The death toll from powerful tornadoes that devastated towns in Kentucky is likely to pass 100, the governor says, as hope of finding survivors wanes.
Andy Beshear said this was the most devastating tornado event in the state’s history, with at least 80 confirmed deaths.
“Nothing that was standing in the direct line of [one] tornado is still standing,” he said.
Fourteen deaths have been reported in four other states.
President Joe Biden has declared a major federal disaster in Kentucky and ordered federal aid to be made available to the hardest-hit areas.
Rescue workers scoured debris for survivors while teams distributed water and generators to residents. More than 300 members of the National Guard were going door to door and removing debris.
“We’re still hoping as we move forward for some miracles to find more people,” the governor said during a visit to the town of Mayfield, one of the hardest hit.
However, no one has been found alive since Saturday morning.
Mr. Beshear said a tornado had wrecked places all along its 227-mile (365km) path. Thousands of people had their homes destroyed though the exact number was still not clear.
Previously, the longest a tornado had traveled along the ground in the US was a 219-mile storm in Missouri in March 1925 that claimed 695 lives.
Such major events outside of the spring and summer months are extremely rare.
