Mayfield, Kentucky-On Monday, it is still uncertain whether Kentucky County, which was hit by a weekend tornado, can quickly restore water, heat and electricity, as the damage and death toll caused by the five states hit by the tornado become clearer.

President Joe Biden will visit the state on Wednesday.

Authorities in Kentucky stated that the magnitude of the damage hindered their ability to calculate the damage caused by the storm on Friday night. The tornado outbreak also destroyed a nursing home in Arkansas, severely damaged an Amazon distribution center in Illinois, and spread its fatal impact to Tennessee and Missouri, killing at least 88 people (including 74 in Kentucky).

The Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration has launched an investigation into the collapse of the 1.1 million square foot Amazon warehouse.

In Kentucky, as the search for people who are still missing continues, efforts have also turned to repairing the power grid, providing shelter to people whose houses have been destroyed, and providing drinking water and other supplies.

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"We will not leave any of our families homeless," said Kentucky Governor Andy Bayhill when announcing that the state park cabins were used to provide shelter.

Throughout the weekend and Monday, the governor choked when describing the scale of child deaths or destruction in his briefing. On Monday afternoon, when the state’s first lady, British Bayhill, started talking about organizing toy cars for families affected by the storm, she was overwhelmed and could not continue; the governor had to get in the car from where she stopped.

In Mayfield, one of the worst-hit places, the survivors faced high temperatures of more than 50 degrees and sub-zero temperatures on Monday without any utilities.

"Our infrastructure has been severely damaged. We have no running water. Our water tower has been lost. Our wastewater management has been lost and the city has no natural gas. So we have nothing to rely on there," Mayfield Mayor Casey Stewart · Kathy Stewart O'Nan said on the "CBS Morning" show. "So for so many of us, it's purely for survival."

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According to data from poweroutage.us, approximately 26,000 homes and businesses across the state have lost power, including almost all homes and businesses in Mayfield. The director of emergency management in Kentucky, Michael Dossett, told reporters that more than 10,000 homes and businesses have been without water, and another 17,000 are in a state of boiling water warning.

Destroyed buildings and debris from broken trees covered the ground in Mayfield, a city of approximately 10,000 people in western Kentucky. Twisted metal plates, collapsed electrical wires and wrecked vehicles are all over the streets. The windows were blown up and the roof was torn from the still standing building.

To date, Kentucky is the worst-hit area among tornado clusters that span multiple states. This is worth noting because they occur during the year and cold weather usually limits the duration of tornadoes. Bashir said on Monday that at least 74 people had died in the state and provided the first specific number of dead.

Warren County Coroner Kevin Kirby said that in Bowling Green, Kentucky, 11 people died on the same street, including two babies found in the bodies of five relatives near their home.

Bashir warned that it may take several days to determine the total number of deaths, and it is impossible to conduct house-to-house searches in some places.

The governor said: “Because of such a large amount of damage and rubble, it may take a week or more for us to finally count the death toll.”

Initially, as many as 70 people may have died at the Mayfield Consumer Goods Candle Factory, but the company said on Sunday that 8 people have been confirmed dead, 8 people are still missing, and more than 90 people have been found. The company spokesperson Bob Ferguson (Bob Ferguson) said that many employees gathered in the tornado shelter, and then left the scene, due to the interruption of telephone service, it is difficult to reach them.

On Monday night, Louisville emergency management director EJ Meiman said at a press conference that the company stated that everyone in the building during the storm had been counted. "We are very confident that there is no one in this building," Mayman said, noting that the factory's death toll has not changed.

Authorities said that a total of five tornadoes hit Kentucky, and one of them had a very long path, about 200 miles.

In addition to the death toll in Kentucky, the tornado also killed at least six people in Illinois, and the Amazon distribution center in Edwardsville was also attacked; four in Tennessee; two in Arkansas, where nursing homes were destroyed, the governor said workers Protect residents with their own bodies; and two in Missouri.

'It will never be the same'

Not far from Mayfield, 67 people spent Sunday night in a church in Wengo, and another 40 people are expected to arrive on Monday. Organizers are working hard to find a mobile outdoor shower facility and a laundry truck, and it is expected that many displaced people will need a place to live for a long time. Volunteers are also scrambling to meet more pressing needs, such as underwear and socks.

Cynthia Gargis, a 51-year-old Mayfield resident, lived with her daughter after a storm destroyed the front of her apartment and sucked almost everything inside. She came to the shelter to help and visit friends who had lost their homes.

"I don't know, I don't know how we will overcome all this," she said. "It will never be the same."

Glynda Glover, 82, said she didn't know how long she would stay in the Wingo shelter: her apartment was uninhabitable because the wind blew the windows off, and her bed was covered with glass and asphalt.

"I will stay here until we get back to normal," she said, "I don't know what is normal anymore."

On the outskirts of another small town, Dawson Springs, which was destroyed by the storm, houses were razed to the ground, trees collapsed, and rubbish was littered within at least a mile.

Hopkins County Executive Judge Jack Whitfield (Jack Whitfield Jr.) said: "It looks like a bomb exploded. It was only completely destroyed in some areas."

He estimated that more than 60% of the town, including hundreds of houses, are "unrepairable."

"It will take years to fully recover," he said.

Tim Morgan, a volunteer pastor in the Hopkins County Sheriff’s Office, said he has seen the aftermath of tornadoes and hurricanes before, but has never been like this.

"This is absolutely devastating. Now there are three-foot-high houses all over the hillside," he said.

Biden will travel to Kentucky on Wednesday to assess the impact and provide support.

In a briefing on Monday, he said that the governors of the affected states will "get whatever they need when they need it."

"We will get this done. We will always be there as long as help is needed," the president said, adding that he was concerned about the mental health of survivors and the uncertainty they face.

Biden said that he is cooperating with state officials to ensure that his visit does not hinder the restoration of work. The White House said he would first go to Fort Campbell to hear the storm briefing, and then to Mayfield and Dawson Springs to investigate the damage.

Senate Minority Leader and Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Mitch McConnell) often disputes with the Biden administration. Monday thanked the president for quickly approving the major disaster statement in Kentucky.

"Our entire congressional delegation came together to support GovAndyBeshear's request," McConnell wrote on Twitter. "I thank the government for its swift efforts to speed up resources to help deal with this crisis."

Approximately 300 members of the National Guard are helping with rescue and recovery efforts in Kentucky, survivors are investigating the remains of their property, and state workers are moving debris and collecting dead livestock.

Beshear told reporters that officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency will also be on-site to help residents record losses in their homes and file insurance claims.

"I believe this is the fastest response by the federal government in the history of the United States of America," he said. "And we need it."

Beshear ordered the state offices to lower the flag at half mast within a week starting today to commemorate the victims and others affected by the storm. The cabins and cabins in the state park will be used as emergency housing for at least two weeks, and the state is looking for volunteers to help wash dishes and clothes at these locations.

Bashir said that as of early Monday, the state-run Western Kentucky Tornado Relief Fund has raised more than $4 million in donations. Some of them will be distributed to the families of the victims, and each will receive $5,000 in funeral expenses.

Officials warned that it will take a long time to restore the state.

"Guys, this won't be a few months or weeks of surgery," said Dorset of the Kentucky Emergency Management Department. "This will last for several years."

He added: "Whether it is long or short, we can't really understand all infrastructure damage."

At the same time, federal and state officials said Monday that they will investigate the collapse of the Amazon delivery warehouse in Illinois.

Governor JB Pritzker said at a press conference that the state government is investigating whether the building was constructed in accordance with building codes, and the federal workplace safety regulator said that they have also launched an investigation.

Company officials defended their security procedures.

At a press conference, Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel (Kelly Nantel) said that despite the catastrophic damage, the company believed that the building was constructed correctly. "Obviously, we want to go back and look at all aspects of this matter," she said.

Pritzker said that he is already discussing with legislators whether the state’s building codes should be updated, “based on the climate change that we see around us.” He added: “This is something we are very concerned about to ensure that the code is in it. Where it should be."

The agency’s regional spokesperson Scott Allen said that the federal investigation will be conducted by the local OSHA office, which has had local compliance officers since Saturday. He said that if a violation of workplace safety and/or health regulations is found, the agency has six months to "complete the investigation, issue a subpoena and file a fine."

FBA executive John Felton said at a press conference, "Everything we have seen is that all procedures have been followed correctly." He said that when the tornado hit, 46 people in the delivery station behaved " Bravery", using phones, loudspeakers and other tools to move as many people as possible to safety.

Felton said 39 people were hiding in the "almost intact" space on the north side of the building, and 7 people gathered on the south side of the facility, which fell directly on the path of the tornado.

Nantel said the shelter is not a separate room, but an internal location away from windows and other dangers.

Pritzker said that due to the risk of flooding in the industrial area where the building is located, the construction of basement structures that would have provided better protection is prohibited. He said that initially people were confused about how many people there were in the building, and they are now "continuously paying attention" because there are many contractors in the building who do not need to scan their documents when entering the building at the end of their shifts.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns the Washington Post, and he is one of the contributors to this story.

Information in this article was provided by Bruce Schreiner, Claire Galofaro, Kristin Hall, Seth Borenstein, Zeke Miller, Dino Hazell, Travis Loller, Rebecca Reynolds, and Jonathan Drew of The Associated Press; Authors: Campbell Robertson, Rick Rojas, Azi Paybarah, Eduardo Medina of The New York Times , Jim Tankersley and Karen Weise; and Rachel Pannett, Annabel Timsit, Pauline Firoz, and Marisa Etty from The Washington Post.

Print headline: Light, heat, and water still haven’t faded in Kentucky, attacked by twists and turns

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