By Njuwa Maina
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A devastating series of tornadoes has hit six US states, killing more than 70 people and leaving a trail of destroyed homes, factories and warehouses along a path that stretches more than 200 miles, local officials said. , in this Saturday.
At least four tornadoes hit the ground overnight in Kentucky, causing significant damage in more than a dozen counties. The first tornado traveled more than 365 km across the state, according to Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear.
The death toll could reach 100, the governor said during a press conference earlier this morning.
“The level of devastation is unlike anything I’ve seen before,” Beshear said. “We were sure that we would lose more than 50 citizens, now I’m sure that number is above 70. In fact, it could end up surpassing 100 by the end of the day.”
According to him, 189 National Guard employees were assigned to help with rescues.
Some of the worst destruction took place in Mayfield, a small town of about 10,000 in the far west of Kentucky, where the state converges with Illinois, Missouri and Arkansas.
About 110 people were inside a candle factory in the area when the tornado passed, knocking the roof down and causing many casualties, Beshear said.
Kyanna Parsons-Perez, who was inside the factory, said the roof collapsed shortly after workers could hear and feel the strong winds and the lighting began to waver.
“We could feel the wind…so we got together and made a little mound,” Parsons-Perez told NBC. “And suddenly it all came crashing down on us.”
Videos and photos posted on social media, but not yet authenticated by Reuters, show buildings in downtown Mayfield reduced to rubble, with cars almost completely buried.
In the first few hours, more than 56,000 people in Kentucky were without power, Beshear said. He declared a state of emergency and deployed dozens of national guards.
These tornadoes originated from a series of storms that occurred during the night, including a supercell that formed in northeastern Arkansas. This storm left Arkansas and Missouri and headed for the states of Tennessee and Kentucky.
“Unfortunately, this produced deadly tornadoes. One of them could have been a long-haul tornado,” said meteorologist Roger Edward of the Storm Prediction Center. “The killer tornado was part of that.”
One person died and five were seriously injured in a 90-room nursing home hit by the tornado in Monette, Arkansas, a small community near the Missouri border, according to Craighead County Judge Marvin Day.
“The tornado hit directly,” Day told Reuters. “We were so blessed that there were no more people killed or injured. It could have been much worse.”
A few miles away, in Leachville, Arkansas, a tornado destroyed a Dollar General store, killing one person and devastating much of downtown, according to Lieutenant Chuck Brown of the Mississippi County Sheriff’s Office in Arkansas.
“It really felt like a train roaring through the city.”
In Illinois, police said there were “confirmed casualties” after the roof collapsed at an Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville on Friday night.
Rescue teams searched the rubble for survivors.
Drone footage showed a chaotic scene during the morning at the depot, with many emergency vehicles around the area and rescue teams with flashlights combing through the rubble.
Apparently, the roof was ripped from the building’s metal frame.
In Tennessee, severe weather has killed at least three people, said Dean Flener, a spokesman for the State Emergency Management Agency. According to Flener, two people died in Lake County and one in Obion County, but there was no information about the circumstances of the deaths.
Shortly after midnight, the weather led to the derailment of a CSX freight train in western Kentucky, although no crew were injured, a company spokesman said.
The National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center said it had received 36 reports of tornadoes hitting Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, Arkansas and Mississippi.
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