News Headlines

Brownback Measures Oaklawn Recovery Efforts

Reporter: KAKE News

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Nearly a week after a tornado damaged an Oaklawn mobile home park, Gov. Sam Brownback returned to witness recovery efforts.

The governor toured Pinaire Mobile Home Park Sunday, hours after an EF-3 tornado tore through the area. He said there are signs of progress, but more improvements are needed.

“It’s changed, but not fast enough,” Brownback said. “We need to be helping folks.”

Brownback said it appeared the mobile home park’s private land and streets are hindering cleanup efforts.

“I think we need to start to cut through the red tape and do what we can to get this deemed a public street to start moving forward,” Brownback said.

James Kuntz, Pinaire resident said it was comforting to see the governor witness the devastation first-hand.

“A lot of these people don’t have home insurance,” Kuntz said. “We need big equipment to clean this up and we can’t afford that.”

Brownback said the state is working with FEMA to assist with cleanup costs.