Kansas State University - Royal Purple Yearbook (Manhattan, KS)

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■1 The day after the tornado, Knsti Pottroff ' s brother-m-law, Ryan Engle, goes through the remains of her house. Pottroff. Milier Ranch resident, and her 16-year- old son were trapped in their basement for more than one hour until local firefighters were able to rescue them, Jerry Snyder, director of fire services, said the tornado affected three mam areas of Manhattan - Miller Ranch, Amherst Avenue and West Anderson Avenue — destroying 35 homes, leaving 45 with major damage, 157 with minor damage and 66 effected. We first responded to the 911 calls. Snyder said, then our first responsibility was rescue. DVD significant ' numbIrs ' ' Challenge Course destroyed .25 400 Million in damages, $5 million deductible from insurance o Buildings effected by the storm Bottles of water and cans of soda pulled from Bramlage Coliseum during New Student Orientation and Enrollment 15 Housing and Dnmig staff members put 700 sack lunches together last minute during New Student Orientation and Enrollment Years since the last tornado in Manhattan 25 Trees replanted off CLiflm Road and Mid-Campus Drive Trees lost out of 5,000 went back to campus the next day and said he was begin repairing the damages. We had quite a number surprised by the debris and damage he liad missed the of peciple ni the t ' aciHties area who Hterally became night before. great leaders and, indeed, great heroes because of their There were three things he said that will always leadership m leading K-State to a total and complete stick out in his mind about his tornado experience: the cleanup ot our campus. crane spinning south of the Union, his ears popping Wefild said although students who were m as glass shattered and the cold rush of winci that swept Manhattan experienced the damage and debris on through the engineering complex. The Aftermath Damage was assessed and cleanup began within an hour of the storm ' s activity on campus. Ground crews worked around the clock to make campus accessible for summer classes that would begin again after a day of reprieve. Although some debris still covered the majority of the north end of campus, students went campus, for others who were away for the summer, walking on campus m August was no ditterent than 111 May. Here we are 60 days later, and 7(1 major buildings on campus have been powerwashed from top to bottom. he said. Anderson Hall has not been this clean since ISSl . I knew that K-State could bounce back c]uickly. It is like Moses splitting the Red Sea. back to classes, orientation and enrollment moved back We have basically cleaned up and restored the campus to the Union and regular activities resumed. We immediately implemented an action plan on June 11, Wefald said. Our facilities staff and administrators in Anderson Hall took charge, and we had people immeciiately working with roofing subcontractors, window subcoiitractt)rs, painting subcontractors, to come in immediately and assess the damage and, more importantly, to immediately in about 60-65 da ' s. I do not know if there is another college campus m America that could ha e been cleaned up and restored in 60 days. As of August 21, all you have to do is go out and look at the K-State campus, Wetald said. It is cleaner and more beautiful than e ' er before. It is the result ot K-State teamwork and pride. Wc rolled up our sleeves and we got the |ob done. Period. Amen. CuHxlniglit. Tornadci 25

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Continued from page 23 In the Midst While he listened to coliiuin iiuisie on hi headphones on the third-floor computer lab of Rathbone Hall, Andrew Dickson, junior m mechanical engineering, had no idea a line of storms was headed toward Manhattan. I had my music up pretty loud just listening to it, and m first luinie -ork assignments were due the next day, so I was prett - intently focused on that, he said. All of a sudden, m the background I heard some noise. I didn ' t think about it and started Hstening to my music again. I then started listening more and more, and I realized it was sirens. Dickson quickly logged onto weather.com. and as he refreshed the Web page, a tornado warning for the town came up. He quickly packed up his things and went to the coffee shop area on the mam floor to watch the Weather Channel. As students and conmaunm- members gathered dowiistairs, Dickson and four others decided to get a closer look at the storm. Together they went to the engineering complex courrv ' ard and watched for signs of the storm. There was a decent amount of lii;htning, but at first we didn ' t really notice much, he said. Then one ot them pointed out that the crane being used for the construction (of the parking garage) was rotating at the top, and It rotated a full two and a half times while I was out there. It began raining, the lighting increased and the wind and rain changed directions, Dickson said. It picked up a lot, and we realized we needed to get the hell out of there, he said. All of usjust started running toward the basement, and we got there just m time. Right as we were going down, you could just hear glass breaking, your ears popped and you could feel this huge rush of wind coming through the building. After waiting for the storm to blow over, Dickson ' s group went upstairs to explore the damage. With the threat ot a second tornado, the group went back downstairs to wait out the storm, but it never came. He ventured upstairs to see exactly where the tornado hit, took a tew photos on his cell phone and gained the courage to walk outside to assess his car. Dickson said being m the middle of the storm was an eye-opening experience and showed him ]ust how much societv- is at the mercy of mother nature. He 24 Student Life

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of Diversity By Tamara Salisbury Community Cultural Harmony Week celebrated its 20th year Sept. 21-26. Candi Hironaka, co-chair and associate director of the School of Leadership Studies, said the slogan Twenty Years and Still Moving Forward meant that though great progress had been made over the years, the work continues as the process was truly a journey of learning and growing. Formerly Racial Ethnic Harmony Week, Community Cultural Harmony Week was founded after a Puerto Rican group rented the Bushwacker ' s Club in Aggieville to celebrate the feast day of San Juan in June 1987. Employees of the club hung signs referring to San Juan in obscene language. The case was eventually taken to the state attorney general ' s office, where a ruling in favor of the club was decided. Each of us holds part of the solution to making our communities more inclusive and accepting places for each member, Hironaka said. We never stop growing as learning is a life-long process — and adventure. With Roots of Rhythm, Rev Patty Brown-Burnett and Elizabeth Teague. alumnae, perform as part of the International Day of Peace Sep t 21 We have made great progress over the years, and I have much hope with the next generation, Candi Hironaka. co-chair and associate director of the School of Leadership Studies, said. Molt Bmter v n ' 26 Student .