A destructive cell of strong tornadoes that hit at least eight states Friday night and Saturday morning has left dozens dead, officials said on Sunday.
The epicenter of the destruction is Western Kentucky, where an unusually strong tornado leveled houses and buildings along a 200-mile-long path.
“I’ve got towns that are gone, that are just, I mean gone,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) said Sunday. “My dad’s hometown, half of it isn’t standing.”
More than 28,500 homes in Kentucky are still without power and heat.
“This is a tough morning, but it’s OK, we’re still going to be all right,” Mayfield Kentucky Mayor Kathy Stewart O’Nan said on CBS Mornings.
“Our infrastructure is so damaged. We have no running water. Our water tower was lost. Our wastewater management was lost, and there’s no natural gas to the city. So we have nothing to rely on there,” she told CBS. “So that is purely survival at this point for so many of our people.”
Gov. Beshear said Monday that 74 people were confirmed dead in the state after tornadoes ripped through the state over the weekend.
Beshear said he did not yet know the cost assessments for the damage, but added that various corporations, including Amazon, reached out to offer help.
“I don’t have yet an estimate on damages, but it’s in the hundreds of millions of dollars at least,” Beshear told CNBC during an update on Monday.
“Again, whatever the cost. I know our federal partners are there with us. We will spare no expense by the state,” Beshear said.
Approximately 300 National Guardsmen are assisting with rescue operations and debris removal, and 105 people remain unaccounted for, the governor said.
On Sunday President Joe Biden declared a major federal disaster in Kentucky, paving the way for federal aid to the state.
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