Dozens of people were feared dead, and communities across the Midwest and South were digging through rubble on Saturday after a string of unseasonably powerful storms and tornadoes swept across six states overnight.
Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky said that at least 70 had been killed, and the state’s death toll could increase to more than 100. The state was hit by four tornadoes, he said, including one that stayed on the ground for more than 200 miles.
In Mayfield, Ky., about 110 people had huddled inside a candle-making factory when a tornado ripped through it. About 40 people were rescued, but Mr. Beshear said he believed “dozens” had been killed there. At a news briefing on Saturday, shaken local officials said they were struggling to comb through the debris amid blocked roads and lost water and electrical service.
“This has been the most devastating tornado event in our state’s history,” Mr. Beshear said at the briefing. “The level of devastation is unlike anything I have ever seen.”
Other states were also hit hard. Officials said that at least six people had been killed at an Amazon warehouse in Illinois, four had died in Tennessee and two had died in Arkansas.
The storms — dark and immense funnel clouds that roared across the nighttime landscape — obliterated homes, churches and businesses, set buildings on fire and knocked a train with 28 empty rail cars from its tracks, leaving unearthly scenes of destruction.
In Mayfield, among the hardest-hit communities, the...
Read Full Story: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/12/11/us/tornadoes-midwest-south
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