Mayor Mayfield in western Kentucky has been shrunk down to a “matchstick,” said its mayor Kathy O’Nan.
U.S. rescuers rushed to search for survivors Sunday after a tornado killed at least 94 people and left towns in ruins, with emergency crews racing against time to find goods. Dozens of people are still missing from a collapsed factory in Kentucky.
President Joe Biden called the zigzag wave, which included one traveling more than 200 miles (320 km), “one of the largest hurricane outbreaks” in American history.
“It’s a tragedy,” a shaky Biden, who pledged support for the affected states, said in televised comments. “And we still don’t know how many lives were lost and the full extent of the damage.”
With the death toll sure to rise, scores of search and rescue workers have helped stunned citizens across the central US sift through the wreckage of their homes and businesses. in one night.
More than 80 people have died in Kentucky alone, many of them workers at a candle factory in Mayfield, Governor Andy Beshear said Sunday as he raised the confirmed death toll to 10. .
And the forecast is grim. “That number will exceed 100,” Beshear told CNN.
Meanwhile, at least six people died in an Amazon warehouse in Illinois, where it was working the night shift to process pre-Christmas orders.
Emergency crews worked through the night through Sunday at both locations, but the Kentucky governor’s comments suggest that residents of his state should prepare for the worst.
Of the 110 employees who worked Friday night in the candle factory, “about 40 of them were rescued and I’m not sure we’ll see another rescue,” Beshear said.
“I pray for that,” he said, but “it would be an unbelievable miracle” if many of the victims in the factory were found alive.
As Americans grapple with the devastation of the disaster, Pope Francis said he is praying “for the victims of the tornado that hit Kentucky.”
Biden’s Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, during the pause in strained bilateral relations, said his country “shares grief” with those who lost loved ones and expressed hope that the victims quickly overcome the consequences of tornadoes.
The disaster has shaken many Americans, including officials who worked in the aftermath of tornadoes and other major hurricanes.
“This event is the worst, deadliest and deadliest tornado in the history of Kentucky,” Beshear said Saturday, adding he fears “we’re going to lose more than 100 people.”
“The devastation is unlike anything I’ve seen in my life, and it’s hard for me to put into words.”
The head of the US Federal Emergency Management Agency, Deanne Criswell, will arrive in Kentucky on Sunday.
The largest of the tornadoes to crisscross the southern and midwestern United States roared along the ground more than 200 miles (320 km), Beshear said, one of the longest tornadoes, Beshear said. most recorded.
The longest U.S. tornado ever tracked on the ground was a 219-mile storm in Missouri in 1925. It claimed the lives of 695 people.
‘Hope for a miracle’
Mayor Mayfield in western Kentucky has been shrunk down to a “matchstick,” said its mayor Kathy O’Nan.
“There’s always hope” for survivors among the missing, O’Nan told NBC Sunday. “We hope for a miracle in the coming days.”
The town of 10,000 is described by officials as “groundless”, and seems post-apocalyptic: city blocks are razed; historic houses and buildings were smashed to pieces; the trunk is stripped of branches; Overturned car in the field.
Some Christmas decorations can still be seen by the roadside.
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.
During one show of hurricane force, when the wind derailed a 27-car train near Earlington, Kentucky, one blew 75 yards up a hill and another made landfall on a house. No one got hurt.
Died in many states
Reports put the total number of tornadoes across the region at around 30.
At least 14 people were killed in other states affected by the storm, including six at Amazon’s Illinois facility.
Four people were killed in Tennessee, two in Arkansas, while Missouri recorded two deaths. The tornado also touched Mississippi.
Biden said he has plans to visit affected areas.
Amazon workers trapped
At Amazon’s warehouse in Edwardsville, southern Illinois, about 100 workers are believed to have been trapped inside.
“We’ve identified 45 employees who got out of the building safely … and six people died,” Edwardsville Fire Chief James Whiteford told reporters.
However, he said the operation had shifted from rescue to “just focusing on recovery”, raising fears the fees would rise.
Amazon chief Jeff Bezos said he was “heartbroken” by the deaths.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and was automatically generated from the feed provided.)
