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Gallery|In Pictures

In Pictures: Search continues after devastating US tornadoes

Rescuers comb through fields of wreckage from devastating tornado outbreaks in the United States’ Midwest and South.

A workman uses an excavator to pile up debris from a destroyed warehouse in Mayfield, Kentucky. [Timothy D. Easley/AP Photo]
Published On 12 Dec 202112 Dec 2021
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Rescuers combed through fields of wreckage after a tornado outbreak roared across the middle of the United States, leaving dozens dead and communities in despair.

A twister carved a track that could rival the longest on record as the storm front smashed apart a candle factory, crushed a nursing home and flattened an Amazon distribution centre.

“I pray that there will be another rescue. I pray that there will be another one or two,” Kentucky Governor 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 of them 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. But Beshear said upwards of 70 people may have been killed when a twister touched down for more than 200 miles (320 kilometres) in his state and that the number of deaths could eventually exceed 100 across 10 or more counties.

The death toll of 36 across five states includes six people in Illinois, where an Amazon facility was hit; four in Tennessee; two in Arkansas, where a nursing home was destroyed; and two in Missouri.

If early reports are confirmed, the twister “will likely go down perhaps as one of the longest track violent tornadoes in United States history,” said Victor Gensini, a researcher on extreme weather at Northern Illinois University.

The longest tornado on record, in March 1925, tracked for about 220 miles (355 kilometres) through Missouri, Illinois and Indiana. But Gensini said this twister may have touched down for nearly 250 miles (400 kilometres). The storm was all the more remarkable because it came in December when normally colder weather limits tornadoes, he said.

Debris from destroyed buildings and shredded trees covered the ground in Mayfield, a city of about 10,000 in western Kentucky. Twisted metal sheeting, downed power lines and wrecked vehicles lined the streets. Windows and roofs were blown off the buildings that were still standing.

A car is surrounded by debris caused by a tornado in Bowling Green, Kentucky. [Michael Clubb/AP Photo]
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In this aerial photo, a collapsed factory is seen with workers searching for survivors, in Mayfield, after tornadoes came through the area the previous night. [Gerald Herbert/AP Photo]
Matt Steele, right, digs through the rubble of a house destroyed by a tornado in Bowling Green, Kentucky. [Michael Clubb/AP Photo]
Dog owner Derrick Starks, left, Chris Buchanan, centre and Niki Thompson, right, both from neighbouring counties, rescue Cheyenne from a tornado-damaged home in Mayfield. [Mark Humphrey/AP Photo]
Emergency response workers dig through the rubble of the Mayfield Consumer Products candle factory in Mayfield. [Timothy D. Easley/AP Photo]
A family digs through the rubble of their apartment in Mayfield. Tornadoes and severe weather caused catastrophic damage across multiple states late on Friday, killing several people overnight. [Timothy D. Easley/AP Photo]
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A fallen tree caused by a tornado takes down power lines and damages a car in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Storms swept through Bowling Green, Kentucky, near the Tennessee border, tearing roofs off homes and flinging debris into roadways. [Michael Clubb/AP Photo]
Timothy McDill stands near his tornado-damaged home in Mayfield, Kentucky. Tornadoes and severe weather caused catastrophic damage across multiple states on Friday, killing dozens of people overnight. [Mark Humphrey/AP Photo]
A monstrous tornado killed dozens of people in Kentucky and the toll was climbing on Saturday after severe weather ripped through at least five states, leaving widespread destruction. [Michael Clubb/AP Photo]


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