The storm systems that sweep parts of the Midwest and the South left at least 21 dead, including nine people killed after what seemed to be a devastating tornado In southeast Kentucky.
In Kentucky, about 14 people were killed by bad weather, and the number of deaths is expected to increase, according to governor Andy Beshear.
“Kentucky, we are starting today with the harsh news that we have lost at least 14 of our employees to last night storms, but unfortunately, this number should grow as we receive more information. Please pray for all our affected families,” Beshear said in an article on the social media platform.
Earlier, local authorities in Laurel county said that nine people had been killed after a tornado had approached Southeast Kentucky, which had structures collapsing and even returning a car to the I-75.
Laurel County resident Chris Cromer said he had obtained the first of the two Tornado alerts on his phone around 11:30 p.m., about half an hour before the tornado hit. He and his wife caught their dog, jumped into their car and went to a parent’s house and went up to a crawl space.
“We could hear and feel the vibration of the tornado,” said Cromer, 46.
His house is intact, although a piece of roof was torn off and the windows were broken. A two-door house is destroyed, as well as others in the Sunshine Hills district, he said.
“This is one of those things you see in the news in other areas, and you feel bad for people-so when it happens, it’s just surreal,” he said, describing a landscape of destruction. “It makes you grateful to be really alive.”
The rescuers were “on the ground all night in search of possible survivors” and the research continued in the morning, spokesperson for the Sheriff Gilbert ACCARDO. An emergency refuge was installed in a local high school and donations of food and other necessities had arrived.
Get daily national news
Get the best news of the day, the titles of political, economic and current affairs, delivered in your reception box once a day.
The National Weather Service had not yet confirmed that a tornado had struck, but the meteorologist Philomon Geertson said it was likely. He torn the area largely rural and extended to London Corbin airport shortly before midnight.
“Lives have changed forever here this evening. This is a period that we meet, and we pray for this community,” said London mayor, Randall Weddle, in Wkyt-TV. “I have never been personally witness to what I witnessed here tonight. There is a lot of devastation. ”
Missouri pounded by storms, with confirmed deaths in Saint-Louis
Storms were part of a meteorological system on Friday which killed seven in Missouri and also generated tornadoes in Wisconsin, left several hundred without electricity in the Great Lakes region and has brought a vague punitive heat to Texas.
The mayor of St. Louis, Cara Spencer, confirmed five deaths in her city and said that more than 5,000 houses had been affected.
“It’s really very devastating,” said Spencer, adding that the city was declaring an emergency and that a night curfew had been set up in the neighborhoods with the most damage.
The number of people injured was not immediately known. Barnes-Jewish hospital received 20 to 30 storm patients with some in serious condition and most expected being released by Friday evening, the spokesperson for Laura High hospital.
The St. Louis children’s hospital received 15 patients with two of them who should stay in the hospital on weekends, she said.
The National Weather Service radar said that a tornado had approached between 2:30 p.m. and 2:50 p.m. in Clayton, Missouri, in the St. Louis region. The apparent tornado approached in the Forest Park district, which houses the St. Louis zoo and the site of the World and Olympic Fair Games in 1904 the same year.
At Centennial Christian Church, the battalion of the firefighters of the city of St. Louis, William Pollihan, told the Associated Press that three people were to be saved after part of the church collapsed. One of these people died.
Stacy Clark said her mother-in-law Patricia Penelton died in the church. He described it as a very active church volunteer who had many roles, in particular by being part of the choir.
Jeffrey Simmons Sr., who lives in front of the church, heard an alert on his phone, then the lights died.
“And the next thing you know, a lot of noise, a heavy wind,” he said. He and his brother entered the basement. Later, he realized that it was worse than he thought. “Everything was torn apart.”
The slaughtered trees and stop lights also caused a traffic blocking during the Friday afternoon journey and the officials urged people to stay at home.
John Randle, a 19 year old Missouri University. Louis’ student said he and his girlfriend were at the St. Louis art museum during the storm and were jostled in the basement with around 150 other people.
“You could see the doors open, the branches of passing trees and people running,” he said. “Many people have been caught outside.”
Christy Childs, spokesperson for the Saint-Louis zoo, said in a text that the zoo would remain closed on Saturday due to slaughtered trees and other damage. Childs said that all animals were safe and that there was no significant injury to staff, guests or animals.
“We cannot permanently say whether or not it was a tornado – that was probably the case,” said National Weather Service Marshall Pfahler Meteorologist.
A tornado struck in the county of Scott, about 130 miles (209 kilometers) south of St. Louis, killing two people, injuring several others and destroying several houses, wrote the sheriff Derick Wheetley on social networks.
The forecasters say that the bad weather could beat the southern plains
“Violent thunderstorms producing large to a very large hail, damaging gusts and some tornadoes are expected in the South Plains,” the National Weather Service Prediction Center Center on his website said on Saturday. The risk was particularly high for northern Texas.