WESTMORELAND (KSNT) - The tornado damage in Westmoreland doesn't appear to meet the threshold for federal aid, but three federal lawmakers representing the small community went to see for themselves.
U.S. Representative Tracey Mann joined Senators Roger Marshall and Jerry Moran on Friday, as they set foot in the recovering town. They all say they mourn with the town and for the death of 58-year-old Ann Miller.
"Everyone now has all the adrenaline going," Marshall said. "They're out there putting the pieces together, but a month or three from now is when it really hits home when the sorrow, the losses."
Moran says seeing the damage first-hand helps connect him with the community he serves at the national level.
"It's an opportunity here to try to solve people's problems kind of one-on-one," Moran said. "It is just a value for me to know how people respond so that you remain an optimist about the future of Kansas."
While we don't have an exact dollar estimate on the damage, we know it doesn't meet the requirements for federal emergency aid.
"I want to make sure that's true," Moran said. "If things change, then I want to be able to tell the administrator of FEMA that I was there, I saw what happened, I saw the results of what happened. Then I'm a better advocate for this community."
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