The western Kentucky town of Mayfield had been turned into a “matchbox,” said its mayor, Cathy O’Nan.
US rescue teams search for survivors on Sunday after a tornado killed at least 94 people and ravaged towns, with emergency teams racing against time to find dozens still missing from a collapsed Kentucky factory Can you
President Joe Biden called the wave of twisters, which traveled more than 200 miles (320 kilometers), one of the “largest” hurricane outbreaks in US history.
“It’s a tragedy,” said a shaken Biden in televised comments, promising support for the states affected. “And we still don’t know how many people lost their lives and the full extent of the damage.”
As the death toll soared, search and rescue officials sifted through the rubble of their homes and businesses overnight to help stunned citizens in America’s heartland.
More than 80 people have died in Kentucky alone, many of them workers at a candle factory in Mayfield, state Governor Andy Beshear said on Sunday as he confirmed 10 deaths.
And the forecast was grim. “That number is going to be over 100,” Beshear told CNN.
Meanwhile, at least six died at an Amazon warehouse in Illinois, where they were on orders to process the night shift before Christmas.
Emergency workers worked at both locations from night to Sunday, but gloomy remarks from the governor of Kentucky suggested that residents of his state should remain in a worst-case scenario.
Beshear said that of the 110 workers working Friday night at the candle factory, “about 40 of them have been rescued and I’m not sure we’re going to see another rescue.”
“I pray for it,” he said, but “it will be an incredible miracle” if more factory victims are found alive.
As Americans mourned the enormity of the disaster, Pope Francis said he was praying “for the victims of the tornado in Kentucky”.
Biden’s Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin took a break from strained bilateral ties, saying his country “shares in the grief” of those who lost loved ones and expressed hope that victims can quickly overcome the tornado’s consequences.
The disaster has shocked many Americans, including officials who have worked in the aftermath of tornadoes and other major storms.
“This event is the worst, most devastating, deadliest tornado in Kentucky history,” Beshear said Saturday, adding that he feared “we will lose more than 100 people.”
“The devastation is unlike anything I’ve seen in my life, and I have trouble putting it into words.”
The head of the US Federal Emergency Management Agency, Dean Criswell, was to arrive in Kentucky on Sunday.
The largest tornado among the swarms that smashed through the U.S. South and Midwest fell to the ground for more than 200 miles (320 kilometers), Beshear said, one of the longest on record.
Missouri in 1925 had a 219-mile hurricane, the longest US tornado ever recorded. It took the lives of 695 people.
‘Hope for a miracle’
The western Kentucky town of Mayfield had been turned into a “matchbox,” said its mayor, Cathy O’Nan.
O’Nan told NBC Sunday that “there is always hope” for survivors in the missing. “We expect miracles in the coming days.”
The city of 10,000 was described as “Ground Zero” by the authorities, and appeared after the apocalypse: city blocks flattened; Historic homes and buildings were razed to their slabs; Tree branches were stripped from their branches; Cars overturned in the fields.
Some Christmas decorations could still be seen on the side of the road.
David Norsworthy, a 69-year-old builder in Mayfield, said the storm blew up their roof and front porch while the family hid in a shelter.
“We’ve never had anything like this here,” he told AFP.
In a display of the power of the storm, when a 27-car train derailed near Arlington, Kentucky, one car flew 75 yards down a hill and another hit a home. No one got injured.
Deaths in many states
The report puts the total number of tornadoes in the entire region at around 30.
At least 14 people were killed in other hurricane-affected states, including six at an Amazon facility in Illinois.
Four were killed in Tennessee, two in Arkansas, while two deaths were recorded in Missouri. Tornadoes also knocked in Mississippi.
Biden said he planned to travel to the affected areas.
Amazon employees stranded
About 100 workers are believed to be trapped inside, at an Amazon warehouse in the southern Illinois city of Edwardsville.
“We have identified 45 personnel who made it out of the building safely … and six people were killed,” Edwardsville Fire Chief James Whiteford told reporters.
But he said the operation had changed from rescue to “focus only on recovery”, fearing the toll would rise.
Amazon chief Jeff Bezos said he was “heartbroken” over the deaths.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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