Washington, Dec. 12 (BNA) A powerful storm in the United States has caused devastation and left thousands without electricity, especially in Kentucky, where up to 100 people are believed to have died in several tornadoes on Friday night.
DPA reported that Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear described “the deadliest tornado in Kentucky history” and was very emotional when he spoke about the death toll across the state.
On a visit to the stricken area on Saturday, Bashir said the devastation was worse than initially expected. He said the tornadoes cut a vast area of devastation across 320 kilometres.
“Everything went their way. Homes, businesses, government buildings – just gone. Parts of industrial plants, roofs in trees. It’s hard to imagine that this is possible.”
“Kentucky needs federal help to respond to this event,” the governor, who declared a state of emergency in Kentucky on Saturday, wrote to US President Joe Biden requesting emergency federal assistance for the state.
Biden granted aid, agreed to a declaration of emergency for the state of Kentucky and asked for federal assistance to aid in local response efforts.
“It’s a tragedy. It’s a tragedy. We still don’t know how many lives were lost or the full extent of the damage,” Biden said in a speech Saturday evening, adding that the federal government would do “everything in its power.” do to help.”
He also said he would visit Kentucky once it became clear that he and his crew were “not going.”[ing] On the way to rescue and recovery.
“I’m working with the governor of Kentucky and others who may want me to be there, to make sure we’re an added value at that time, and we’re not going to get in the way of rescue and recovery,” Biden said.
Michael Doucet, director of emergency management for Kentucky, told CNN that the event was one of Kentucky’s “darkest days.”
The town of Mayfield has been particularly hard hit by hurricanes, leading Bashir to call it “ground zero.”
In one horrific incident there, about 110 employees of a candle factory were working all night in the lead-up to Christmas when a hurricane hit and destroyed the building.
“I am now standing in front of the former factory, a level of devastation none of us have seen before,” the governor told CNN.
Other states were also hit by a devastating storm system Friday night, with CNN reporting tornadoes in six states.
Two deaths were reported in Arkansas, while in Illinois, the Amazon warehouse roof partially collapsed, and authorities confirmed the death of six people in the Amazon warehouse collapse.
It will likely be days before the full extent of the devastation is known.
The storm system is the latest in a string of natural disasters to hit the United States, which has already suffered devastating storms, severe flooding and massive wildfires this year.
Biden believes that the severity and sheer number of disasters are a direct result of climate change, which has made combating it one of his administration’s priorities.
MI