30 TORNADOES IN USA: DEATH TOLL COULD REACH 100
DEADLY TORNADOES IN KENTUCKY
A severe weather system, as it was moving across the country, started to spread deadly tornadoes, bringing substantial snowfall across parts of the upper Midwest and western Great Lakes. The vast storm front travelled across the Mississippi basin and parts of the southeastern and midwest US on Friday night, producing more than 30 tornadoes. The tornadoes hit Illinois, Tennessee, Arkansas and Missouri with the biggest tragedy occurring in Kentucky, as the largest and strongest tornado of the four invaded the state.
THE MOST DEVASTATING TORNADO EVENT FOR KENTUCKY. Andy Beshear, Kentucky's Governor, reported that in his state more than 100 people could have lost their lives including his relatives and young children. "This tornado did not discriminate. Anybody in its path, even if they were trying to be safe.", Beshear said on the CBS show "Face the Nation. During the press conference he added that the disasters do not compare with anything else he has seen in his life. The storm started in Arkansas and reached Kentucky and as the Governor said it travelled a distance of more than 365km, when 322 of them were in Kentucky; tornadoes usually cover a distance of about 6 km on average!
Aerial footage of Kentucky shows extent of tornado damage
TRAGEDY IN THE CANDLE FACTORY. A candle factory in the city with 110 employees, was completely destroyed and according to Mayfield Fire Chief Jeremy Crison, now is "a pile of metal and steel and machinery." He added that rescuers had to "crawl over the dead people to reach survivors". The Governor Andy Beshear said he believes "at least dozens" of workers at the candle factory were killed as they were trapped when their roof collapsed due to the strong winds. Officials said that 40 people of the 110 survived. As Beshear said it was not only the site of the tornado's largest loss of life but perhaps the largest cluster of tornado deaths in Kentucky's history.
Violent Tornado up close and personal off Interstate 155 ahead of Caruthersville, MO. Causing destruction in its path. #mowx #tornado #wedges #tornadoes @SimonStormRider pic.twitter.com/mNGRuOgfv3
AMAZON WAREHOUSE. In Illinois, six people were killed when part of the roof of a warehouse of the e-commerce company Amazon collapsed, said the chief of the fire department in Edwardsville, James Whiteford. At least 45 workers managed to escape, while Whiteford pointed out that the search for any other survivors in the wrecks has stopped, as they are now looking only for the dead. "Our hearts are broken by the loss of our colleagues there and our thoughts and prayers are with their families and relatives," Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos wrote on Twitter. About 100 people worked a night shift at the warehouse to prepare Christmas orders.
Furthermore, four people have been found dead in Tennessee, two people were killed in Arkansas and at least one in Missouri.