By John Ikani
US President Joe Biden declared a major disaster in Kentucky on Sunday night (Dec 12) after the state was hit by a swarm of ferocious tornadoes that killed dozens of people and flattened towns across the Midwest.
Kentucky’s Governor Andy Beshear on Sunday formally requested the declaration, the Head of the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) told reporters earlier.
Biden had previously issued an emergency declaration for the hard-hit state, but upgraded it at the Governor’s request to allow for additional aid.
Both federal and local officials have cautioned that the death toll, for now at 94, could still rise.
Beshear said cadaver dogs were still finding bodies.
“The very first thing that we have to do is grieve together and we’re going to do that before we rebuild together,” Beshear told an afternoon news conference.
More than 80 people are dead in the state alone, many of them workers at a candle factory in the ravaged town of Mayfield, Beshear said Sunday, telling CNN: “That number is going to exceed more than 100.”
Later in the day, the Governor said the factory’s owner believed more of the workers had been located, and it would be “pretty wonderful” if the toll were to be revised down, but stressed he could not verify that information.
“Remember, we’re still finding bodies. We’ve got cadaver dogs in towns that they shouldn’t have to be in,” he said.
At least six people died in an Amazon warehouse in the southern Illinois city of Edwardsville, where they were on the night shift processing orders ahead of Christmas.
Emergency crews worked through the night into Sunday at both locations, and FEMA agents and Red Cross volunteers were on the scene in Kentucky.
But Edwardsville fire chief James Whiteford told reporters that the operation had turned from rescue to focus “only on recovery,” fueling fears the toll will rise.
Four were killed in Tennessee and two died in Arkansas, while Missouri recorded two fatalities. Tornadoes also touched down in Mississippi.
