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Video: Over 30 tornadoes ripped through 6 states in the United States, namely Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee, wreaking deadly havoc on Dec. 10, 2021. Mayfield, Kentucky, was one of the hardest-hit communities, with satellite photos showing a swath of destruction, including a candle factory that was completely flattened. (Xinhua)
"With this amount of damage and rubble, it may be a week or even more before we have a final count on the number of lost lives," says Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear.
NEW YORK, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- The official death toll from the 30-odd tornadoes that attacked six central U.S. states over the weekend has increased to 88 people, with 74 in Kentucky, which was hit the hardest, while at least 109 people in that state are still unaccounted for.
【andU.S. tornado fatalities reach 88, more federal help announced】U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday declared emergencies in Illinois and Tennessee, which meant the two states will get federal help, and the president will visit Kentucky on Wednesday to survey the damage -- he approved its request for an expedited major disaster declaration on Sunday.
Rescue efforts resumed on Tuesday to identify the killed in several states, and "family members have been phoning loved ones and gathering in living rooms across the American heartland, mourning those who had not survived the storms' swift, furious rampage," reported The New York Times.
While rescue teams and volunteers combed through debris, "the unprecedented scale of devastation left behind by the storm began to come into focus," reported The Washington Post (WP). The National Weather Service said wind speeds reached an estimated 158 to 206 miles an hour at the peak of the storms.
"For decades to come, meteorologists will focus on a particularly large supercell, or rotating thunderstorm, which spurred the tornado or series of twisters that caused the majority of the destruction, leading researchers to investigate if such events will happen more often in a warming world," said the report.


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Photo taken on Dec. 13, 2021 shows the damaged Amazon Fulfillment Center in Edwardsville, Illinois, the United States. (Photo by Jason Tan/Xinhua)
MASSIVE DAMAGE
During the disaster, homes and businesses had been torn from their foundations; two warehouses had collapsed, trapping and killing employees; hundreds of thousands of Americans were left without power in mid-December, forcing Kentucky and Tennessee to open shelters where people could warm themselves, according to WP.
In hardest-hit Kentucky, the tornadoes derailed a train and scattered railcars in Earlington City in Hopkins County, and sent debris as high as 30,000 feet, the cruising altitude of many passenger jets. Governor Andy Beshear told reporters that the victims' "age range is 5 months to 86 years ... Six are under 18."
In Illinois, six people were confirmed dead at an Amazon.com Inc. warehouse in Edwardsville, in the southwestern part of the state. The governors of Arkansas and Missouri said two people died in each of their states, while Tennessee officials confirmed four deaths, according to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
"The tornadoes caused catastrophic damage across a broad section of the country, in a swath that at times was as wide as three-quarters of a mile," said the report. "With this amount of damage and rubble, it may be a week or even more before we have a final count on the number of lost lives," Beshear was quoted as saying.


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A bulldozer clears debris in Mayfield, Kentucky, the United States, on Dec. 12, 2021. (Photo by Angie Yu/Xinhua)
FEDERAL HELP
Following a briefing from Federal Emergency Management Agency and Homeland Security officials, President Biden said on Monday that his administration was focused on helping restore power, water and communications systems and on providing temporary housing and shelter to displaced people.

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