Rescue workers resumed combing through debris on Monday in the scant hope of finding survivors from tornadoes that tore through six US states over the weekend, as the death toll in Kentucky was adjusted to 64, with officials still trying to determine just how many people died in the disaster.
President Joe Biden on Sunday declared a major federal disaster in Kentucky, paving the way for additional federal aid, the White House said. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear formally requested the declaration earlier Monday.
The confirmed death toll in tornado-ravaged Kentucky stood at 64 on Monday, the US state's governor said, warning the number was likely to rise and that a final count might not be known for weeks.
"There will be more. We believe it will certainly be above 70, maybe even 80," said Beshear.
At least 14 people were killed in four other US states as dozens of tornadoes ripped through the region late Friday into Saturday, levelling communities and leaving thousands homeless.
Beshear had earlier estimated the death toll from the disaster at 80 and likely to rise to more than 100 but held out hope the number of missing at a destroyed candle factory was much lower than previously believed, possibly resulting in a downward revision of the toll.
On Monday, he said officials were working to confirm that eight people had perished when the factory in Mayfield, a town of about 10,000 in the southwestern corner of Kentucky, was hit in the storm.
Out of the 110 workers who had been toiling at the Mayfield Consumer Products LLC factory, 94 were believed to have made it out alive, according to the owners of the business, the governor said.
"We feared much, much worse," he said. "I pray that it is accurate."
The storm destroyed not only the candle factory but also the police and fire stations in Mayfield.
Homes were flattened or missing roofs, giant trees uprooted and street signs mangled.
Casualties at Amazon warehouse
While Kentucky was hardest hit, six workers were killed at an Amazon.com Inc warehouse in Illinois after the plant buckled under the force of the tornado, including one cargo driver who died in the bathroom, where many workers told Reuters they had been directed to shelter.
A nursing home was struck in Arkansas, causing one of that state's two deaths. Four were reported dead in Tennessee and two in Missouri.
Emergency crews worked through the night into Sunday at both locations, and agents from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Red Cross volunteers were on the scene in Kentucky.
Four were killed in Tennessee and two died in Arkansas, while Missouri recorded two fatalities. Tornadoes also touched down in Mississippi.
'Unlike anything I have seen'
Emergency crews were helping stunned citizens across the region clear the rubble.
David Norseworthy, a 69-year-old builder in Mayfield, said the storm blew off his roof and front porch while the family hid in a shelter.
"We never had anything like that here," he told AFP.
A nondenominational church in Mayfield, His House Ministries, was handing out food and clothing to storm survivors while also providing space for the county coroner to do his work, Stephen Boyken, the church's pastor, told AFP.
People "come with pictures, birthmarks – they talk now about using DNA samples to identify those who have been lost," he said.
The storm system's power placed it in historic company.
Storm trackers said it had lofted debris 30,000 feet (9,100 meters) into the air, and the deadly Mayfield twister appeared to have broken an almost century-old record, tracking on the ground well more than 200 miles (320 kilometres).
"The devastation is unlike anything I have seen in my life," Beshear said.
As Americans grappled with the immensity of the disaster, condolences poured in, with Pope Francis saying he was praying "for the victims of the tornado that hit Kentucky."
Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a break from tense bilateral relations with the US, said his country "shares in the grief" of those who lost loved ones.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP and REUTERS)
