Some KC residents upset with pace of tornado cleanup

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- More than three months after tornadoes slashed through the Kansas City metro area, some residents and cities are still waiting for help from insurance companies or the federal government.

So far, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has paid almost $1 million to individuals in Wyandotte, Clay and Platte counties for housing assistance, personal property and transportation needs. County and city governments have requested more than $12 million in assistance.

Authorities said as many as 1,900 structures in the metro area were damaged in the May 4 storms. Ralph Dary, 81, of Kansas City, Kan., was the only fatality in northeast Kansas and northwest Missouri.

A three-month recovery isn't unusually long, said Candy Newman, a program specialist with the agency, especially when such a large disaster is concentrated in one area.

But for home and business owners, any delay is frustrating.

"It's hard, and recovery is not moving fast enough for us," said Dana Ribaste, whose house in northern Kansas City was in the tornado's path. "The hardest part is the kids want to know why they can't play in the pool, why their house is broken and why they can't have friends over."

The city has deemed her house dangerous. The top half of her house will have to be rebuilt.

Ribaste is waiting on the insurance check. But she is trying to concentrate on the positives.

"At first, all I could see was bad news; everything was dark," she said. "But now I try to look on the positive side: I get to buy new furniture."

Helen DeSpain won't forget the color of her then-6-month-old daughter's face when she pulled the infant from under debris at her home in Kansas City, Kan.

"Seeing her face, seeing that color -- that blue," DeSpain said. "I still dream about it."

Last week, a bulldozer started excavating the land on the DeSpains' one-acre lot. They plan to rebuild their house themselves -- but not at the same site.

"I wouldn't want to tempt fate twice," DeSpain said. "I feel pretty lucky surviving once, but I don't want the house on the same spot."

In Liberty, the recovery is taking longer than anyone expected, said Steve Anderson, the city's planning and development manager. A total of 286 properties were damaged, 42 of which were considered dangerous.

Jeannie Lash used to operate her business, Country Boutique, out of the 116-year-old building in the square that was torn down after the tornado. She has tried to laugh at her bad luck, but now her insurance company has dropped her.

"They told me they couldn't make up all the money they lost off me," Lash said. She hasn't found a new carrier yet. She is trying to reopen in time for fall.

Lash deals with it by praying, she said.

"God hasn't led me this far to let me down now," she said. "Something good has to come out of this; I'm just ready to find out what it is. It's been a slow recovery -- almost nonexistent -- but I think it will happen eventually. It just better hurry up."

The estimated cost to Liberty after insurance reimbursement is $357,000, City Administrator Patty Gentrup said. The city expects to receive about $303,000 from federal and state funding.

At William Jewell College, officials said classes will be ready to start Sept. 1 despite an estimated $7 million to $10 million in damages. A married student complex has been torn down and one women's residence hall will be closed this school year.

In Northmoor in Platte County, the city's cost is estimated at $170,000, City Clerk Beverly Baker said. Like Liberty, Northmoor still is waiting on reimbursement from FEMA.

About 11 of the city's 150 or so houses were destroyed in the storm. Most owners have decided to rebuild, Baker said, although many are waiting on insurance settlements and building materials.

"But it seems like we're not really getting anywhere," she said. "We just sit back and hold our breath and cross our fingers and wait."

Riverside also hasn't heard from the emergency agency, said Mayor Betty Burch, but the city is expecting some reimbursement. The city's losses are estimated at $240,000.

But recovery is going well, she said.

"We're survivors out here," Burch said. "A tornado hit us, and who knows what might be next. But we're going to make it."