In Kentucky alone, 70 deaths were reported, many of them workers in a candle factory, and at least 6 died in Illinois in an Amazon warehouse.
Dozens of devastating tornadoes tore through five US states Friday through Saturday night, leaving more than 80 people dead in what President Joe Biden said was “one of the biggest storm outbreaks” in history.
“It’s a tragedy,” Biden lamented in shock in televised comments. “And we still don’t know how many lives were lost or the full extent of the damage.”.
As night fell on Saturday, dozens of search and rescue officials helped citizens clear debris from their homes and businesses in search of more survivors.
In Kentucky alone, 70 deaths were reported, many of them workers in a candle factory, and at least six died in Illinois when an Amazon warehouse was razed that processed Christmas orders.
The western Kentucky city of Mayfield was “ground zero” for the storm, a scene of “massive devastation,” a senior local official said early Saturday.
The small city of 10,000 inhabitants seemed apocalyptic: entire blocks razed; houses and historic buildings demolished and reduced to rubble; tree trunks stripped of their branches; overturned cars.
“It’s indescribable, the level of devastation is unlike anything I’ve seen,” Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said from Mayfield.
“This will be, I think, the deadliest tornado system Kentucky has ever seen.”
Beshear said it was clear that the death toll in his state was already “above 70” and could end “exceeding 100 before the day is out.”
About the candle factory whose roof collapsed, he said: “We are going to lose many lives in that building. It is a terrible situation ”.
Forty people have been rescued from the factory, but it would be “a miracle if someone else were found alive,” Beshear said.
The CNN news network issued a moving plea posted on Facebook by one of the factory employees.
“We are trapped, please everyone, get us some help.”asks a woman with a shaky voice when she can hear one of her co-workers complaining in the background.
“We’re at the candle factory in Mayfield… Please, all of you. Pray for us ”. The woman, Kyanna Parsons-Perez, was rescued after being immobilized under a water source.
‘Like a bomb’
“When I went to town hall this morning, it looked like a pile of matches,” Mayfield Mayor Kathy O’Nan told CNN.
“Our downtown churches have been destroyed, our courthouse … is destroyed, our water system is not working right now, there is no power.”
“It looks like a bomb had exploded”Alex Goodman, a 31-year-old Mayfield resident, told AFP.
David Norseworthy, a 69-year-old builder in Mayfield, said the storm blew away his roof and porch while the family hid in a shelter. “We never had something like this here,” he acknowledged to AFP.
In a parking lot in downtown Mayfield, volunteers were collecting warm clothes, diapers and water for residents.
The tornado that struck Mayfield swept overland for more than 200 miles (321 km) in Kentucky and 227 miles (365 km) in total, Beshear reported.
Previously, the longest US ground tornado ever recorded occurred with a 219-mile (352 km) storm over Missouri in 1925. At the time, 695 lives were claimed.
A demonstration of the incredible power of the storms came Saturday, when winds derailed a train near Earlington, Kentucky, and one of the vehicle’s 27 carriages rose nearly 70 meters and landed on a house. No one was hurt.
‘Pretty destroyed’
Reports put the total number of tornadoes in the region at around 30.
At least 13 people died in other states hit by the storm, bringing the total to 83.
In Arkansas, at least one person was killed when a tornado “practically destroyed” a Monette nursing home, a county official said. Another person died elsewhere in the state.
Four died in Tennessee, while one died in Missouri.
Biden pledged all assistance from the federal government and announced that he plans to travel to the affected areas.
Scientists have warned that climate change is making storms more powerful and frequent.
Biden said that while the impact of these particular storms was not yet clear, he cautioned that “we all know that everything is most intense when the weather is warming, everything.”
The American Red Cross reported that it was working to provide aid in all five states.
Beshear declared a state of emergency in Kentucky and anticipated that dozens of search and rescue officers were deployed along with the national guard.
More than half a million homes in various states were without power, according to PowerOutage.com.
Amazon workers trapped
When another tornado struck an Amazon warehouse in the southern Illinois town of Edwardsville, about 100 workers were trapped inside.
Hundreds of workers rushed to rescue the trapped employees.
“We identified 45 people who managed to get out of the building safely, one was sent by air to be treated at a regional hospital and there were six deaths,” Edwardsville City Fire Chief James Whiteford told reporters.
Amazon spokesman Richard Rocha said the safety of its workers was the company’s “top priority.” (i)
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