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Agencies
Washington
The governor of Kentucky, Andy Beshear, has asked US President Joe Biden for federal aid following some of the worst tornadoes ever seen in the southern US state.
“Kentucky is in need of federal assistance to respond to this event,” Beshear wrote in a letter to Biden and later tweeted on Saturday.
Seventeen of the 120 counties in the state were affected by the disaster, and power outages were widespread, Beshear wrote, adding that at least 50 people had died.
Kentucky Emergency Management Director Michael Dossett told CNN that tornadoes had cut a swathe over 200 miles (320 kilometres) long through the state and called the event one of Kentucky’s “darkest days.”
A roof collapse at a candle factory resulted in “mass casualties,” the governor said.
“We believe our death toll from this event will exceed 50 Kentuckians, probably end up closer to 70-100 lost lives.”
“The primary tornado was on the ground continuously for over 200 miles [320 kilometres] in our state, something we have never seen before,” Beshear said.
Over 50,000 homes were without power, he said.
He declared a state of emergency for the state.
A tornado caused the roof of a distribution centre owned by online retailer Amazon to partially collapse in the US state of Illinois. An unknown number of people were trapped in the building at the time the storm hit on Friday evening in Edwardsville near the city of St Louis, local police chief Mike Fillback told reporters.
Rescue workers were able to get a number of the trapped people out of the building. However, it was unclear how many were still trapped inside.
On Friday, a storm had triggered as many as 19 tornadoes in several US states, including Arkansas, where there was initially talk of two deaths.
An overview of the damage and possible victims was difficult at first, as the information was changing quickly.
Washington
The governor of Kentucky, Andy Beshear, has asked US President Joe Biden for federal aid following some of the worst tornadoes ever seen in the southern US state.
“Kentucky is in need of federal assistance to respond to this event,” Beshear wrote in a letter to Biden and later tweeted on Saturday.
Seventeen of the 120 counties in the state were affected by the disaster, and power outages were widespread, Beshear wrote, adding that at least 50 people had died.
Kentucky Emergency Management Director Michael Dossett told CNN that tornadoes had cut a swathe over 200 miles (320 kilometres) long through the state and called the event one of Kentucky’s “darkest days.”
A roof collapse at a candle factory resulted in “mass casualties,” the governor said.
“We believe our death toll from this event will exceed 50 Kentuckians, probably end up closer to 70-100 lost lives.”
“The primary tornado was on the ground continuously for over 200 miles [320 kilometres] in our state, something we have never seen before,” Beshear said.
Over 50,000 homes were without power, he said.
He declared a state of emergency for the state.
A tornado caused the roof of a distribution centre owned by online retailer Amazon to partially collapse in the US state of Illinois. An unknown number of people were trapped in the building at the time the storm hit on Friday evening in Edwardsville near the city of St Louis, local police chief Mike Fillback told reporters.
Rescue workers were able to get a number of the trapped people out of the building. However, it was unclear how many were still trapped inside.
On Friday, a storm had triggered as many as 19 tornadoes in several US states, including Arkansas, where there was initially talk of two deaths.
An overview of the damage and possible victims was difficult at first, as the information was changing quickly.
