FRANKFORT (Kentucky), Dec 11: Nearly 100 people are feared killed when ferocious
tornadoes tore through Kentucky and other US States in central and southern
US since Friday evening through Saturday morning. A state of emergency has been
declared and the National Guards deployed for rescue and relief.
"We believe our death toll from this event will exceed 50 Kentuckians and probably
end up closer to 70 or 100 lost lives (in Kentucky alone)," Governor Andy Beshear
told reporters. "We will make it through this," he added, "We will rebuild,
we are strong, resilient people."
Four tornadoes swept through hundreds of kms from Arkansas to Kentucky. There
were over two dozen more tornadoes reported from the other States. Almost 60,000
Kentuckians had been left without power, Beshear said. The city of Mayfield
had been "devastated," he said. A roof collapse at a candle factory had "resulted
in mass casualties."
Flattened buildings, overturned vehicles and workers scouring rubble for trapped
people spoke of breathtaking damage in some areas, a CNN report said. One of
the most devastated is the southwestern Kentucky city of Mayfield.
Tornado warnings were issued in Arkansas, Illinois, Missouri and Tennessee
also early Friday by the National Weather Service. In Arkansas and Illinois
three people died in building collapses. An Amazon warehouse in western Illinois
and a nursing home in Arkansas were destroyed.
Heavy snow in the Midwest, tornadoes in the South and rain in California were
forecast to affect 35 million Americans. And these were feared to continue for
days.
