Greensburg family starts over in Marion
Staff reporter
Imagine the ending of a typical spring day in the Midwest.
The children returned home from a day at school. Mom serves dinner, the dishes are washed, and the family is settling in for the evening.
All of sudden, there is a gust of wind. Lightening streaks across the sky, and then, hail. The tornado sirens sound in your hometown.
Hurry! Grab the kids. Run to the basement. No time to think — just get to the basement.
In what seems like an instant, your world as you know it, is gone. Never to be the same again.
It did happen — just like that — to the Chris and Lanissa Hammond family of Greensburg. And that spring day was May 4.
Just like that — their home, vehicles, schools, neighborhoods, town was gone.
This is the Hammonds' story of loss and new beginnings.
The storm
The Hammonds lived on the east side of Greensburg, right behind Greensburg High School.
Chris works for Union Pacific out of Herington and Wichita, and has for 11 years. Lanissa worked part-time as a secretary and Head Start worker, and cared for the couple's three children — Lakisha, 14, Zach, 13, and Colton, 11.
Chris' parents also lived in Greensburg. The Hammonds are a close-knit family living in a close-knit community of 1,800 people.
Chris called his wife at about 9:10 p.m., as he always did right before he goes aboard the train.
His wife told him there was a tornado seven miles south of town.
"I told her not to worry and it would miss Greensburg," Chris said. "Boy, was I wrong."
Lanissa told Chris the wind was picking up and there was glass blowing around. And then the phone went dead.
It would be three hours before the husband and father of three would hear from his family.
Zach was with his grandparents. Lanissa, Laskisha, and Colton were at home. Chris was at work in Herington.
"My friend Luke and I saw lightning," Colton recalled. "It started hailing and then raining and then the tornado sirens went off."
It was 9:30 p.m.
Luckily the family had a basement.
"I put the kids under the stairs in the basement," Lanissa said.
At 9:45, the EF5 tornado slammed into the small Kansas town, pretty much leveling everything in its path.
"We could hear lots of wind
About 20 minutes later, the sirens quit blaring because the electricity was off, and it was black — pitch black.
"I peeked outdoors, and figured the storm had passed," Lanissa said.
Rain and hail continued to pound on what was left of the Hammond home. Lanissa soon discovered that the roof of the house now was inside of the house, on the basement stairs. The entire house was exposed. She tried to climb out of the basement but the stairs were slick with moisture from the storm.
Lanissa tried to call for help on her cell phone. No service.
"I didn't realize how bad it really was," she said. The walls were still there but the roof was completely gone.
Somehow, she got herself and her children out of the basement and to the main floor of the house only to discover they couldn't get out of the unstable structure because of debris.
The doors were blocked.
"I climbed out of the kitchen window," Lakisha said, to try and get help for her family.
About that time, the wind began to blow again and the family feared the storm had returned.
"I was trying to get back in through the window," Lakisha said. Frantic to save her daughter, Lanissa pulled her daughter back through the window. In the process, Lakisha severely cut her arm.
The family fumbled through the dark and found their way back to the safety under the stairs in the basement until the wind died down. By this time, Lakisha was in trouble. Her arm had a deep cut and was bleeding profusely.
Ten to 15 minutes later, Lanissa decided it was safe for her family to come out of the basement and get help.
"We saw flashlights outside of the house," Lanissa said. "We yelled at the people."
Three or four men helped the family get out of the rubble that once was their home. They took refuge at a neighbor's house because it still had a roof and was dry inside.
The family and the neighbor retreated to the neighbor's basement when fear of another tornado with wind and rain came through what was left of Greensburg.
During this time, Zach and his grandparents arrived and it was a happy reunion, knowing they were safe.
"We didn't know the whole town was destroyed until they came to the house," Lanissa said. She had assumed that the tornado had only hit her neighborhood or one area of town, and the rest of the town was all right.
During this time, Chris heard that a tornado had hit Greensburg. He told his boss in Herington that he had to get home. He drove to Wichita to get his car and then headed to Greensburg.
Chris was almost to Pratt when Lanissa finally got through on the cell phone.
"My first thought when I heard Lanissa's voice was 'Thank God'," Chris said.
Feeling relieved was an understatement. Chris had been so consumed with worry about his family that he felt nauseous.
There was a lot of activity in Greensburg. People running house to house, checking on residents. Workers from other counties already had arrived.
The family had a tearful reunion at the Dillon's parking lot. Chris' parents had arrived shortly before Chris and it was decided they all would go back to Wichita to stay.
The Dillon's parking lot was a madhouse, so the family decided to have Lakisha treated in Wichita. Four stitches later, the teen's arm would heal in a couple of weeks.
The family stayed in Wichita, not to return for three days until officials allowed residents back in.
By this time, the debris became rain-soaked. Whatever was salvageable right after the storm, no longer was worth saving.
"We just sat in the car and cried," Lanissa said, when they saw their house for the first time after the storm.
It was difficult to see their home and everything in it destroyed. Everything was covered in insulation, debris, and water.
"I did manage to get some photos and dishes," Lanissa said. Otherwise, all of their belongings, clothing, furniture, and heirlooms were gone.
Lanissa said it was particularly difficult to see her in-laws' house.
"We spent a lot of time there. They had everything 'just so'," she said.
Most homeowners don't know how good their insurance is until it's used. For the Hammonds, they were fortunate. Just a few days after the storm, they had a check from their insurance company and were able to replace their belongings.
Moving to Marion was 'meant to be'
With check in hand, the Hammonds decided Marion was a good place to start over. Located close to Herington and Wichita, they figured they were in the middle for Chris' job and close to Lanissa's parents.
For the children, it's been difficult. There was no time for good-byes, not even time to finish the school year.
Lakisha, who will be an eighth grader, had just made the cheerleading squad for the next school year. She was to participate in a league track meet in Mullinville. One of 15 students in her seventh grade class, she doesn't know for sure how many will return to Greensburg.
"There's nothing there," she said sadly.
The boys are now playing outside their new home and enjoying another spring day in Kansas.
"It's been tough on all of them," Lanissa said.
After all, Greensburg was their town. Chris was born and raised there. Except for about five years in Herington, the family had always lived in Greensburg.
And now they are in a new town, a different house, and without any of their belongings that make a house a home.
The family has had some bright spots in their experience.
Chris' employer gave him a 30-day leave to help relocate his family and get their affairs back in order.
The family was able to locate and close on the purchase of a home within three days.
The minister who baptized Chris and married Chris and Lanissa is Carl Helm of Marion Christian Church.
"It's like we were meant to be in Marion," Chris said.
Positive attitude
No stranger to starting over, the family lost their home and possessions 10 years ago in a house fire but this time, it's not just them trying to put the pieces together. It's the whole town.
Since moving to Marion, the family is adjusting.
The children have visited the schools and met some other children. The boys are signed up to play summer baseball. The parents are doing everything they can to bring normalcy back to their lives.
Chris' parents, Stewart and Virginia Hammond, currently are living in Larned but are considering following their son and his family to Marion.
The Hammonds' three cats survived the storm and have moved with their owners.
There are times when sadness is evident on their faces and tears come.
"We've talked about it with the kids," Lanissa said.
It's a grieving process. Everybody has to work through it their own way and in their own time. There will be sad days and happy days.
Soon, there will be new memories, new friends, and a routine that will bring comfort and security to this young family.
Since they moved a few weeks ago to Marion, they have felt welcomed and comfortable.
"Everyone has been great," Lanissa said.
Chris echoed her sentiments. "There are really nice people in this town."
So, does the family need anything?
"We're doing all right. I can't think of anything we need right now," Lanissa said.
While sitting in her comfortable home on Denver Street with a roof over her head, food in the cupboard, and her family together, Lanissa said she feels guilty.
"There are a lot of people (in Greensburg) who aren't as fortunate as we are," she said, and quickly added that if this type of disaster should occur again, she would be willing to go and help, any way she could.
