TOPEKA ? Gov. Kathleen Sebelius has asked for federal aid to help Douglas and Wyandotte counties recover from the March 12 storms that swept through northeast Kansas.

Sebelius, who declared a state of disaster emergency to aid in response and recovery, sent a letter Tuesday to President Bush asking him to make a presidential disaster declaration for the two counties.

The March 12 storm generated high straight-line “microburst” winds that knocked down large trees, blew out downtown storefront windows, tore off church steeples, snapped numerous power lines and damaged dozens of buildings at Kansas University.

In her request, Sebelius asked for federal aid to restore damaged state and local infrastructure in the two counties and help pay for debris removal.

“We want things returned to normal as quickly as possible for the KU campus and those impacted in these two counties,” Sebelius said in her letter. “I appreciated President Bush’s phone call expressing concerns shortly after the storms and I hope we hear back from our federal partners quickly on this request.”

Sebelius said the preliminary estimate totals more than $5.5 million in damages. More than $5 million of that was in Douglas County.

Preliminary assessments indicated the more severe damage and costs to state and local infrastructure included power lines, utility poles, debris removal, school buildings, vehicle damage and state-owned facilities, according to the governor’s office.

Sebelius’s office said the state and local shares of eligible costs are estimated to exceed $1.4 million.

The governor’s office said initial reports indicated damage to about 60 percent of the buildings on KU’s campus at a cost of more than $4 million.

About 17,000 electric customers were without power in Lawrence after the storm hit the morning of March 12 and more than 6,000 were still without power that evening, according to the governor’s office.

Wyandotte County reported losses to public utilities and school districts and also vehicle damage.