(Reuters) -An unstable spring weather system spawned tornadoes overnight in the U.S. Midwest and Ohio River Valley, killing at least 25 people in Kentucky and Missouri and causing widespread damage to homes and property, state and local officials said on Saturday.
In Kentucky, at least 17 people were killed in Laurel County, about 80 miles (129 km) south of Lexington, when a twister touched down around midnight, Governor Andy Beshear said on Saturday afternoon on social media. Another person was killed in Pulaski County, Kentucky.
“This is another tough morning for Kentucky after a night of deadly weather,” Beshear said.
Earlier, Beshear declared a state of emergency, as did Governor Mike Kehoe in Missouri, where seven people died as a result of the severe weather, including five in St. Louis.
Aerial images posted on social media showed scenes of destruction in Laurel County, with entire blocks of houses reduced to splinters, and cars and pickup trucks left battered or crushed in the tornado’s wake.
Laurel County Sheriff John Root described the devastation as “a mass casualty event,” saying on social media that there were numerous severe injuries and emergency crews were searching for survivors.
Gilbert Acciardo, a spokesperson for the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office, said 22 families who were displaced by the tornado were being housed in emergency facilities.
“Their homes were completely destroyed right down to the ground,” Acciardo said. He said the tornado was identified as an “EF5,” the most powerful category.
The destruction recalls the damage caused when a monstrous tornado descended on the western Kentucky town of Mayfield in December 2021, killing at least 22 people in Graves County, including eight in a candle factory that was leveled.
TORNADO HITS ST. LOUIS
Earlier, a tornado ripped through St. Louis, where in addition to killing at least five, it injured 38 and damaged 5,000 properties, Mayor Cara Spencer said. It tore off the roofs of houses, knocked down power lines and swept through a major thoroughfare during rush-hour traffic on Friday.
Two others were killed in Scott County, in southeastern Missouri, according to officials.
“Our city is grieving tonight,” Spencer, who was sworn in as mayor a month ago, told reporters on Friday night. “The loss of life and the destruction is truly, truly horrendous.”
St. Louis resident Joan Miller recounted her narrow escape when a tornado struck her brick house.
“The wind started, the tree out front was shaking so violently,” she said. “And suddenly all the doors shut, the windows flew out from the bedroom … the entire back of my house … you can see straight into the alley now.”
The National Weather Service said thunderstorms were widespread across portions of the Mississippi, Tennessee and Ohio Valleys on Friday. At least half a dozen tornadoes touched down in Missouri and neighboring Illinois and other severe weather stretched all the way to the Atlantic Coast, including another tornado reported in New Jersey.
Two people were killed on Friday in separate incidents in Fairfax County, Virginia, outside Washington, when trees fell on their cars, according to media reports.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said she had talked with the governors of Missouri, Kentucky and Illinois to offer federal resources to help their states cope with the aftermath.
“We discussed how while emergency management is best led by local authorities, we reinforced that DHS stands ready to take immediate action to offer resources and support,” she wrote on social media.
Noem has championed a change in the federal strategy for managing disasters under the Trump administration by shifting responsibilities to states. President Donald Trump’s proposed budget includes deep cuts for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which falls under her purview.
(Reporting by Richard Cowan and Frank McGurty; Writing by Frank McGurty; Editing by Susan Fenton, Diane Craft and Rod Nickel)
