Workers in Kentucky lost the gift of life when tornadoes hit while making Christmas presents, says a relative. The death toll will rise above 100.
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Around 110 employees worked late at night at the Mayfield Consumer Products candle factory. They worked overtime to meet the demand for candles before the Christmas holidays.
Darryl Williams is the brother of one of those missing, the 50-year-old mother of four Janine Denise Johnson Williams.
– It’s Christmas, and she worked in a place that made candles as gifts. Losing the gift of life to make a gift for others. We have not heard anything. We fear the worst, says the brother.
At least 80 people lost their lives in the tornado disaster in Kentucky, says the state’s governor Andy Beshear. In total, at least 93 people have lost their lives in the storm.
“I can say from the reports I have received that I know we have lost more than 80 inhabitants,” Beshear told CNN.
– The number will rise to over 100, he adds.
Thus, the confirmed death toll in the six states affected by the storm Friday night and Saturday night has risen to 93.
Around 40 of the employees have been rescued, while most are still missing. Governor Andy Beshear says it is a miracle if more survivors are found.
Beshear arrived in Mayfield the day after the devastating weather system with giant tornadoes ravaging Kentucky and several other US states.
– The destruction is at a level I have never seen before, the governor says.
– As if a bomb hit
The city’s mayor, Kathy O’Nan, says large parts of the city have been laid in ruins and that it looks like a bomb has hit it.
– The building is completely destroyed. We hope it is still possible to save someone, she says about the candle factory, according to CBS News.
She says that the factory was busy reaching orders before Christmas.
– We are very proud of the candle factory because it was started by a local family and has grown to become a large part of our community, she says.
According to Governor Beshear, at most 70 people are dead. The death toll could rise to over 100, he says.
The local fire chief says that the rescue workers had to take over several dead to get to the survivors.
Many in Mayfield were without electricity or running water on Saturday. Several buildings were lost in the storm, including the main fire station and the town hall.
1 of 6Foto: STF / AP / NTB
Opened churches
Several churches have opened their doors in the city and surrounding area to offer shelter to those affected by the storm.
Drone images from the site show great destruction throughout the city.
In addition to Kentucky, the storm also affected Arkansas, Tennessee, Indiana and Missouri.
In Tennessee, authorities have confirmed that three people have died, and in Arkansas one person died and five were injured when a nursing home was badly damaged.
Also in Missouri, at least one person has died, and in Illinois, Amazon’s warehouses in Edwardsville, about 40 miles east of the city of St. Louis, were hit.
The roof was torn off and a wall collapsed. According to local journalists, Edwardsville police have confirmed that at least two people have been found dead in the building.
Historically large
President Joe Biden calls the tornadoes that have hit several states in the United States an unimaginable tragedy. Biden says climate change is making weather systems more extreme and has declared a state of emergency in Kentucky.
Earlier on Saturday, Biden posted a Twitter message in which he said that he had been informed about the incident and in which he described it as an unimaginable tragedy.
– We do not yet know how many people have lost their lives or how great the destruction really is. I want to emphasize what I have said to the governors, that the federal government will do absolutely everything they can to help, he said in a speech later that day.
Climate changes
Biden also said that he will visit Kentucky, but that he will wait so that he does not get in the way of the rescue effort.
– When a president shows up, he comes with an awful lot of personnel. Very many vehicles. We can get in the way without wanting to, says Biden.
The president says it is too early to say exactly what made the weather system so large and destructive.
– But the facts are, as we all know, that everything becomes more intense when the climate warms up, everything. And it has clearly had an impact here, but I can not give a quantitative analysis of it now, says Biden.
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