Tornado hits Kansas town; 1 reported killed, dozens injured

Rescuers pulled about 30 people from a partially collapsed hospital Saturday after a tornado ripped through a community in the U.S. state of Kansas. At least one person was reported killed and dozens were injured.

The injuries of those who were trapped there were minor, said Sharon Watson, spokeswoman for the Kansas Adjutant General's Department.

The tornado struck Greensburg on Friday night, leaving a broad swath of destruction in the Kiowa County town about 110 miles (175 kilometers) west of Wichita. The storm front spawned tornadoes along a path stretching northeast from Greensburg through central Kansas.

Phone service to the town of about 1,600 residents was knocked out, and the state's department of transportation was trying to restore emergency service.

Emergency personnel and search and rescue teams from throughout southwest Kansas raced toward Greensburg after the twister struck.

The injured were taken to hospitals as far away as Dodge City, where a hospital confirmed one fatality. Another hospital said it treated about 50 people. Three patients were sent on to a Wichita hospital, including two who were in critical condition, she said.

Search dogs accompanied law enforcement officers as they searched house to house for anyone trapped or injured.

Roads into and out of Greensburg were closed for several hours to allow emergency vehicles to reach the town.

The National Weather Service described the tornado as a "wedge," an especially broad and tall formation. Frederick Kruse of the weather service's Dodge City office said there were initial reports that the tornado was at least three-quarters of a mile (more than a kilometer) wide on the ground.

The state fire marshal's office dispatched hazardous materials teams because railroad cars in Kiowa County had overturned, said Sharon Watson, spokeswoman for the Kansas Adjutant General's Department.

She said the National Guard was sending 40 troops to provide security around Greensburg.

Shelters were opened for Greensburg residents at a college and a high school in nearby Haviland.

At the high school, the Rev. Gene McIntosh described how he huddled with his family in the parsonage of Greensburg's United Methodist Church as the tornado roared overhead. McIntosh said sofa cushions protected his 11-year-old son and the boy's friend from debris and insulation that fell from the basement ceiling.

"There was a lot of praying down there," McIntosh said.

Elsewhere on Friday, three small tornadoes touched down in rural southwestern Illinois, but officials said there were no reports of injury or damage. Two tornadoes struck in Oklahoma, damaging some structures but injuring no one, officials said.