Gov. Andy Beshear told reporters the death toll figures come from emergency management officials and may differ from what county coroners are reporting.
“Again, we expect this death toll to continue to grow,” the governor said at a Monday afternoon news conference.
In addition to the deaths, 109 residents remain unaccounted for, Beshear said.
Earlier he described the destruction, saying more than 1,000 houses have been obliterated.
“Our state was hit by at least four tornadoes. One stayed on the ground in Kentucky for at least 200 miles, devastating anything in its path,” Beshear said.
“Thousands of homes are damaged, if not entirely destroyed,” he said. “And it may be weeks before we have final counts on both deaths and levels of destruction.”
The governor said the mammoth tornado annihilated houses unlike any other in state history.
“When this tornado hit, it didn’t just take a roof off, which is what we’ve seen in the past,” Beshear said.
“It exploded the whole house. People, animals, the rest — just gone.”
At least 15 of those killed in Kentucky were in Warren County, Coroner Kevin Kirby said Monday.
The youngest victims identified there include two infants, Samantha and Alma Besic, the coroner’s office said.
A 4-year-old, Nyles Brown, also was killed. The oldest victim identified in Warren County is Mae F. White, 77.
Just five hours before a tornado shredded the city of Mayfield, children had packed Gibson’s Pharmacy for the annual visit from Santa Claus.
“The lobby was fully of families. My kids were in there,” said Sam Brown, whose father purchased the pharmacy 38 years ago — the year Brown was born.
“That’s actually the very last video I have of the property, a lobby full of kids sitting on Santa’s lap.”
Brown and his family survived the tornado. But he said the pharmacy was reduced to “a war scene. It’s just totally demolished.”
The family, however, is still committed to getting medicine to neighbors quickly.
“We have another location open on the other side of town. We’re wanting to be up and running today … to service the community the best we can. We’ve been working nonstop to get it going.”
“Help keeps pouring in from all over the county. Thank you to everyone. We feel your love here,” the governor said.
He said the fund’s first expenditure will be to provide $5,000 for burial expenses to families who lost loved ones during the storm. The state has requested funeral homes not charge the families of the storm victims beyond that.
Beshear said no families will have to apply, as the state will be reaching out directly.
But more help is needed, said state Sen. Whitney Westerfield.
“I’d encourage you, (if) you have spare room this Christmas, give to western Kentucky.”
The American Red Cross has eight shelters set up and is providing relief to nearly 200 people, the group’s Kentucky CEO Steven Cunanan said Sunday.
Cunanan said the Red Cross’ main goal is to provide food and care to those forced out of their homes by the tornadoes. “We have to help them get their lives back and help them get to a sense of normalcy again,” he said.
The emotional toll of having your life upended by a natural disaster is also an important consideration, Cunanan said. “I’ve seen that on every disaster I’ve been on. They’re shell-shocked. They don’t know where to turn.”
Several state parks have also been opened to help house families who lost everything, Beshear said Sunday.
“We are taking them in,” Beshear said. “We are trying to guarantee everyone a two-week stay, so they’re not worried about tomorrow. They can worry about finding their relatives, making sure their kids have enough to eat.”
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is on the ground assisting after President Joe Biden approved a major disaster declaration over the weekend. The move allows for grants and low-cost loans to be put toward housing and home repairs in affected areas.
In parts of Kentucky, it’s impossible to figure out where porches and front doors once stood.
“I’ve got towns that are gone — that are just, I mean, gone,” the governor told CNN on Sunday. “You go door-to-door to check on people and see if they’re okay. There are no doors … it’s devastating.”
About 75% of Dawson Springs has been wiped out, Mayor Chris Smiley said.
“It’s the worst thing I’ve ever seen,” said Smiley, who’s lived in the small town for 63 years. “It’s just devastating.”
More than 100 people have been reported missing in Dawson Springs, said Nick Bailey, director of emergency management in Hopkins County. But officials hope most of them left town and just haven’t checked in yet.
But “hundreds and hundreds” in the town of nearly 3,000 people no longer have a place to live, Bailey said.
“Almost an entire city has been displaced at this point,” he said.
And those whose homes are still standing probably won’t have power for up to a month, Bailey said.
While Kentucky may have suffered the most extensive damage, at least 50 tornadoes were reported in seven other states over the weekend, the National Weather Service said.
As of Sunday, EF-3 tornadoes were identified in Defiance, Missouri; Edwardsville, Illinois; Bowling Green, Kentucky; Saloma, Kentucky; and a swath of Kentucky between Cayce and Beaver Creek.
In Illinois, at least six people died when an Amazon warehouse collapsed in Edwardsville, Fire Chief James Whiteford said.
Those six victims ranged from 26 to 62 years old, the Edwardsville Police Department said.
One was identified as Clayton Cope, a 29-year-old US Navy veteran. He had worked at Amazon for just over a year as a maintenance mechanic, his mother, Carla Cope, said.
The young man’s father also worked at the facility in the same position.
“Had (Clay) not been there, my husband would have,” Carla Cope said.
An Amazon representative said a tornado warning siren sounded 11 minutes before the storm’s arrival.
She said employees sheltered in two unspecified safe areas. Nantel said dispatchers also contacted Amazon delivery drivers in the area and told them to shelter in place.
In Arkansas, the storm struck a Dollar General store in Leachville and killed assistant manager June Pennington, Misssissippi County spokesman Tom Henry said.
In the nearby city of Monette, at least one person was killed at a nursing home damaged by a tornado, Mayor Bob Blankenship said.
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said it was a “miracle” only one person died at the nursing home.
“As I went to that facility, it was like heaven sucked up the roof and all the contents of it,” he said.
“And it’s just a miracle with 67 residents that we only lost one there. And that’s because of the heroic efforts by the staff and also the fact that we had 20 minutes of warning.”
Officials confirmed two storm-related deaths in Missouri, including a woman killed at home in St. Charles County and a young child killed at home in Pemiscot County, the governor said.
Tennessee reported four weather-related deaths. Two were in Lake County, one in Obion County and one in Shelby County, Tennessee Emergency Management spokesman Dean Flener said.
As officials focus on the immediate needs of tornado victims, forecasters are keeping an eye on the possibility of more severe weather in the region.
While it’s still early, some areas impacted by the tornadoes might see the same type of weather pattern this week, CNN meteorologist Michael Guy said.
That could include warming temperatures followed by another possible risk of severe weather by the weekend
CNN’s Gregory Lemos, Carma Hassan, Jason Hanna, Ashley Killough, Laura Studley, Kiely Westhoff, Susannah Cullinane, Eric Levenson and Amir Vera contributed to this report.
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