Kentucky tornado survivors pick through devastation

Rescue workers in Kentucky scoured debris fields for survivors as many residents without power, water or even a roof over their heads salvaged what they could after a string of powerful tornadoes that officials fear killed more than 100 people, obliterated homes, businesses and anything else in their way.

Authorities said they had little hope of finding survivors after the tornadoes tore through the US Midwest and South on Friday night, killing people in at least five states. Six workers were killed at an Amazon.com warehouse in Illinois. A nursing home was struck in Missouri.

“To the people of America, there is no lens big enough to show you the extent of the damage,” Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear told reporters on Sunday evening, saying one tornado tore across 365km of terrain, almost all of that in Kentucky.

The governor said at least 80 people in his state were confirmed dead and the toll was eventually going to exceed 100.

“We’re still hoping as we move forward for some miracles,” Beshear said.

Nowhere suffered as much as the small town of Mayfield, Kentucky, where the large twisters, which weather forecasters say are unusual in winter, destroyed a candle factory and the fire and police stations.

Across the community of 10,000 people in the state’s southwestern corner, homes were flattened or missing roofs, giant trees had been uprooted and street signs were mangled.

Laurie Lopez, 53, received a tornado alert on her phone about 20 minutes before her entire house started shaking. She took cover in a hallway with her 19-year-old daughter and their two Huskies. Sirens near downtown also went off, she said.

“Soon the (window) glass started just burst in, we could hear it flying. I have it like all over my bedroom,” she said. The tornado “sounded like a freight train going through a brick house.”

The front of their two-story home appeared totally collapsed and part of the roof had fallen onto the lawn. Somewhere under the mound of debris was Lopez’s car.

Steve Wright, 61, was driving around looking for gas on Sunday morning. A resident of Mayfield for the last four years, his apartment complex was largely spared.

After the storm had passed, he took a flashlight and started walking around town looking for people who might be trapped. He ended up helping a father pull his dead 3-year-old from the rubble.

“It was bad. I helped dig out a dead baby, right up here,” he said gesturing to debris that used to be a two-story house. “I prayed for both of them, that was all I could do.”

“It all happened in the snap of a finger,” said Alubahr, who is now staying with another sister in Mayfield.