Lauren Moye, FISM NEWS
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This weekend’s shocking tornado touchdowns continue to impact residents of the Midwest and South as storm cleanup resumed and officials reclassified what had been a search mission to one of recovery. The estimated death toll from the storm system is at over 100 in Kentucky alone.
The storm system spawned multiple tornadoes Friday night and Saturday morning that affected a 200-mile path through parts of Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Casualties were reported in each state, including two fatalities in an Arkansas nursing home, three in Tennessee, and at least six at an Illinois Amazon warehouse.
Kentucky remains the hardest hit, largely due to destruction of a candle factory in the city of Mayfield where an estimated 110 people were inside at the time a tornado struck. The state’s governor, Andy Beshear, said 40 people had been rescued from the rubble but that it would be a “miracle” to find more survivors at this point.
“The devastation is unlike anything I have seen in my life and I have trouble putting it into words,” Beshear said at a press conference. “It’s very likely going to be over 100 people lost here in Kentucky.”
President Joe Biden declared a state of emergency for Kentucky but no other states. On Saturday, the White House reported that Biden directed federal resources to be sent to areas with the greatest need, with Federal Emergency Management Agency officials deployed to evaluate damages for this purpose.
“I’ve also requested that FEMA offer additional federal resources, including help with temporary housing, where homes have been wiped out or too badly damaged to live in,” Biden stated during the press conference, before explaining he wanted FEMA officials to inform states of available aid.
At one point, Biden said he would be “happy to come” visit Kentucky, but that he didn’t “want to be in the way” of relief and rescue efforts by showing up with “an awful lot of personnel.”
President Biden says he plans to visit affected areas in the midwest hit by severe storms and tornadoes. pic.twitter.com/uGH5wnNmE4
— CBS News (@CBSNews) December 11, 2021
Rescue and relief efforts have been bolstered by volunteers, including group of inmates who have been reported to have responded to the destruction of the Mayfield Consumer Products factory. Kyanna Parsons-Perez, who was at the factory when the tornado hit, said in an interview on NBC that the inmates from the Graves County jail “could have used that moment to try to run away or anything, but they did not. They were there, helping us.”
Reuters notes that this account has not yet been verified.
The factory disaster could have been much worse but workers heeded warnings to shelter in a secure location, U.S. Rep. James Comer, who represents Mayfield, also told CNN. He added that more workers had successfully evacuated than previously thought.
“I don’t think the death loss there is going to be as high as we first learned,” Comer said.
Forty people remained unaccounted for within the building, according to a CNN source, as of this writing.
Christian relief organizations such as the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR) and Samaritan’s Purse have mobilized teams to aid devastated communities.
Damage assessment from last night’s devastating tornadoes is underway across the Midwest & South. Needs are growing quickly. Southern Baptists will be on the ground serving, praying, working.
Give today to provide hope & help to those who need it most👉 https://t.co/lbKt615i6M pic.twitter.com/280uZe5ngm
— Send Relief (@sendrelief) December 11, 2021
These organizations and others like them have historically played crucial roles in emergency response, with the SBDR ranking as the third-largest disaster relief organization in the U.S. with the Christian Index reporting nearly 70,000 volunteers.