Kentucky tornadoes: Determined recovery efforts began after tornadoes wreaked havoc, with officials estimating 75% of a Kentucky town has disappeared

Dossett told CNN Sunday: “Absolute devastation is something you can see in a war zone. This is an event where we have residential and commercial properties stripped from the face of the earth. “, Dossett told CNN Sunday.

The list of those missing in Dawson Springs has more than 100 names, a Hopkins County emergency official said Sunday, but they expect most of them to be people who have left town but have not registered.

Nick Bailey, director of emergency management in Hopkins County, said that while rescue efforts continued Sunday, no survivors were pulled from the wreckage.

The town’s death toll rose to 13 Sunday, up from 10 Saturday, Hopkins County Coroner Dennis Mayfield said. The dead ranged in age from 34 to 86 and included two older sisters who lived together and a husband and wife.

“Our morale is down right now, but we’ll be back,” Mayfield said.

Meanwhile, the “hundred families” in the town of nearly 3,000 have no place to stay. “Nearly the entire city has been displaced at this point,” Bailey said.

Bailey said people whose homes are still without electricity can stay in the dark for up to a month.

The American Red Cross has eight shelters established in Kentucky and is providing relief to nearly 200 people, the group’s Kentucky CEO Steven Cunanan said Sunday.

Beshear said at a news conference Sunday afternoon, a number of state parks have also been opened to help families who have lost everything.

“We’re bringing them in,” Beshear said. “We’re trying to make sure people stay for two weeks, so they don’t have to worry about tomorrow. They can worry about finding their loved ones, making sure their kids have enough to eat.”

Cunanan said the Red Cross’s main goal is to provide food and care to people forced to leave their homes due to tornadoes. “We have to help them get their lives back on track and get them back to feeling normal again.”

The emotional state of your life being affected by a natural disaster is also an important consideration, says Cunanan. “I’ve seen that in every disaster I’ve been through. They’re shocked. They don’t know where to turn.”

Rescuers can’t go door-to-door because ‘there’s no door,’ Kentucky governor says

For Beshear, the devastation in Dawson Springs was close to home because it was his father’s hometown, but the inclement weather affected a large swath of his state.

In Kentucky alone, the death toll is at least 80 and is expected to exceed 100, Beshear told CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday. Eighteen counties in the state are reporting damage, Beshear said, noting a monster tornado was more than 227 miles above ground, 200 of which were in Kentucky.

“I have towns that are gone – I mean, gone,” he told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “I mean you go door to door to check on people and see if they’re okay. There’s no door… it’s devastating.”

Beshear told NBC News he expects other challenges ahead, due to power outages and winter weather conditions, and said some morgues in the state may not be able to meet current needs.

“One of our challenges is that we’re losing so many people on this, most of our morgues aren’t big enough, so our coronators from across the state are coming in,” Beshear said.

According to Dossett, the director of emergency management, there is a “major recovery effort” focused largely on Dawson Springs, Graves, Mayfield and Bowling Green.

President Joe Biden approved a major disaster declaration for Sunday night Kentucky, the White House said. The move allows grants and low-cost loans to be brought in for home repairs and housing in the affected areas.

“Because housing, we know, is going to be such a huge demand, we’re sending one of our housing experts over tomorrow to kick-start our strategy on how we can help in the long run, said Deanne Criswell, administrator of FEMA.

Beshear told CNN he plans to visit the Mayfield candle factory that collapsed during the storm, which hit as employees were working to meet the demands of the busy holiday season.

A spokesman for Mayfield Consumer Products, Bob Ferguson, told CNN.

“We know for certain that more than 90 employees escaped their lives on the night of the tornado,” Ferguson said.

“It would be a miracle if someone alive was found in the rubble of the collapsed candle factory,” said Beshear. “There’s at least 15 feet of metal with cars on it, tanks of corrosive chemicals there.”

The governor said he heard the facility had an emergency plan in place.

“Most of the workers have gone to what is supposed to be the safest place. But when you see the damage this storm has caused not just there but across the region, I’m not sure there’s a plan that’s going to work.” “. he say.

As officials focus their attention on the need for an immediate recovery, forecasters are watching for the possibility of another spell of severe weather in the region.

Although it’s still early days, some tornado-affected areas will experience similar weather patterns this week, with a warming spell followed by a front, according to CNN meteorologist Michael Guy. Others could bring the risk of severe weather over the weekend, according to CNN meteorologist Michael Guy.

Tornadoes reported in eight states

In addition to Kentucky, tornadoes from the same storm system have been reported in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio and Tennessee, the National Weather Service’s Hurricane Prediction Center said.

As of Sunday, five EF-3 tornadoes have been identified in the following localities: Defiance, Missouri; Edwardsville, Illinois; Bowling Green, Kentucky; Saloma, Kentucky, and in Kentucky between Cayce and Beaver Creek, an area that includes the ravaged town of Mayfield.

At least six people have died at an Amazon warehouse that collapsed in Edwardsville, Illinois, Sheriff James Whiteford said. The recovery phase is expected to take days, and first responders will continue to search the site for evidence of life, he said.

The six dead were aged between 26 and 62, the Edwardsville Police Department said.

One of the victims was identified as Clayton Cope, a 29-year-old US Navy veteran. He’s been with Amazon for just over a year as a maintenance mechanic, said his mother, Carla Cope. His father also worked at the facility with a similar position.

“If (Clay) wasn’t there, my husband would be,” she said.

An Amazon representative said tornado warning sirens sounded 11 minutes before the storm arrived.

She said employees took shelter in two unspecified safe areas. Nantel said dispatchers have also contacted Amazon delivery drivers in the area and told them to shelter in place.

In Monette, northeastern Arkansas, at least one person was killed at a tornado-damaged nursing home, Mayor Bob Blankenship said.

A second person died after the storm hit a Dollar General store in nearby Leachville, officials said. The person was identified Sunday as assistant store manager June Pennington of Mississippi County, Arkansas, according to county spokesman Tom Henry.

Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson said on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday that it was a “miracle” that only one person had died at the nursing home.

“When I got to that facility, it was like heaven had sucked up the roof and all the furniture inside. And it’s amazing with 67 residents that we only lost one person there. And that’s thanks to the efforts. the bravery of the staff and the fact that we had 20 minutes of warning,” he said.

Officials confirmed two hurricane-related deaths in Missouri, including a woman killed at her home in St. Charles and a young child were killed at their home in Pemiscot County, the governor said.

Tennessee has reported four weather-related deaths from extreme weather. Tennessee Emergency Management spokesman Dean Flener said two people were in Lake County, one in Obion County and one in Shelby County.