Kentucky Reports Over 80 Tornado-Related Deaths, Death Toll Will Exceed 100 - Governor

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th December, 2021) The death toll from the tornado event in the US state of Kentucky stands at over 80, but could actually be a lot higher than that, Governor Andy Beshear said.

"I know we've lost more than 80 Kentuckians. That number is going to exceed more than 100. This is the deadliest tornado event we've ever had," Beshear said on CNN's State of the Union on Sunday.

The governor said that one of the tornadoes was on the ground for at least 227 miles (365 kilometers), 200 of which were in Kentucky, and there are whole towns that have been destroyed.

"My dad's hometown, half of it isn't standing. It is hard to describe. I know people can see the visuals, but that goes on for 12 blocks or more in some of these places. And it's going to take us time. I mean, you think you go door-to-door to check on people and see if they're OK? There are no doors. The question is if somebody is in the rubble of thousands upon thousands of structures.

I mean, it is devastating," Beshear said.

Late on Saturday, US President Joe Biden said at a briefing that the string of over 30 deadly tornadoes that were reported on Friday and Saturday was "likely one of the largest tornado outbreaks in our history."

The president said he had discussed the situation with the governors of Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri and Tennessee.

Biden declared a state of emergency in Kentucky this weekend. The city of Mayfield was particularly hard-hit: more than 100 people were huddled inside a candle manufacturing factory there when a tornado ripped through.

Two tornado-related deaths have been reported in Arkansas, four in Tennessee and two in Missouri. In Illinois, a partial collapse of an Amazon warehouse in the city of Edwardsville killed at least six people, according to Governor Jay Robert Pritzker.