A tornado outbreak swept across the Ohio Valley, leaving at least 21 dead and rescue crews frantically searching neighborhoods left in ruins for any other survivors.
So far, at least 14 people have died in Kentucky, according to Gov. Andy Beshar, and seven more have been killed in Missouri — five of them in the St. Louis area.
Some of the hardest hit towns by large tornadoes in Kentucky were the Somerset area and London, where local officials reported nine people died amid significant damage.
The Laurel County Sheriff’s Office says the tornado touched down in London just before midnight and tore through two neighborhoods and the London Corbin Airport area, “causing mass casualties in its path.” Aside from the nine dead, officials reported “numerous severe injuries occurred to others.”
Video from London shows extensive damage with multiple homes destroyed and vehicles barely recognizable as debris littered the neighborhood and lightning still flashed in the background.
“(My daughter) got scared, so we went to the hallway,” a woman named Leslie, who survived the storm with her family, told emergency officials in the video. “And we were in there about two minutes and then my husband came running in and pretty much jumped on top of her because you could feel the air sucking in, and it sounded like a train. And then we saw stuff falling, and next thing you knew, most of the house was gone.”
Beshar warned his state’s death toll was expected to rise.
“Please pray for all of our affected families,” he said.
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