From all reports, emergency personnel are doing everything they can to protect the safety and property of people affected by Friday’s deadly tornado in Greensburg.

The tragedy, however, is a tangible reminder of the diminished capacity of the Kansas National Guard to respond to local emergencies because of the personnel and equipment that has been deployed to battle zones in the Mideast.

A representative of the Kansas Adjutant General’s office, which manages the state’s emergency resources, noted the shortage of heavy equipment such as loaders, Humvees and dump trucks that are needed to help clear debris at Greensburg. Some equipment always is committed in other areas, she said, but the war in Iraq has left the state with only about 40 percent of its normal allocation.

Various local and federal emergency response agencies are pitching in to help the recovery effort at Greensburg, but the situation illustrates how the equipment left behind by Kansas troops deployed to Iraq limits the National Guard’s ability to respond to disasters – either natural or manmade – here at home.

Those helping with the relief effort are working long hours and doing their best to help the residents of the devastated area, but the handicap they face because of missing equipment and personnel is a homeland security issue that shouldn’t be ignored.