Scores Feared Dead From Storms

Daily Mail Screenshot 12/11/21

An outbreak of powerful tornadoes left behind destruction and at least four fatalities Friday night and into early Saturday, including a twister that tore through four states, killing at least one, trapping dozens and toppling numerous structures, reports The Washington Post.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) said that there were “likely” to be at least 50 deaths, “if not significantly north of that” in an early Saturday morning interview with local TV station WLKY. “The reports are really heartbreaking,” he said, adding that the biggest challenge was determining if the severe weather was “still continuing.”

The “quad-state tornado” was unusually long lasting and strong for the time of year, weather experts said. The twister, which ripped through Monette, Ark., and Mayfield, Ky., on Friday evening is likely to have carved out a 240-mile path; if the tornado remained on the ground without interruption, it will rank as the longest tornado track in U.S. history and the first to cross through four states.

TORNADO PATH: Arkansas to Missouri to Tennessee to Kentucky over three hours time, and is STILL on the move pic.twitter.com/yUxWVZTYkO

— Populist News (@populistaaa) December 11, 2021

That tornado shredded the roof of Monette Manor nursing home in Northern Arkansas, a 86-bed facility, killing at least one and injuring five, Craighead County Judge Marvin Day said. Authorities in Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee have reported other catastrophic — and occasionally deadly — damage, and weather radar detected debris from a twister for over three straight hours, sometimes lofted over 30,000 feet into the sky.

The National Weather Service had issued tornado warnings for several cities across the Tennessee and Ohio valleys, including Benton, Ky. and Mayfield, Ky., where residents were told to “TAKE SHELTER NOW.” Beshear, who declared a state of emergency, said that the damage would be “some of the worst ... we’ve seen in a long time.”

Collapsed candle factory in Mayfield, Kentucky, with workers reportedly trapped inside pic.twitter.com/93zxhqJS6E

— Cats Coverage 😼 (@CatsCoverage_) December 11, 2021

In Tennessee, the severe weather had killed at least three people as early Saturday, said Dean Flener, spokesman for the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency. Two fatalities occurred in lake County and the other in Obion County, he said.

In Edwardsville, Ill., a tornado caved in part of an Amazon distribution warehouse, leaving people inside stranded, Collinsville Emergency Management Agency shared on Facebook. At least a dozen agencies have responded to the scene. Edwardsville police confirmed early Saturday that the facility had partially collapsed.

Rescuers in Monette searched the battered nursing home and found more than 20 people, Day said. The local official, who previously said there were two fatalities, said he doesn’t yet know the extent of the injuries. Communities were difficult because a cell tower appeared to have been taken out, he added.