‘A lot of trauma.’ Kentucky officials promise support for recovery after deadly storms
Officials expect the death toll from Friday’s overnight storms and unconfirmed tornado to continue to rise, Gov. Andy Beshear said at a press conference late Saturday afternoon in London.
As of the afternoon, the state had confirmed 18 dead across Pulaski and Laurel counties in southeastern Kentucky.
“This was a devastatingly strong tornado that tore through a subdivision in the middle of the night, and that is the worst type of natural disaster,” Beshear said.
He later added, “We expect our number to potentially rise.”
Seventeen people in Laurel County were killed when sections of entire subdivisions were destroyed. One woman died in a rural area of eastern Pulaski County.
Beshear said the victims included 11 women and seven men and ranged in age from 25 to 76.
At least 10 people are hospitalized in critical condition, with more receiving treatment, the governor said.
The Herald-Leader is working to identify and confirm all the victims of the overnight storm system, which included a 39-year fire department major and a 51-year-old mother.
Beshear described some of the destruction he’d seen in the area during a Saturday tour.
“No walls, no windows, just a pile that can’t be big enough to have been that house,” he said. “You’ve got a lot of trauma coming out of this one. How, as a small neighborhood, how do you move on when you’ve lost 10 people? And the answer is together.”
Officials said that it appeared one powerful tornado was responsible for the death and destruction in Pulaski and Laurel counties.
It was rated as an F3 in Somerset, where it damaged or destroyed more than a dozen businesses on the south side of the city, Beshear said.
It wasn’t clear what the rating was in Laurel County.
There were near misses in the storm.
Beshear described an incident in which a man in London carried his 94-year-old mother to safety just before a tree hit her home.
Kentucky State Police Commissioner Phillip “PJ” Burnett said there were so many injured people that troopers transported some in their cruisers because ambulances weren’t immediately available.
Local, state and federal officials joined Beshear at the news conference, which came after the governor and others toured damaged areas in London.
“There is no picture that can describe this,” said state Senate President Robert Stivers, a Republican from neighboring Clay County who lived near one of the damaged areas in London as a boy.
The path of the destruction was immense.
There were homes that still had four walls but still had people who died, Beshear said, while other people survived after being blown out of their homes.
Beshear said authorities are still in the search and recovery phase. Entire blocks of homes were destroyed, and police, firefighters and others hadn’t yet finished searching all of them as of late Saturday afternoon.
There is a potential the death toll will rise as searches continue.
“I worry there might be a whole block out there where everybody’s dead,” Beshear said.
Officials say they will support victims, recovery efforts
Beshear and Stivers have been at political odds at times, but were united in vowing the state will strongly support victims and the recovery effort.
“We are gonna be here for this community today, tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, in the years to come to help people rebuild,” Beshear said. “We just finished a tour. It’s hard to see homes that there is not a single wall left standing.“
“We are all here together and no politics to be played,” Stivers said.
Stivers also vowed the state won’t run out of money for the effort.
Representatives of U.S. Senators Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul and U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers, all Republicans, said they stand ready to back the recovery effort.
“Disaster is bipartisan,” said Bryan Mills, a field representative for Paul.
Beshear said he had talked to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and had requested a federal disaster declaration.
Stivers said the White House had contacted him with $5 million at the ready to send for the recovery effort.
In the meantime, local and state emergency management have been joined by the National Guard and first responders from other parts of the state to render immediate aid to the community.
Taking questions late Saturday, Beshear said federal partners have helped Kentucky obtain federal disaster declarations recently from the administration of President Donald Trump, while other states have been less successful.
This week’s storm followed reports that federal cuts to the National Weather Service have left Kentucky’s outposts understaffed.
“Well, I have big concerns with cuts to the National Weather Service, [but] I do not see any evidence that it impacted this one,” Beshear said when asked about the reports.
Officials said those with property damaged cannot apply for aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency yet, but they can contact their insurance carrier and document the storm damage.
“What people should know right now is document, document, document,” Beshear said of those who may have damage or total losses from the storm.
Burnett, Laurel County Sheriff John Root and others said police and National Guard troops will be out in force to guard against looting in damaged neighborhoods.
Root said an emergency shelter has already been opened for those who have lost their homes at First Baptist Church in London.
Beshear said there had been 13 weather-related federally declared disasters during his time as governor.
The latest disaster in Somerset and London, he said, is “one of the worst in terms of damage.”
This story was originally published May 17, 2025 at 6:00 PM.
