Deaths mount after ‘unprecedented’ tornadoes devastate parts of US

Rescue efforts continued on Sunday after what the governor of Kentucky described as the “longest and deadliest” tornado event in US history left dozens dead and a trail of devastation through the country’s south and Midwest.

The tornadoes tore through six states, leaving destruction in their wake. Kentucky was worst hit, with at least 80 people killed.

“This is the deadliest tornado event we have ever had,” Kentucky governor Andy Beshear told CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday morning. “I think it’s going to be the longest and deadliest tornado event in US history.”

More than 30 tornadoes made landfall in Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi and Tennessee on Friday night, according to the US National Weather Service.

The main storm travelled more than 227 miles across Kentucky. Beshear said more than 80 people had been confirmed dead in the state and that the figure was likely to exceed 100.

At least 56,000 homes in the western part of the state had been left without power on Sunday morning, the governor said.

Much of the destruction centred on the state’s south-west. In the town of Mayfield, a roof collapsed on a candle factory with 110 people inside.

Beshear said it would be a “miracle” if any more people were recovered from the factory, which was buried under 15 feet of steel, with cars dumped on top of the structure.

Deanne Criswell, chief of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said rescue efforts would continue in Mayfield.

“I think that there is still hope and we should continue to try to find as many people as we can,” said Criswell. She said authorities would also focus on providing immediate and longer-term shelter to people whose homes had been destroyed.

President Joe Biden authorised an emergency declaration in the state on Saturday and directed Fema to support local response efforts and deploy emergency response personnel, search and rescue teams and water and other supplies.

Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader from Kentucky, described the storms as “devastating” and vowed to work with federal authorities to provide funding and resources.

Criswell linked the event to climate change on Sunday and said the tornadoes were “unprecedented” for this time of year.

“At this magnitude, I don’t think we’ve ever seen one this late in the year,” Criswell told CNN. “The severity and the amount of time this tornado — or these tornadoes — spent on the ground is unprecedented.”

She said that events this severe would become the “new normal”.

“The effects we are seeing of climate change are the crisis of our generation.”

At least six people were killed at an Amazon warehouse in the town of Edwardsville in southern Illinois, according to local authorities. Two people were killed in Arkansas, according to governor Asa Hutchinson, including one in a nursing home.

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