Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said Sunday that more than 100 people are feared dead — including at least two kids — from the devastating tornado that ripped through the state.
“It’s devastation like none of us have ever seen before. I know that we’ve lost now more than 80 people, but it’s going to exceed 100,” Beshear said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
“I’ve got towns that are gone, that are just, I mean gone. My dad’s hometown – half of it isn’t standing. It is hard for me to describe. I know people can see the visuals, but that goes on for 12 blocks or more in some of these places.”
Beshear confirmed that among the casualties were a 3-year-old who lived in Graves County and a 5-year-old in Muhlenberg County.
“I know we’ve lost a number of kids,” he said.
“This tornado didn’t discriminate against anybody in its path, even if they were trying to be safe again, just — just like nothing we’ve ever seen before,” he added.
Beshear said that rescue efforts are underway to locate survivors of a candle factory in Mayfield, Kentucky, that was leveled by the storm that tore through the city on Friday.
But he said that it would be a “miracle” if they find anyone else still alive in the rubble.
“We had 110 Kentuckians, mainly residents of Mayfield, that were working in that facility. About 40 of them have been rescued and I’m not sure that we’re going to see another rescue,” Beshear said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.
“I pray for it. It would be an incredibly welcome miracle but I think that it’s been since 3:30 yesterday morning that we found a live person.”
Rescue crews have had to climb over dead bodies to get to the living at the factory, officials said.
As for hard-hit areas, Beshear said that it’s not possible to go door-to-door to look for victims.
“There are no doors,” he said.
The tornado touched down for more than 200 miles, leaving a path of destruction in its wake as part of a swarm of twisters over the weekend that hit five states.
Casualties have been reported in all five states impacted by the storm, including six people in Illinois, four in Tennessee, two in Arkansas and two in Missouri.
With Post wires
