A fresh wave of deadly tornadoes swept across the central United States over the weekend, killing at least 28 people and injuring dozens more, with Kentucky and Missouri bearing the brunt of the destruction. The storms, which struck on Friday night, are part of what officials described as an unusually violent spring season.According to The New York Times, Kentucky alone reported 19 deaths, with 17 of them in Laurel County. Governor Andy Beshear confirmed that three of the 10 hospitalised victims remain in critical condition. One of those killed was Major Leslie Leatherman, a veteran firefighter who died during emergency operations. The Laurel County Fire Department called his death “a heartbreaking reminder of the dangers our first responders face every day.”The town of Kentucky’s London, was among the hardest-hit areas. Families picked through piles of wreckage and debris over the weekend. Residents like Jeff Wyatt barely escaped as their homes were torn apart. “It happened so fast… If we would have been there 10 seconds longer, we would have been gone with the family room,” Wyatt was quoted as saying by AP.
Emergency management officials noted the storms were caused by a line of supercells, long-lasting, intense thunderstorms, which spun off at least 26 tornadoes across Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois, and Missouri. Chad Jenkins, emergency director for Brown County, Indiana, was quoted by NYT as saying, “We’ve been under almost a continuous stream of storms. It’s been a pretty turbulent spring for us.”Missouri recorded seven deaths, including five in St Louis, where Mayor Cara Spencer said about 5,000 buildings were damaged. “I would describe this as one of the worst storms in the city’s history,” she said during a Saturday news conference.The storm system also caused fatalities in Virginia, where two people were killed by falling trees, and injured more than a dozen in Indiana. In Kentucky’s London, Ryan VanNorstran, who was house-sitting during the storm, described hearing screaming and feeling the house shake as windows shattered and debris flew. “I’d never really felt that kind of power from just nature,” he was quoted as saying by AP.Federal aid was approved for 24 Kentucky counties just two days before the latest disaster struck. However, as per NYT, recent staff cuts at National Weather Service offices, including a 29% vacancy rate in Louisville, have raised concerns about the country’s disaster response capabilities. Experts warn that vacancy rates above 20% can severely impact emergency preparedness.Despite the staffing shortfalls, Governor Beshear praised federal efforts in the immediate aftermath, saying on X, “Politics has no place in responding to natural disasters like this one.”The National Weather Service has warned that more dangerous weather could hit the region in the coming days, with forecasts of large hail and strong winds across the southern Great Plains, including parts of Oklahoma and Texas.Approximately 1,200 tornadoes hit the US every year, which have been reported in all 50 states over the years. 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.
