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Guard helps Kansas town pick up the pieces

More than 100 Kansas National Guardsmen — most of them airmen — were on the ground in the tornado-devastated town of Greensburg on Monday morning, helping local law enforcement provide security.

Sharon Watson, spokeswoman for Kansas Adjutant General Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting, said airmen from the 184th Security Forces Squadron in Wichita make up most of the 120 or so troops now in Greensburg, and about 100 more may be brought in Monday from the 190th SFS from Topeka.

A tornado hit Greensburg on Friday night, destroying homes and buildings and claiming at least 10 lives, although people are missing and officials are continuing to search the ruins for survivors or bodies. Residents were permitted back into the town Monday to sift through their wrecked homes.

Watson called providing and supporting security in the community the “first mission, and the main one” of the Guard forces.

No Air National Guard aircraft are involved in the relief efforts in Greensburg, she said.

Meanwhile, many of the larger Army National Guard trucks that would be helpful in the cleanup are not available because they’ve been sent to Iraq, she said.

As a result, officials will be looking to contractors to assist in the efforts, Watson said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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