Death Toll, Damage Bill Rising as Tornadoes Wreak Havoc Across Central U.S.

Simon KentDecember 12, 2021

A series of tornadoes that tore a path of destruction across central and southern parts of the U.S. in the past 48-hours left dozens dead and communities grieving in their wake.

Severe storms, straight-line winds and flooding rocked Kentucky and the Midwest late Friday and early Saturday where dozens remain missing.

One twister alone could mark the longest on record as the stormfront upended a candle factory, crushed a nursing home and flattened an Amazon distribution center, AP reports.

“I pray that there will be another rescue. I pray that there will be another one or two,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said, as crews sifted through the wreckage of the candle factory in Mayfield, where 110 people were working overnight Friday when the storm hit. Forty were rescued.

“We had to, at times, crawl over casualties to get to live victims,” said Jeremy Creason, the city’s fire chief and EMS director.

In Kentucky alone, 22 were confirmed dead by late Saturday, including 11 in and around Bowling Green, the AP report outlines.

An aerial view of homes and business destroyed by a tornado on December 11, 2021 in Mayfield, Kentucky. Multiple tornadoes touched down in several midwestern states late Friday evening causing widespread destruction and leaving an estimated 70-plus people dead. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Residents begin the process of salvaging their belongings after a tornado ripped through the area the previous evening on December 11, 2021 in Mayfield, Kentucky. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

But Beshear estimated upwards of 70 may have been killed when a twister touched down for more than 200 miles in his state and that the number of deaths could eventually exceed 100 across 10 or more counties.

The longest tornado on record, in March 1925, tracked for about 220 miles through Missouri, Illinois and Indiana. But Gensini said this twister may have touched down for nearly 250 miles. The storm was all the more remarkable because it came in December, when normally colder weather limits tornadoes, he said.

On Saturday President Joe Biden was questioned about the rolling disaster and lamented the world’s failure to stop global warming as a cause, as Breitbart News reported.

“We all know that everything is more intense when the climate is warming. Everything,” he said. “And obviously it has some impact here.”

Biden later approved an emergency disaster declaration for Kentucky and pledged to support the affected states.

Firefighters survey tornado damages in downtown Mayfield on December 11, 2021 in Mayfield, Kentucky. Multiple tornadoes tore through parts of the lower Midwest late on Friday night leaving a large path of destruction and multiple fatalities. (Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)

“I promise you, whatever is needed — whatever is needed — the federal government is going to find a way to provide it,” Biden said.

The tornado outbreak caused a wide range of damage from Texas to Indiana, affecting some 16 million people across nine states, according to AccuWeather.

The storm was blamed for widespread power outages Saturday morning. By late afternoon, 56,000 homes and businesses remained without power Tennessee, 78,000 in Kentucky and another 65,000 in Ohio, according to Power Outage.us.

AP, UPI contributed to this story