According to russia television station (RT) reported on the 12th, from the night of the 10th to the early morning of the 11th local time, at least 30 tornadoes were struck in 6 states in the central United States, of which Kentucky suffered the most heavy losses. Drone footage showed a picturesque town in Kentucky being completely destroyed.
The town of Mayfield, Kentucky, is completely destroyed Image source: Reuters
On the morning of the 11th, drones shot over the town of Mayfield, Kentucky, showed that the homes of about 10,000 residents were razed to the ground. Filmmaker Brandon Clement shared his "total destruction" video to NPR, calling it "a terrible sight to be seen at the first rays of dawn in the morning."
Video screenshots
Channel Mash, a channel for Russian social platform Telegram, released more aerial footage of the town, located in southwestern Kentucky. In the dim light, bare tree trunks and other ruins stand out, with overturned cars and large cracked holes in the roofs of high-rise buildings.
Mayfield Mayor Kathy Stewart O'Nan, who recounted her experiences in the tornado that caused the 200-mile devastation belt, said she heard voices she didn't want to hear again in her life, and when she came out of the basement, she saw with her own eyes that "the town was completely destroyed."
Source: The Associated Press
Other residents also recalled the horrific situation at the time, saying they heard loud noises and "all the metal in all the buildings was swept into the wind and swirled". A woman shared the experiences of her neighbors, hiding in a concrete garage after a city alarm sounded and the house began to shake. "The thing is, the houses around them all collapsed and they were actually stuck in the garage," she said. She also said the next day she saw the family "crawl out, screaming and terrified."
Another resident said, "We knew it was going to be bad, but we weren't sure how bad it would be." He said the tornado had caused "utter devastation" to the town, calling it the worst it had experienced in more than a century. The community is now "just praying, coming together, helping each other" and "we're going to rebuild it from scratch... We just feel heartbroken."
U.S. President Joe Biden called it probably one of the biggest tornado disasters in U.S. history and promised aid to affected states. The tornado swept across an area of Kentucky more than 227 miles (365 kilometers) long and could kill more than 100 people. On December 12, local time, the White House issued a statement saying that US President Biden declared Kentucky into a state of major disaster and ordered the federal government to assist it. (Editor: HHJ)