US Tornadoes: More than 80 people were killed in the US state of Kentucky alone.
Mayfield:
US President Joe Biden declared a major disaster in Kentucky on Sunday night after the state was hit by a series of violent tornadoes that have killed at least 94 people and flattened towns across the Midwest. West.
At the state governor’s request, Biden upgraded the previous emergency declaration to a “major disaster,” allowing additional federal aid to be channeled into recovery efforts.
He previously called the rare end-of-season spiral outbreak that hit the central US over the weekend “one of the largest hurricane outbreaks” in US history.
While emergency workers continue to desperately search for survivors, federal and local officials have warned that the death toll, currently 94, could still rise.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said carcass dogs were still searching for the body.
“The first thing we have to do is grieve together, and we’ll do that before we rebuild,” Beshear said at an afternoon news conference.
More than 80 people have died in Kentucky alone, many of them workers at a candle factory in the devastated town of Mayfield, Beshear said Sunday.
“That number will exceed 100,” he told CNN.
Later in the day, the governor said the plant’s owner believes more workers have been identified and it would be “pretty amazing” if the death toll were adjusted, but he stressed that he does not. can verify that information.
“Remember, we’re still looking for bodies. We have scavengers in towns where they shouldn’t be,” said Beshear.
At least six people died in an Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville, southern Illinois, where they were working the night shift processing pre-Christmas orders.
Emergency crews worked through the night through Sunday at both locations, and agents from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Red Cross volunteers were on the scene. in Kentucky.
But Edwardsville fire chief James Whiteford told reporters the operation had shifted from rescue to “just focusing on recovery”, raising fears the death toll would rise.
Four people were killed in Tennessee and two in Arkansas, while Missouri recorded two deaths. The tornado also touched Mississippi.
‘Unlike anything I’ve seen’
Emergency crews are helping stunned citizens across the area clear the debris.
David Norsworthy, a 69-year-old builder in Mayfield, said the storm blew off his roof and front porch while the family hid in a shelter.
“We’ve never had anything like it here,” he told AFP.
Pastor Stephen Boyken of the House Secretary told AFP.
“People come with pictures, birthmarks – they talk about using DNA samples to identify people who have passed away,” he said.
The power of the storm system has placed it in the historic company position.
Hurricane trackers say it sent debris 30,000 feet (9,100 meters) into the air and the deadly Mayfield spiral appears to have broken a nearly century-old record, tracking more than 200 miles above the ground. (320 km).
“The devastation was unlike anything I had ever seen in my life,” Beshear said.
As Americans grapple with the enormity of the disaster, condolences have poured out on Pope Francis saying he is praying “for the victims of the tornado that hit Kentucky.”
Biden’s Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, during a pause in strained bilateral relations, said his country “shares grief” with those who lost loved ones.
‘Hope for a miracle’
Mayor Kathy O’Nan said Mayfield, a town with a population of about 10,000 near the westernmost tip of Kentucky, had become “the matchstick”.
Still, she told NBC on Sunday, “there’s always hope” of finding survivors.
“We hope for a miracle.”
Troy Propes, CEO of the company that owns the candle factory, defended the decision not to close when the storm hit.
“We did all that was supposed to happen,” he told CNN Sunday. “My heart bleeds for everyone.”
Mayfield has been described by officials as “a region of the earth”, and seems post-apocalyptic: city blocks razed, historic homes and buildings smashed to pieces, tree trunks rotting. and the car was lying upside down in the field.
Reports put the total number of tornadoes across the region at around 30.
“This is going to be our new normal. And the effects that we’re seeing from climate change are the crisis of our generation,” FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell told CNN Sunday. .
Biden said he plans to get to the affected areas soon, once his presence won’t interfere with relief efforts.
