U.S. emergency services were still searching Sunday (12:12:2021) for survivors of tornadoes that killed dozens of people in several states and left villages in ruins, as the governor of the battered state of Kentucky warned that sniffer dogs were still finding dead bodies.
Federal and local officials warned that the death toll, for now 94, could still rise.
President Joe Biden sent the heads of the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to Kentucky to assess the situation and pledged all federal aid.
Local authorities were beginning to receive help for stunned residents still searching through the rubble of their homes and businesses, despite the intense devastation.
Video via Twitter @CMM_noticias
Work focused “on recovery”
Edwardsville Fire Chief James Whiteford told reporters the operation had moved from rescue to focusing “only on recovery,” fueling fears that the death toll would rise.
“It’s a very sad and serious operation right now,” Michael Dossett, Kentucky’s relief coordinator, said earlier, confirming that no survivors were pulled from the rubble early Sunday morning.
While a Christian church in Mayfield distributed food and clothing to survivors, it also provided space for the county coroner to do his job, Pastor Stephen Boyken of His House Ministries told AFP.
People “come with photographs, birthmarks; now they talk about using DNA samples to identify those who have been lost,” he said.
Elsewhere in Kentucky, and also in the states of Missouri, Illinois, Tennessee and Arkansas, similar scenes of destroyed buildings, twisted metal infrastructure, overturned vehicles, broken trees and bricks strewn across streets were recorded.
Reports put the total number of tornadoes in the region at around 30.
Storm trackers said the weekend storm was able to lift debris 9,100 meters (30,000 feet) into the air.
