May 10, 2003
Hauling brush
David Romine, Oswego, a volunteer with American Baptist Men Disaster Relief, hauls tree limbs to curbside while he and others work to clear property on South Vine Street in Franklin Friday.
Ray Brecheisen/The Morning Sun
May 10, 2003
Keeping a sense of humor
A message spray-painted on the side of a tornado-damaged house on Vine Street in Franklin, photographed Friday, reflects a little humor in the face of disaster. Ann and James Jones, who own the house, were in an inside closet when the tornado struck, and were unharmed. After the storm, the phone was still working, and they used it to call family. They also said the plumbing was still working. Their nephews spray-painted the message during cleanup efforts this week.
Ray Brecheisen/The Morning Sun
May 5,2003
Rescuers search for survivors
Crawford County rescue personnel struggle to remove storm debris to gain access to an unidentified person found in the rubble in Franklin on Sunday May 4, 2003, after a tornado smashed across the county, destroying at least three towns. Fatality reports are still awaiting confirmation.
May 12,2003
Joseph Cukjati address Franklin residents during a meeting Sunday in a makeshift town hall in Henry Ashbacher's garage. Cukjati proposed limiting the construction of doublewide homes in the community, and the proposal was met with strong opposition.
C. Cottrell/The Morning Sun
May 8, 2003
Franklin Postmaster Kathy Shaffer, right, and U.S. Postal Inspector Denise Mercer load letter boxes from the Franklin Post Office onto a truck Wednesday. The post office was demolished by Sunday's tornado. At left is Keith Coleman, 667 area manager of post office operations.
Ray Brecheisen/The Morning Sun
May 5, 2003
Crawford County rescue personnel struggle to remove storm debris to locate the body of Josephine Maghe in a pile of rubble in Franklin on Sunday. The storm destroyed more than half of the town, including the Post Office, the community building and more than a dozen homes. C. Cottrell/The Morning Sun
May 5,2003
Tornado leaves trail of rubble
C. Cottrell/The Morning Sun
May 10, 2003
Crawford County Sheriff's Deputy Todd Melton, left, and volunteer Larry Richard erect signs directing cleanup workers to a temporary construction and demolition landfill in Franklin Friday. County Road and Bridge Superintendent Bob Davied notified the county commission Friday that the landfill was opened Friday morning.
May 10, 2003
A photograph of someone's birthday party lays on the ground in Franklin as U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback talks with Robert Craig Stokes, chairman of Crawford County Rural Water District No. 7, in Franklin on Friday. Brownback surveyed cleanup efforts and the damage done to the small Kansas community by Sunday's F4 tornado, which claimed three lives in Crawford County. Residents are looking forward and considering options on rebuilding.
C. Cottrell/The Morning Sun
May 7, 2003
Frank Pichler walks among rubble of his boyhood home in Franklin Tuesday during cleanup efforts. Pichler's mother, Sadie, 85, was found in the debris after Sunday's storm and is still recovering from her injuries at Mt. Carmel Regional Medical Center, according to Pichler.
C. Cottrell/The Morning Sun
May 6, 2003
The devastation of Sunday's tornado in Franklin can be seen in this aerial photo taken Monday. Local workers and state officials continued working in the area and said Monday afternoon that everyone in the county has been accounted for, returning the official death toll to three.
Ray Brecheisen/The Morning Sun
May 10, 2003
Ila Wood, center, a volunteer with the Salvation Army, serves lunch to volunteer worker Travis Blair during tornado cleanup efforts in Franklin Friday
Ray Brecheisen/The Morning Sun
May 7, 2003
Westar Energy workers install transmission lines amid scattered power lines and transformers destroyed by Sunday's tornado
Ray Brecheisen/The Morning Sun
May 7, 2003
Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger surveys tornado damage in Franklin with Rob Lessen, Fox Insurance, Arma, Tuesday.
C. Cottrell/The Morning Sun
May 6, 2003
Northeast High School Principal John Underwood helps custodian Ed Babcock load up food to take to the rescue command post in Franklin Monday. Cooks and custodians volunteered their time to prepare meals for rescue workers and victims, and Red Cross emergency response vehicles delivered the goods as needed. In the background is Northeast student Michael Pommier, helping with the rescue effort since school was closed for the day
Olive L. Sullivan/ The Morning Sun
May 6, 2003
Debi Fager-Maghe, center, points to where her mother-in-law's house once stood as she and her daughter, Amanda Maghe, right, talk with Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius during Sebelius' tour of Franklin Monday.
Ray Brecheisen/The Morning Sun
May 8, 2003
Peyton Kessler, RN, left, administers a tetanus/diphtheria shot to Derek Kaed, who is working to clear tornado debris in Franklin Wednesday. Health department workers were immunizing workers in the field in order to protect them from tetanus infection. At right is Crawford County health officer Janice Goedeke.
Ray Brecheisen/The Morning Sun
May 5, 2003
A large tornado cuts a path of destruction through Crawford County on Sunday east of Girard. Authorities confirm at least four people were killed in Crawford County.
C. Cottrell/The Morning Sun
May 5, 2003
Franklin heavily damaged by tornado
May 9, 2003
Wylie DeGruson displays five kittens he and others rescued Tuesday from a collapsed barn on the farm of his neighbor, Jeff Giacometti, while cleaning up tornado debris Wednesday. The farm is located between Ringo and Franklin, which were both struck by a tornado Sunday evening.
Ray Brecheisen/The Morning Sun
May 13, 2003
Debris lays near a street in Franklin Monday, as Greg Stokes, chairman of Crawford County Rural Water District #7, points out damage left in the wake of a tornado which rolled through Franklin on May 4 to U.S. Rep. Jim Ryun. Ryun, who toured the devastate community to get a better idea of the destruction, hopes to secure more financial aid for tornado victims.
C. Cottrell/The Morning Sun
May 14, 2003
Members of the 891st Army National Guard Engineers,
Company A, based in Pittsburg with detachments from Fort Scott and Coffeyville,
load debris into trucks during cleanup efforts in Franklin on Tuesday.
The unit has been deployed to the area for two weeks to help with ongoing
cleanup efforts following the May 4 tornado that destroyed much of the town.
C. Cottrell/The Morning Sun
C. Cottrell/The Morning Sun
May 16, 2003
Photo by Craig Stokes
May 16, 2003
Photo by Craig Stokes
Joe Maghe takes a break from searching through the ruins of his grandmother's house in Franklin, Kansas. She was killed when a tornado hit the town.
Photograph: Ray Brecheisen, AP/The Pittsburg Morning Sun
The lady on left is Debbie Baugher, Health Department Administrator for Labette County. Joe Cukjati is in the middle, representing the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and on the
right is Janice Godeke, Health Administrator of Crawford County Health Departments. Debbie amd Janice won State awards for service as they worked continously at the medical tent set up near the Emergency Command.