LEXINGTON, Ky. — The death toll from a series of weekend tornadoes in Kentucky on Sunday stood at 50, but remained unclear in some parts of the state. By nightfall, new reports showed the number of dead and missing at a destroyed Mayfield candle factory was much lower than initially feared.
On appearances on Sunday national news morning shows, Gov. Andy Beshear said the number of deaths had surpassed 80 in the aftermath of the deadly tornadoes.
At a news conference in Mayfield on Sunday night, Beshear said the number of confirmed people killed by tornadoes in the state tops more than 50 and that thousands of homes and structures have been destroyed. Independent counts by coroners in multiple counties also confirmed at least 50 deaths around the state.
“Right now, we are hoping for miracles,” Beshear said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday.
Beshear made a host of national media appearances on Sunday morning, less than 48 hours after at least four tornadoes flattened entire towns in Western Kentucky.
“This is the deadliest tornado event we have ever had. I think it’s going to be the longest and deadliest tornado event in U.S. history. We know that one of these tornadoes was on the ground over 227 miles,” Beshear said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” That tornado was on the ground in Kentucky for over 200 miles, Beshear said.
Some of the confirmed casualties were children, Beshear said on CBS “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”
Search and rescue efforts were still ongoing Sunday evening. Power outages have left many without cellular service, making it difficult to track casualty numbers.
Death toll at candle factory may be less than first feared
A spokesperson for Consumer Products Manufacturing in Mayfield said late Sunday evening the number of deaths at that company’s candle factory is likely much lower than was initially feared. Approximately 110 people were working at the candle factory at the time the tornado hit.
Initial reports said only 40 people had been located.
Mayfield Consumer Products Spokesperson Bob Ferguson told the Associated Press late Sunday that eight employees have been confirmed dead and another eight are still missing, but dozens of people who were initially missing have been located.
“Many of the employees were gathered in the tornado shelter and after the storm was over they left the plant and went to their homes,” he said. “With the power out and no landline they were hard to reach initially. We’re hoping to find more of those eight unaccounted as we try their home residences.”
At his press conference on Sunday afternoon, Beshear said he could not confirm the company’s numbers. But if the company was correct, that would mean Kentucky’s death toll could be much, much lower than originally feared.
Getting an accurate count of the number of people who have been killed will take time because search and rescue efforts are ongoing, Beshear said.
“It’s going to take us time,” Beshear said in an interview earlier on CNN. “I mean, you think you would go door to door to check on people and see if they’re OK. There are no doors. The question is, is somebody in the rubble of thousands upon thousands of structures? I mean, it is devastating.”
Beshear said 18 counties have reported damage and believes the total number of people without homes will be in the thousands.
FEMA chief says Kentucky tornadoes ‘unprecedented’
Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanna Criswell told CNN’s “State of the Union” FEMA search and rescue teams were in Kentucky and helping with recovery efforts.
“They arrived through the day yesterday. They’re going to be able to assist the localities with their ongoing rescue efforts. And so I think that we’re -- there is still hope, and we should continue to try to find as many people as we can.”
Criswell said early December tornadoes are not uncommon. But it was the strength of the tornadoes that leveled parts of Kentucky that was unusual.
“I don’t think we have ever seen one this late in the year. But it’s also historic. Even the severity and the amount of time this tornado or these tornadoes spent on the ground is unprecedented,” Criswell said.
When asked if climate change was a factor in the storms, Criswell said “This is going to be our new normal. And the effects that we’re seeing from climate change are the crisis of our generation.”
Criswell, who toured multiple sites in Kentucky, said more FEMA teams will arrive on Monday. Housing, particularly long-term housing, will be a top priority.
Beshear said Kentucky State Parks have already housed at least 104 people from Dawson Springs. State parks in Western Kentucky will house people for up to two weeks, he said.
Beshear said thousands of people have likely lost their homes. Initial estimates from Warren County show 500 homes and 100 businesses have been damaged or destroyed, including three to four factories.
Beshear said Sunday search and rescue crews were still working and going door to door.
“We are still finding bodies,” Beshear said.
A 42-year-old woman was killed in Taylor County, Taylor County officials said.
Warren County Coroner Kevin Kirby said his office was working 12 cases related to the severe weather. Kirby said Sunday several were children.
He said the FBI was helping to make identifications.
“There are some children ... there were several,” said Kirby. “It is a broad range of ages.”
All but one death occurred in the Russellville Road area in Warren County.
Eleven people died in Muhlenberg County, Coroner Larry Vincent said. One of the people killed in Mulhenberg County was Brian Crick, a district judge for McLean and Muhlenberg counties. Beshear told NPR’s “Weekend Edition” on Sunday two of the victims were his uncle’s first cousins.
Caldwell County Coroner DeWayne Trafford said in a radio interview that the county had at least four deaths, including a husband and wife.
He said the deaths were all in the Dawson Road area of the county in a 3 1/2 to 4 mile radius.
“This is the worst devastation I’ve seen in my life,” he told WKDZ radio.
Several inmates from the Graves County Jail and Restricted Custody Center were working at the Mayfield Consumer Products factory at the time it was destroyed. All of those inmates survived. A corrections officer who was at the candle plant has died. The jail identified the officer as Robert Daniel in a Facebook post on Sunday.
“He did his job honorably and professionally until the very end. We love you and pray for your family,” the Facebook post said.
Mayfield Mayor Kathy O’Nan said the city government building and fire house have been destroyed. O’Nan said she rode out the storm in the downtown fire station. When the storm subsided she walked outside and saw much of Mayfield had been leveled by the storm, including the fire station.
“It looked like match sticks,” O’Nan said. “I cried.”
O’Nan said she and the city of Mayfield were buoyed by the outpouring of support from state and federal officials and strangers.
An American flag that was once on the fire station was found at the bank across the street. O’Nan has kept the flag and vowed Sunday, “the flag will rise again.”
Beshear said the Team Western Kentucky Relief Fund has received $2.3 million in donations, less than 24 hours after it was launched.
The fund will go to those directly impacted by the storm. First, the fund will be giving grants for funeral expenses, Beshear said. More details about those grants will be announced soon.
“The first thing we have to do is grieve together,” Beshear said.
Power outages continue
Crews were able to restore power to thousands of homes and businesses on Sunday.
More than 75,000 customers in Western Kentucky were still without power around 9 a.m. Sunday morning, according to a web site that tracks power outages.
By 5 p.m., the number of customers without power had dropped to 51,064. Power had been largely been restored in Warren County, one of the counties hit hard by the storm, according to Poweroutage.us, which tracks power outages.
In Graves County, 5,288 structures were still without power at 5 p.m.
Meanwhile, National Weather Service survey teams were still in the process of gathering additional information about the tornadoes that hit Kentucky.
One tornado in Western Kentucky had a historic long track and was categorized as being at least an EF-3 tornado, but it could be upgraded as weather service crews do further analysis. The maximum width of the storm was at least three-fourths of a mile, according to the National Weather Service.
The weather service will be gathering data to look at wind speeds and to assess storm strength.
The National Weather Service said winds reached 155 mph in Bowling Green, 115 mph in Hardyville and 105 mph near Falls of Rough. The tornado in Bowling Green was categorized as an EF-3.
The weather service said a survey team in Taylor County confirms at least EF-2 tornado damage, with estimated wind speeds of 120 mile per hour near Saloma.
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