50 feared dead after tornadoes hit several US states
A series of tornadoes hit several US states on Friday and Saturday claiming the lives of at least 50 people, said Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear. Storms ripped through the states of Kentucky, Arkansas, Illinois and other parts of the country resulting in massive damage. It is said to be the worst tornado event in Kentucky's history. Here are more details on this.
Death toll could rise further
"We believe our death toll from this event will exceed 50 Kentuckians and probably end up closer to 70 or 100 lost lives," Beshear told reporters. Nearly 60,000 people in the state have been left without power, the Governor informed.
Hundreds trapped in separate states
In the city of Mayfield, a roof collapse at a candle factory resulted in a number of casualties. More than 100 people were working at the facility at that time. Prior to that, a storm hit an Amazon warehouse in Illinois state partially destroying the building and trapping around 100. It is not clear how many people were hurt or killed in that incident.
Illinois Governor says 'monitoring situation'
"My prayers are with the people of Edwardsville tonight," Illinois Governor JB Pritzer said. "Our Illinois State Police and Illinois Emergency Management Agency are both coordinating closely with local officials and I will continue to monitor the situation."
1 killed in Arkansas; thousands lose power
In Arkansas, one person died and 20 others were trapped after a nursing home was partly collapsed, Craighead county Judge Marvin Day told the Associated Press. Search and rescue operations are ongoing. The US National Weather Service has issued tornado warnings for multiple states including Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, and Illinois. Meanwhile, more than 3,00,000 customers lost power due to the storms across seven states.
'We will make it through this'
A state of emergency has been announced in Kentucky in view of the storms. "We will make it through this," Governor Beshear said on Saturday. "We will rebuild, we are strong, resilient people."
