Fires Scorch Thousands of Acres in Kansas and Oklahoma.

Meanwhile, in flyover country, 1000's of acres burned in Kansas and Oklahoma, touched off by lightning and fueled by dry winds. Hundreds of farmers and ranchers were forced to shoot hundreds of cattle, either because they were injured or because nothing remained for them to graze upon.

Emergency crews on Tuesday struggled to contain deadly wildfires that have scorched hundreds of square miles of land in four states and forced thousands of people to flee their homes ahead of the wind-whipped flames. The fires were burning in parts of Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Colorado, and warnings that fire conditions were ripe were issued for Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska.

Dirty Jobs star Make Rowe asks: Why is it that we bicoastal bubble dwelling folks have ignored the greatest story of this month from the Great Plains? Are the coastal elite really that consumed with Hollywood that Manhattan Kansas doesn't matter?

Cattle continue to graze right up to the flames of a range fire early Tuesday morning. Numerous cattle were killed by the fires. Wildfires swept by high winds threatened numerous towns across southern Kansas Monday night and Tuesday morning.

The photos and many of the facts in this story are from the Wichita, Kansas Eagle: http://www.kansas.com/news/weather/article136876253.html#storylink=cpy