US Tornadoes: Severe storms, tornadoes kill at least 27 in Missouri, Kentucky and Virginia
Entire neighbourhoods have been “totally flattened”, with vision showing hundreds of homes reduced to splinters.
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At least 27 people are dead after severe storms and tornadoes swept through the US states of Missouri, Kentucky and Virginia as shocking new images reveal the raw drstruction.
Entire blocks have been “totally flattened” as the deadly storm cut off electricity to nearly 200,000, according to authorities said Saturday.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said on X at least 18 people had died in the storms Friday night, while local officials in Missouri said another seven were dead there.
Two people were also killed by falling trees in Virginia, according to local media.
Shocking aerial photos, including some provided by London, Kentucky Mayor Randall Weddle show the damage from severe weather event.
One such photo shows a distinct line of flattened homes with little more than rubble left in its wake.
On Facebook, Mayor Weddle said, “Debris is scattered for up to three miles past the golf course, a stark reminder of the storm’s power.”
The Mayor earlier alerted residents to “Please take this seriously! Take cover London” as the storm bore down on his community.
Jamie Burns, 38, who lives with her husband and son in a trailer home in the Kentucky town of London described seeking shelter in the basement of her sister’s brick house while the storm destroyed 100 to 200 houses nearby.
“Things that have been here longer than I have, things that have been here for 30-plus years are just flat,” Ms Burns told AFP.
“It’s wild, because you’ll look at one area and it’s just smashed... totally flattened, like, not there anymore.”
Drone footage published by local media showed scenes of devastation in London, with houses levelled and reduced to splinters and tree trunks standing bare, completely shorn of branches.
Governor Beshear added that more than 100,000 people have been left without power in the state, and five counties have declared a state of emergency.
Eastern Kentucky, an area historically known for its coal mines, is one of the poorest regions in the country.
“A lot of us live in manufactured homes that aren’t safe for tornado weather,” Ms Burns added.
‘One of the worst storms’
In Missouri, five people were killed in the major city of St. Louis, in what authorities said was one of the worst storms in its history, and two in Scott County, the State Highway Patrol said in a statement to AFP.
More than 80,000 people were left without power and three shelters were opened in the area, the statement added. More severe weather was forecast for Sunday night and Monday.
St. Louis, Mayor Cara Spencer told media, “I would describe this as one of the worst storms — absolutely. The devastation is truly heartbreaking.”
She said 38 people in the city were injured and some 5,000 buildings damaged.
In one St. Louis neighbourhood, a church was heavily damaged, according to CBS footage, and rescue workers continued to treat victims near the building Saturday morning.
“It’s horrific for a tornado to come through here and cause this much damage to the residents and also to the church,” Derrick Perkins, a pastor at the Centennial Christian Church, told CBS.
”Our hearts are broken.”
Bruce Madison, who also works at the church, said the community was coming together in the face of the tragedy.
“Right now, we’re just praying for... everybody that they’re trying to find right now.”
On X, Martha Husain posted footage of the moment the top floor of her daughter’s St. Louis apartment block was torn to shreds by the winds.
Resident of the building in the floor below, Eric Wang, responded stating he was woken from a nap by “pool chairs hitting my window” which he initially though was hail.
“I’m pretty much the penthouse top suite now,” he said.
The United States saw the second-highest number of tornadoes on record last year with nearly 1,800, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), trailing only 2004.
- with AFP
Originally published as US Tornadoes: Severe storms, tornadoes kill at least 27 in Missouri, Kentucky and Virginia
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