that helps us to rebuild our homes, our lives, and our town. Apparently in many other disaster areas around the country, the local people have just sort of sat around waiting for someone to cleanup their properties, hand them a check, and put things back in order for them. I believe that the difference is in the way we've all grown up, in what our parents taught us about the value of hard work and independence, and most importantly about helping and caring for others. Realizing those truths is just one of the silver linings in this big black cloud! If I had known that THEN is already something I am aware of and fearing! Here are some examples. * I am on a business development committee. We agreed to recommend to KDOT that a 4-lane highway already planned for the future be routed through Greensburg. Since the tornado has cleared the way, why not make the plan now and build accordingly so there won't be a need for the state to buy property later and move it. I can already hear someone say in the future "If I had known the highway was going there before I rebuilt ..." * This one is even better. One of our fellow ranchers has lost 8 cattle due to the tornado. He asked at the Rancher's meeting about filing claims, but there are no avenues to do that today and if there were, he would have to be able to prove he had the cattle before the tornado and that they were killed as a result of the tornado. Working with his vet today, he can do this. However, the cattle are decomposing and need to be buried. There are no programs today, so someday, you know in the future when the programs are set up, the rancher will say "If I had known to get a vet to sign off on my dead cattle after the tornado ..." * Red Cross debit card is inactive in 60 or 90 days or something... I don't know - a small sheet with details would have been helpful. I know some will go to use their card, and it will be too late. If I had known I only had 60 days... If I had known... ironic we live in the "information age." I did receive a Disaster Recovery Checklist two weeks after the tornado. I had already done the critical items on the checklist, so it was too little too late. I wish I had received the day after the tornado when I registered with FEMA or the Red Cross. In fact, the first few days would have been the ideal time for a lot of basic information like cancel credit cards blown away in the storm or cancel your utilities so you are not billed for them...this type of checklist of the basics for everyone struggling to think in an emergency would have been very helpful. On a positive note, Farm Bureau Insurance has been great to us. This is because we were smart about our policies and proactive in running our business by purchasing insurance. My advice, check your policies very closely. At the end of the day, you get what you pay for. Premiums might be a bit higher, but if you clearly understand your policy and what will and won't be paid, then you will be in a much better position. Don't leave yourself under-insured! Of course, when we paid for the insurance, we never imagined we would ever be filing claims to this level. Now, we are thankful for what we are able to claim. 23 days......many citizens are ready to move forward but are paralyzed by the lack of information. Hard to be patient. 12:30 AM: Patty's Note: We just returned from the concert. Martina closed her show singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" as her dedication to Greensburg. On a personal note, I think "Anyway" is a more fitting tribute. But, I guess it gave us a bit of a laugh. After all, not many performers could, with a straight face and sincerity, talk about growing up in Kansas, praise Greensburg, and then sing a song from the Wizard of Oz . Better not try to make sense of that one. Rather, I think it is time for a margarita. Monday, May 28 - I wish something would get back to normal. Just finished shopping and I picked out an outfit for Kim. Very scary to think that I not only shopped, but coordinated an outfit for her! She said her training paid off. I can't take the pressure! LOL. Kim rushed home for a meeting with SBA. She accepted the appointment just a day or two ago and this morning, a "new guy" has already been assigned who wanted to change the appointment time. We have seen a lot of rotation of personnel in the last three weeks. I can't wait to hear how this meeting goes...it is SBA and they want to look at her house, even though they don't do anything with homes or farms, so Kim has no idea but rushes back to meet him as everything is a scavenger hunt for information. She finds out later she was told incorrectly as it is for the house. While I was eating lunch today, there was a movie on about Sitting Bull and the reservation. One of the doctors was writing a letter to a senator begging him not to believe the official reports. He was there, spending his own money on drugs and supplies and giving a first-hand account of the problems and the needs of the Indians. Some in the movie were looking to get rich from the misfortunes of others while others were trying to save a community of people. From 1885 to 2007 ...so much has changed and at the same time, so little. People are a product of their environment. We just need more environments like Greensburg.

Patty's personal note (Monday morning, May 14) The spirit of the people in Greensburg is one of hope and rebuilding. The majority see opportunity and have a relentless can-do attitude. The prayers and support from around the world are truly overwhelming. So many of the people have sent donations around the world to help others. They find themselves puzzled to be in this situation and I encouraged many to accept the help and donations. They find it hard. Many said "others are worse off than I" and would refuse to take. With each day, they accept the reality and make use of the donations at the same time working hard to rebuild so they can make their own way. A Greensburg Future Fund has been established and you can earmark your contribution for education, health care, or community rebuilding. If you want to make a donation, I encourage you to consider the South Central Community Foundation; http://southcentralcommunityfoundation.com and select Greensburg Future Fund. Phone is 620.672.7929.

Patty's personal note about text-messaging on mobile phones: We set this up on Tuesday, May 8, 2007. This was day 4 of the disaster and only the second day residents were allowed in the town. We spent half the day trying to work with different government agencies to set it up. Then, in less than three hours and with Kim's personal funding, it was set up and working. As of May 14 (less than a week) we have 176 subscribed. As of May 27, we have over 245 subscribed. Some of the same agencies we tried to work through later had to "check us out" to make sure we were legitimate and other state agencies also checked us out. Really, pretty fun. They don't have the time to work with us to set up or use the service, but they have the time to make sure we are doing it correctly. Speaks directly to the fact that no one is willing to take risks and make decisions - even in a disaster when thinking on your feet and taking risks is critical. They have to play by the book and by policy. Residents are now dispersed throughout the county. This service is helping them to stay connected with some critical information such as town hall meetings or farm and ranch meetings as well as social events through the schools, churches, and city. We were frustrated four days in trying to get consistent information and much of that has not changed almost four weeks later! A lot of uncoordinated agencies hamper the effort. Left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. Officials who could use the service to dispel a rumor or to communicate a critical deadline or service either don't remember to utilize the service or choose not to use it. We want valid information citizens can count on, and that is hard to get. Of course, it doesn't have to be through texting - good old-fashioned flyers would work. Some volunteers just guess trying to say something rather than nothing. When filling out government forms and citizens are told "just put your best guess" you can't help but wonder if an audit will end up in your future somewhere down the road! Text-message system set up for Greensburg residents BY AMANDA O'TOOLE The Wichita Eagle: Posted May 10, 2007 LSI Corporation employees have set up a text-messaging alert system so Greensburg residents can stay informed about what's going on in town. So far, about 100 people have signed up for the service. The subscription to the messaging system is free, though regular charges and fees from cell phone providers will still apply. Wichita residents Paula Stout and Patty Crowell, who work at LSI, and Greensburg resident Kim Gamble started the program Tuesday evening after they saw a need for better communication. "As you can imagine, there is almost no communication method for getting urgent information to those who need it as they are working to dig out from the tornado damage," Stout wrote in an e-mail. On Thursday, Stout sent out messages letting people know that the high school track coach needed team members' shoe sizes, giving instructions on how to get volunteers to help clean up debris, and reassuring residents that no one will remove debris from their property without consent. "They will be receiving messages about town hall meetings, sport events, graduation, weather warnings and any other pertinent information," she said. To subscribe, text "RANGER" to 25827. To unsubscribe, text "STOP" to the same number.