Severe storms that swept through the US states of Missouri, Kentucky and Virginia left more than 25 people dead, laying waste to local communities and cutting off electricity to nearly 200,000, authorities said on Saturday.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said on X at least 18 people had died in the storms on Friday night, while local officials in Missouri said another seven were dead there.
Two people were also killed by falling trees in Virginia, local media reported.
Photo: AFP
Jamie Burns, 38, who lives with her husband and son in a trailer home in the town of London, Kentucky, had to seek shelter in the basement of her sister’s brick house while the storm destroyed 100 to 200 houses in the area.
“Things that have been here longer than I have, things that have been here for 30-plus years are just flat,” Burns said in a phone interview, her voice quavering.
“It’s wild, because you’ll look at one area and it’s just smashed ... totally flattened, like, not there anymore,” she said.
Drone footage published by local media showed scenes of devastation in London, with houses leveled and reduced to splinters and tree trunks standing bare, completely shorn of branches.
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,” Burns said.
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.
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 last night and today.
Asked Saturday by a reporter whether it was the worst storm ever to hit St Louis, Mayor Cara Spencer replied: “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 about 5,000 buildings damaged.
While there were warnings ahead of the severe weather — Beshear had protectively declared a state of emergency on Friday — the death toll might raise questions about whether sharp cuts by the administration of US President Donald Trump have left US National Weather Service (NWS) forecasting teams dangerously understaffed.
An estimated 500 of the 4,200 NWS employees have been fired or taken early retirement this year, the Washington Post said.
The US saw the second-highest number of tornadoes on record last year with about 1,800, trailing only 2004, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
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