Biden declares state of major disaster in Kentucky

After the passage of several lightning tornadoes in the center of the country, additional aid will be released to repair the damage. Nearly a hundred people have died and the search for survivors is still ongoing.–

He had deplored “One of the worst tornado series” of the country’s history and called their ravages“Unimaginable tragedy”. The US president on Sunday evening declared a state of major disaster in Kentucky, which has become a symbol of the devastation caused by tornadoes that have left at least 94 dead in several states of the country.

This declaration, made at the request of Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, will help unlock more federal aid. The President said on Monday that he intended to go there on Wednesday. The search continues to try to locate survivors but many officials have warned that the toll could worsen.

This exceptional meteorological phenomenon crossed six states, leaving a trail of destruction for hundreds of kilometers, but it was in Mayfield, a town of some 10,000 inhabitants in Kentucky, that it was the worst. Kentucky alone has at least 64 dead – it has lowered its provisional death toll which stood on Monday morning to 80 killed – many of them in the Mayfield Consumer Products candle factory. Some 110 employees were working at the plant Friday night to meet the demand for the holiday season, when the tornado swept everything away. Several dozen people are still missing. According to Governor Andy Beshear, the tornadoes also injured at least 80 people and left thousands more homeless.

Damage in other states

Throughout Kentucky, but also in the states of Missouri, Illinois, Tennessee and Arkansas, there were the same scenes of flattened constructions, gutted buildings, twisted metal infrastructure, overturned vehicles, torn trees and bricks strewn in the streets. Mississippi was also affected.

At least six people were killed in an Amazon warehouse whose roof collapsed in Edwardsville, Illinois. Rescuers also continued their search there on Sunday. Tennessee has recorded four deaths, two people have died in Arkansas, while at least two other deaths are to be deplored in Missouri.

Federal disaster response agencies have started to be deployed in the devastated areas. “We will do everything in our power to help”, Homeland Security Minister Alejandro Mayorkas, who visited on Sunday, promised. “We will stay until the reconstruction is complete.”

“New standard”

This violent meteorological phenomenon particularly affects the vast American plains. On amateur videos taken Friday night, we see these huge black columns sweeping the ground, illuminated by intermittent lightning.

Kentucky was swept over 200 miles (320 kilometers) by one of the longest tornadoes on record in the United States, according to its governor. The longest that has been tracked on the ground, over 219 miles, occurred in 1925 in Missouri, killing 695 people.

About thirty of these storms swept across the country on Friday evening. The United States faces a “New standard” with the proliferation of devastating weather events, the head of the American disaster management agency (FEMA), Deanne Criswell, was alarmed on Sunday. She particularly underlined the dimension “Incredibly unusual” and “historical” of these tornadoes for this season. The month of December is usually rather spared by such events in the United States.

Joe Biden had pointed out the day before that the meteorological phenomena were “More intense” with global warming, without however establishing a direct causal link between climate change and the disaster that has grieved the country.

Update : addition this Monday at 4:10 p.m. of the provisional toll lowered to 64 dead in Kentucky and at 6:43 p.m. with the possible displacement of the President on Wednesday.

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