Gov. Andy Beshear said at least 19 people were killed in the state as severe weather swept through parts of Kentucky starting Friday, razing parts of London and Somerset.
The National Weather Service confirmed the path of a tornado through Laurel and Pulaski counties Saturday morning. Seventeen people were killed in Laurel County and one person in Pulaski County. Beshear said Sunday another person, in Russell County, had died. He said 10 people were being treated at University of Kentucky's hospital.
"I've now been governor for at least 14 federally declared disasters," Beshear said at a press conference Saturday evening. "And this is one of the worst. It's one of the worst in terms of the loss of human life. It's one of the worst in terms of damage."
Kentucky has seen its fair share of disasters in recent years — deadly tornadoes in 2021 and deadly floods in 2022. The state has already seen multiple rounds of flooding this year. Scientists say Kentucky will continue to get warmer and wetter due to climate change, increasing the risk of flooding and other severe weather. One recent study found that climate change made April flooding 9% more intense.
Emergency officials said Saturday the state remains in the search and rescue phase of the recovery. NWS Meteorologist Christian Cassell in Jackson said the damage survey could be a multi-day process.
“A lot of tornadoes are very short distances,” Cassell said. “This one appears to be a very long-track tornado. So there's just going to be so much more damage to assess.”
Damage in Somerset
Along Highway 27 in Somerset, the typically busy road was vacated. Downed power lines littered the roadway alongside the remnants of siding, splintered wood and the remains of nearby roofs.
The Redeemer Lutheran Church sanctuary was a hollowed shell, and next door, employees of Baxter’s Coffee worked to pick up the pieces of their family legacy.
“Our family owns Baxter's, my mom started the business and now my brother and sister and I work here. I’ve been here for 20 years with the family business,” said Ann Cook.
She was among roughly a dozen employees and friends that were salvaging anything they could from the shell of the drive-through coffee shop. Despite the damages, Cook said she’s grateful that no employees were at the shop when the tornado hit late Friday night into Saturday morning.
“This can be rebuilt. The equipment can be replaced, we have places for our staff to go, and we can rebuild the building. It doesn’t matter, it’s all moot, because everybody’s safe,” Cook said.
Around five miles away on Bourbon Road, a community is mourning the loss of one of their own, and working to clear debris from homes that have been left empty shells.
“There’s a couple here that we know that she passed away. They were trying to get into the basement and the basement fell in, she passed away and he had a heart attack and now they’ve got him at the hospital. It’s sad, it’s just so quick,” said Nicole New, a Somerset resident.
While many of their neighbors found shelter with friends and family, New and her husband sheltered in their basement.
“I told my husband, he was in bed, I said, ‘We might need to go to the basement because a tornado’s coming through,’ and about that time we could hear stuff hitting the windows and we got to the basement and honestly it sounded like a train hitting our house,” New said.
Much of the damage to New’s home was limited to their garage. The doors there were ripped from the building and there are holes in the roof, though their home was mostly untouched. Just across the street, less than a hundred feet away, New’s neighbors faced a different reality.
Several homes were reduced to their foundations, with personal belongings and splintered wood littering yards and streets.
A combination of friendly neighbors and professional crews worked in tandem, cutting downed trees, repairing a broken water line, and filling dumpsters and truck beds with storm debris. Despite the damage, the street was a bustle of activity with resilience, mourning, and camaraderie on full display.
Politicians speak about the damage
Republican senators representing Laurel and Pulaski counties and Senate President Robert Stivers said the damage is overwhelming.
"Lives have been lost. Families have been shattered. Homes and businesses have been destroyed. Sadly, we expect the loss to grow as search and rescue efforts continue," they said in a joint statement.
Somerset Mayor Alan Keck issued a state of emergency for the city Saturday morning, citing extensive damage and loss of life.
Mayor Randall Weddle of London posted aerial photos on Facebook late Saturday morning showing a wide path of destruction from a tornado he said originated in Pulaski County that swept through London. He said debris was scattered for up to three miles.
In a video post on Facebook Saturday morning, Weddle thanked people who brought chainsaws to clear debris and first responders who came from neighboring areas.
He said shelter is available at First Baptist Church and South Laurel High School, which is also accepting donations.
"It's been amazing to watch the efforts of all of the first responders in this community tonight. This is the moment we shine the most, in devastating times, in hard times, as a community, we come together," he said.
In Louisville, the fire department said in a press release firefighters rescued two adults and two children from a home after a tree fell on it. They were taken to a hospital and are expected to survive their injuries.
Mid-morning, the governor announced he's spoken with local leaders, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and FEMA officials. Beshear had declared a state of emergency ahead of the expected storm system Friday.
National Weather Service Forecast Office Jackson
Cassell said the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Jackson, Kentucky, was fully staffed overnight. That office serves both Somerset and London.
The Trump administration's cuts to the National Weather Service have resulted in overnight staffing shortages at offices across the country. The New York Times reported earlier this week that federal cuts resulted in staffing cutbacks at the Jackson office.
Cassell told WEKU that normally on quiet weather nights they are closed because of staffing issues from 1 a.m. to 7 a.m. but bring in additional staff anytime they are expecting extreme weather.
“The big thing we want to stress is: if there's weather, we're staffed,” he said. “Failure is not an option.”
The office's website lists the "Meteorologist in Charge" position as vacant.
WKU's Derek Parham and WEKU's Shepherd Snyder and Stan Ingold contributed to this story.
This story may be updated.
This story was produced by the Appalachia + Mid-South Newsroom, a collaboration between West Virginia Public Broadcasting, WPLN and WUOT in Tennessee, LPM, WEKU, WKMS and WKU in Kentucky and NPR.
