By MIKE CORN

mcorn@dailynews.net

Just as another storm system was preparing to bear down on northwest Kansas, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius signed a disaster declaration for the western half of the state.

The disaster declaration covers 62 counties, and includes all of northwest Kansas. Most of the damage reported to the Kansas Division of Emergency Management comes from northwest Kansas.

But there are huge problems with the damage estimates released with the declaration.

Hays-based Midwest Energy is estimating its damage will amount to $1.2 million, well below the KDEM estimate of $5.25 million.

And the estimate for Western Cooperative Electric will be substantially more than what was being reported.

"That's not even close," Western spokesman Dennis Deines said this morning of the $225,000 that was reported.

Instead, while they still are piecing together damage estimates, Deines said the total should exceed $1 million.

Western lost a portion of a 69,000-volt line in Trego County, along with a string of poles north of Quinter.

Although a number of oil leases are still without power, Deines said they hope to return power to the 20 or so Quinter residents who have been without power since the weekend. A single person served by the Ellis substation remained without power, but Deines said they hope to have him back online today.

Wednesday's declaration clears the way for requesting federal assistance, although that has not yet been done.

Sebelius signed the disaster declaration Wednesday, in the wake of a series of severe storms that -- during the course of four days -- likely accounted for more tornadoes that Kansas is accustomed to seeing during the course of an entire year.

There were so many, in fact, that Jeff Hutton, Dodge City's National Weather Service warning coordination meteorologist, just wrapped up a survey of the expansive area where the storms developed.

"It's kind of overwhelming," said Larry Ruthi, meteorologist in charge of the Dodge City NWS office. "Jeff's driven over 1,100 miles over the last three days tracking these things down."

Because of that, Ruthi said they don't even have an accurate count on the number of tornadoes that might have occurred during the Memorial Day Weekend.

That number, he said, likely will settle somewhere close to 40.

Coupled with the number of tornadoes spotted in forecast areas covered by NWS bureaus in Goodland, Wichita and Grand Island, Neb., it's likely there will have been more tornadoes in that four-day period "than we typically have in a year," Ruthi said.

A typical year for Kansas, he said, would mean anywhere from 60 to 70 tornadoes occurring.

"I'm pretty sure we had more than that," he said.

While they still are trying to determine how many tornadoes occurred in the Dodge City forecast area, Ruthi said there were perhaps six May 22, as many as 24 Friday, another six Sunday and two Monday.

By the time the count is complete, he said, there could be as many as 40 in the Dodge City forecast area alone.

Goodland had eight tornadoes in its forecast area May 22, and another seven Friday -- one of them an EF4, the second strongest tornado possible. It was the first EF4 tornado in the forecast area since 1990.

That tornado formed 8 miles southwest of Quinter, remaining on the ground for 12 miles. Along the way, the tornado -- capable of producing winds gusting up to 200 mph -- destroyed three homes and severely damaged several others.

Typically, the Goodland forecast area only will see 13 tornadoes in any given year.

While electric cooperatives likely will have the greatest damage amounts, there was plenty of damage elsewhere.

Decatur County officials have estimated damage at $2.5 million, much of that at Decatur County Feed Yard north of Oberlin.

County officials still are assessing damage to roads.

In Norton County, where flooding was a big concern, damage is expected to total nearly $500,000. The same estimate is true in the Phillips County area.

Smith County has estimated damage at nearly $1 million.

Sheridan County still is working on a damage estimate but has reported four homes were destroyed and four others had significant damage.

Gove County was perhaps the hardest hit, with about 12 homes either destroyed or with significant damage.

Damage estimates there total $4 million.

Gove County officials already had issued a disaster declaration Friday.

Ellis County reported damage to a number of public roads and the roof of the Ellis High School. Two homes were destroyed and 25 others sustained minor damage.

Although state emergency management officials are reporting that only one home in Ness County was damaged, there was at least one home destroyed and another with serious damage. A third sustained extensive damage.

Missing from the report, however, were damage estimates for Trego County.

There, at least one farm home was destroyed, several unoccupied homes were damaged and a tornado Thursday night overturned campers in WaKeeney. Several other homes and the Trego Community High School sustained damage in that storm as well.