Night of devastating tornadoes likely kills more than 100 in Kentucky
(VOVWORLD) - At least 100 people were feared dead in Kentucky after a swarm of tornadoes tore a 200-mile path through the US Midwest and South, demolishing homes, levelling businesses and setting off a scramble to find survivors beneath the rubble.
 The scene of a train derailment is pictured after a devastating outbreak of tornadoes ripped through several US states in Earlington, Kentucky, US, December 11, 2021. (Photo:REUTERS) |
The powerful twisters, which weather forecasters say are unusual in cooler months, destroyed a candle factory and the fire and police stations in a small town in Kentucky, ripped through a nursing home in neighboring Missouri, and killed at least six workers at an Amazon warehouse in Illinois.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said the collection of tornadoes was the most destructive in the state's history. He said about 40 workers had been rescued at the candle factory in the city of Mayfield, which had about 110 people inside when it was reduced to a pile of rubble.
Beshear said 189 National Guard personnel have been deployed to assist with the recovery. The rescue efforts will focus in large part on Mayfield, home to some 10,000 people in the southwestern corner of the state where it converges with Illinois, Missouri and Arkansas.
Saying the disaster was likely one of the largest tornado outbreaks in US history, President Joe Biden on Saturday approved an emergency declaration for Kentucky.
He told reporters he would be asking the Environmental Protection Agency to examine what role climate change may have played in fuelling the storms, and he raised questions about the tornado warning systems.