Live updates: Death roll rises to 74. First Lady launches toy drive for tornado victims
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Kentucky tornadoes: Victims, searches, response
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Recovery and rescue efforts continue in Kentucky on Monday after the “most severe tornado event in Kentucky’s history” ravaged parts of the state late Friday night, early Saturday morning.
The storm left dozens dead, thousands injured and many more displaced or affected in some way. 18 counties suffered damage as a result of the storm and the death toll continues to rise as officials comb through the damage, according to Gov. Andy Beshear.
An outpouring of support and help has been sent to impacted communities. President Joe Biden approved a disaster declaration for Breckenridge, Bullitt, Caldwell, Fulton, Graves, Grayson, Hickman, Hopkins, Lyon, Meade, Muhlenberg, Ohio, Shelby, Spencer, and Warren counties in Kentucky.
Here are the latest updates and developments on the damage and effects of the storms.
Report: All candle factory workers accounted for
4:50 p.m. — According to Ben Tobin of the Louisville Courier Journal, all 110 of the workers inside the Mayfield candle factory when it was hit by a tornado have been accounted for.
Eight are dead but the remaining 102 survived. The final two missing persons were located Monday afternoon.
Governor and First Lady hosting toy drive for western Kentucky
4:30 p.m. — With the holidays around the corner, First Lady Britainy Beshear announced along with Gov. Andy Beshear that there will be a toy drive for victims impacted by the Kentucky tornadoes.
Drop-off locations can be found all over the state, including at the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office on 150 N. Limestone in Lexington. Additional locations in Lexington will be announced soon.
Most of the locations in the state will collect items until Saturday.
Storm surveyors on the way
4:10 p.m. — The storm surveyors tasked with assessing the tornado that leveled western Kentucky will be in the area over the next few days, according to the National Weather Service.
Preliminary information by NWS suggests the tornado that hit Mayfield and other western Kentucky areas was at least an EF3 twister or greater. The estimated peak winds by NWS are 158-206 miles per hour, the latter of which would classify the tornado as an EF5, the most powerful in the Enhanced Fujita scale.
Death toll rises to 74
4:00 p.m. — Gov. Andy Beshear announced that the death toll from the deadly tornado storm that ravaged Kentucky has risen to 74.
That number is just two short of the record for most deaths from a tornado in Kentucky’s history.
The additional deaths came from the counties as follows.
- 4 in Hopkins County
- 3 in Warren County
- 1 in Graves County
- 1 in Franklin County
Beshear said the individual in Franklin County died while driving to the state capitol. The individual was pushed off the road from the storm.
69 of the 74 victims have been identified, per Beshear.
109 are still unaccounted for, Beshear said, but he believes the number is greater than reported.
‘The worst thing I’ve seen.’
3:30 p.m. — Officials in Graves County combing through the remains of a candle factory provided an update about the search & rescue mission on Monday, sharing how graphic the area is.
“This is the worst thing I’ve seen,” Jody Meiman, director of Louisville Metro Emergency Services, told reporters at a briefing at the site while an excavator noisily shoveled a pile of scrap in the background.
Emergency workers from Louisville, Lexington, Indiana and elsewhere are running two 12-hour shifts of about 100 people at a time at the factory property, with the Kentucky National Guard securing the site, Meiman said.
Warren County Coroner releases tornado victims’ names
2:10 p.m. — Warren County Coroner Kevin Kirby has released the identities of victims from Saturday morning’s deadly tornado, according to Wes Swietek with the Bowling Green Daily News.
The 15 fatalities in Warren County is three more than Gov. Andy Beshear previously reported in his Monday morning press conference. That would also raise the confirmed statewide death count in Kentucky to 67.
11 of the victims in Warren County died near Moss Creek Avenue. Seven of those victims were under the age of 18.
President Biden coming to Kentucky
1:00 p.m. — The White House has announced that President Joe Biden will make an appearance in Kentucky Wednesday to visit those affected by the deadly tornadoes.
Biden will visit Ft. Campbell for a storm briefing and then go to Mayfield and Dawson Springs to survey storm damage, the White House said.
WKU opening up computer lab
12:55 p.m. — Western Kentucky University has announced that it’s opening up the Jody Richards Hall Computer Lab for Bowling Green citizens needing internet access.
UK Athletics to host telethon for tornado victims
12:50 p.m. — UK Athletics will host the ‘Kentucky United for Tornado Relief’ telethon on Tuesday to raise money for Kentucky tornado victims.
It will take place from from 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesday inside the the Kroger Field Recruiting Room. Live spots will be intermingled with regular programming on WLEX for the first three hours and fully broadcasted live for the final hour.
All the proceeds will be donated to the American Red Cross.
Inmate turns self in
12:00 p.m. — The runaway inmate from the Graves County Jail has turned himself in to the Caldwell County Jail, according to Kentucky State Police.
Francisco Starks, 44, was inside the candle factory in Mayfield when a tornado leveled the building, per KSP. He was rescued from the wreckage and sent to Jackson Purchase Medical Center, and after being released, he walked away from the hospital.
Seven inmates in total were inside the business at the time of the storm, according to Graves County Jailer George Workman. Some of the inmates suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the collapse and a deputy jailer was killed.
Transportation Cabinet signs order to speed up relief
11:30 a.m. — Kentucky Transportation Secretary Jim Gray has signed an order aimed at speeding up relief efforts to Western Kentucky tornado victims by temporarily suspending certain restrictions on motor carriers engaged in restoring power, clearing debris and delivering fuel.
The order also temporarily excuses commercial drivers from maximum driving times and weigh station stops if responding to affected areas.
“Our cabinet is ready to help ensure that needed relief gets quickly to areas that have lost electric power and otherwise are experiencing hardships due to the outbreak of tornadoes, high winds and flash flooding cited in the emergency declared by Gov. Andy Beshear,” Gray said.
The order, which could be extended if necessary, will be in effect through Jan. 13.
64 confirmed deaths from tornadoes
10 a.m. — Gov. Andy Beshear confirmed 64 people are dead as a result of deadly tornadoes that devastated Kentucky a couple of days ago.
The deaths per county breakdown as follows.
- 20 in Graves County
- 13 in Hopkins County
- 12 in Warren County
- 11 in Muhlenberg County
- 4 in Caldwell County
- 1 in Fulton, Lyon, Marshall and Taylor Counties
Beshear said the ages for victims range from five months old to 86 years old. Six of the victims are under 18 years old, per Beshear.
Candle factory update
10 a.m. — The number of deaths in a destroyed candle factory in Mayfield could be lower than initially feared. Gov. Andy Beshear said out of the 110 workers who were inside the building at the time of the storm, 94 are now accounted for, according to the business.
Eight have been confirmed dead and eight more are missing.
“We feared much, much worse and again, I pray that it is accurate,” Beshear said. “But with no phones, with 15-plus feet of wreckage that had a dozen backhoes trying to pull things off of it, there’s no way at the time to know how many indivuduals made it out.”
“We pray this is true,” Beshear said.
Flags ordered at half-staff
10 a.m. — Gov. Andy Beshear ordered all flags in Kentucky be at half-staff to honor the victims from the deadly Kentucky tornadoes.
The order will begin on Tuesday and end at the end of the day Sunday.
“I’m asking business, other states to join us in the recognition of our Kentuckians who are struggling so badly,” Beshear said.
Gov. Beshear to update Kentuckians Monday morning
8:10 a.m. — Gov. Andy Beshear will host a press conference at 10 a.m. Monday to provide the latest updates surrounding the damage done from the Kentucky tornadoes.
Beshear last spoke on Sunday afternoon from Graves County. An accurate and more precise death toll has yet to be announced.
Biden approves major disaster declaration
7:45 a.m. — President Joe Biden approved a major disaster declaration requested by Gov. Andy Beshear on Sunday.
Doing so will make federal funds and assistance programs available for communities affected by the deadly Kentucky tornadoes.
Anyone who suffered losses as a result of the tornado can apply for assistance online at http://www.DisasterAssistance.gov or by calling 1-800-621-FEMA (3362).
Nearly 30,000 still without power
7:08 a.m. — According to PowerOutages.us, a website that tracks power outages, 28,694 Kentuckians are still without power over 48 hours after tornadoes swept through parts of the state.
Hopkins County had the most outages at 6,545 while Graves County, which is home to Mayfield, had the highest percentage of outages at 63 percent, per PowerOutages.us. 95 percent of customers tracked in Graves County were without power Sunday morning.
Fulton, Hickman, Carlisle, Christian, Todd, Logan, Lyon, Muhlenberg, Caldwell, Butler and Ohio counties also still have outages.
Death toll at candle factory could be lower than feared
6:30 a.m. — It was initially feared that dozens would be found dead at a destroyed candle factory in Mayfield, but new reporting suggests otherwise.
Mayfield Consumer Products Spokesperson Bob Ferguson told the Associated Press late Sunday that eight employees have been confirmed dead and another eight are still missing, but dozens of people who were initially unaccounted for have been located.
Ferguson said many of the employees inside the factory gathered in the tornado shelter when the storm hit. They fled to their homes when the storm subsided, and no power or connection initially made it difficult to reach them.
Beshear or any government agency has yet to confirm the report.
Some schools closed for the rest of 2021
6:30 a.m. — Some schools in the most ravaged areas of Kentucky will not be open for the rest of 2021 while the communities continue to recover from the deadly storm.
Schools in Hopkins County and Dawson Springs will be until at least early January. Graves County Schools are closed until at least Dec. 17 and schools in Bowling Green and Christian County will be closed for the early parts of this week.
Fayette Sheriff’s Collection for Kentucky storm victims
6:30 a.m. — The Office of Fayette County Sheriff is accepting donations to provide relief for the ones affected by the tornadoes. The following items will be accepted: bottled water and Gatorade, individually packed non-perishable food items, paper towels, toilet paper, large trash bags, cleaning supplies, disposable gloves, masks, first aid supplies, flashlights and batteries.
Items can be dropped off at the Office of Fayette County Sheriff in the Fayette District Court Building through Sunday, Dec. 19.
“We are deeply saddened to see the loss of life and damage caused by the multiple tornadoes in Western Kentucky. Each of us can help our fellow Kentuckians in this time of great need. The Office of Sheriff stands ready to assist in this critical mission,” said Sheriff Kathy Witt.
Click here to see updates from Sunday.
This story was originally published December 13, 2021 at 7:17 AM.
