Residents dig out from tornado damage after storms kill 28 in Kentucky, Missouri and Virginia
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LONDON, Ky. — Residents in Kentucky and Missouri sifted through damage in tornado-stricken neighbourhoods and remained on edge Sunday for more severe weather ahead after storms swept through parts of the Midwest and South and killed more than two dozen people.
Kentucky was hardest hit as a devastating tornado damaged hundreds of homes, tossed vehicles and left many homeless. At least 19 people were killed, most of them in southeastern Laurel County.
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Meteorologists predicted a fresh “multi-day” mix of dangerous weather conditions across the nation’s midsection starting Sunday with heavy rains, thunderstorms and the possibility of more tornadoes, according to the National Weather Service.
‘IT HAPPENED SO FAST’
Jeff Wyatt’s home of 17 years was destroyed along with much of his neighbourhood in London, Kentucky. Wyatt, his wife and two of their children scarcely made it to safety in a hallway while the roof and family room were ripped away. On Sunday, the family returned to the wreckage to collect photos, baby blankets and other keepsakes.
“It happened so fast,” said Wyatt, 54. “If we would have been there 10 seconds longer, we would have been gone with the family room.”
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Survivors and their supporters picked through the wreckage in London Sunday, keeping a wary eye on the forecast. Severe storms were possible for Kentucky on Monday and even more so on Tuesday, the weather service said.
Zach Wilson, whose parents’ home was destroyed, said he was “terrified” another storm would ruin the remaining salvageable items scattered across their property — or even worse, destroy another community.
“If I had to tell anybody it would be to listen to every word that the National Weather Service kicks out and take every warning seriously,” Wilson said. “It’s nerve-wracking, you know.”
The latest Kentucky storms were part of a weather system Friday that killed seven in Missouri and two in northern Virginia, authorities said. The system also spawned tornadoes in Wisconsin, brought punishing heat to Texas and temporarily enveloped parts of Illinois — including Chicago — in a pall of dust on an otherwise sunny day.
MISSOURI AND KANSAS COULD SEE MORE STORMS
The weather service said parts of Missouri and Kansas could see severe thunderstorms, golf ball-sized hail and wind gusts up to 60 mph (97 kph) into Monday.
In London, Kentucky, Ryan VanNorstran huddled with his brother’s large dogs in a first-floor closet as the storm hit his brother’s home Friday in a neighbourhood along Keavy Road where much of the destruction in the community of nearly 8,000 people was centred. VanNorstran was house-sitting.
He said he felt the house shake as he got in the closet. Then a door from another house crashed through a window. All the windows blew out of the house and his car was destroyed. Chunks of wood had punched through several parts of the roof but the house avoided catastrophic damage. When he stepped outside he heard “a lot of screaming.”
“I guess in the moment, I kind of realized there was nothing I could do. I’d never really felt that kind of power from just nature,“ he said. ”And so I was in there and I was just kind of thinking, it’s either gonna take me or it’s all gonna be all right.”
DAMAGE ASSESSMENTS UNDERWAY
Damage assessments were underway Sunday as the state readied its request for federal disaster assistance, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said.
He announced a 19th storm victim, an adult woman from Russell County. Of 10 people hospitalized for injuries related to the severe weather, three remained in critical condition.
“A lot of Kentuckians are hurting right now,” Beshear said on X, touting fundraising efforts to help with funeral expenses and rebuilding. “If you’re able to help, please do.”
Parts of two dozen state roads were closed, and some could take days to reopen, he said.
About 1,200 tornadoes strike the U.S. annually, and they have been reported in all 50 states. Researchers found in 2018 that deadly tornadoes were happening less frequently in the traditional “Tornado Alley” of Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas and more frequently in parts of the more densely populated and tree-filled mid-South.
In St. Louis, Mayor Cara Spencer said five people died, 38 were injured and more than 5,000 homes were affected.
“The devastation is truly heartbreaking,” she said.
A tornado struck in Scott County, about 130 miles (209 kilometres) south of St. Louis, killing two people, injuring several others and destroying multiple homes, Sheriff Derick Wheetley wrote on social media.
STORMS HIT AFTER TRUMP ADMINISTRATION STAFFING CUTS AT WEATHER SERVICE
The storms hit after the Trump administration massively cut staffing of National Weather Service offices, with outside experts worrying about how it would affect warnings in disasters such as tornadoes.
The office in Jackson, Kentucky, which was responsible for the area around London, Kentucky, had a March 2025 vacancy rate of 25%; the Louisville, Kentucky, weather service staff was down 29%; and the St. Louis office was down 16%, according to calculations by weather service employees obtained by The Associated Press. The Louisville office was also without a permanent boss, the meteorologist in charge, as of March, according to the staffing data.
Experts said any vacancy rate above 20% is a critical problem.
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