I haven’t seen this story published yet on Daily Kos, but I am sure there will be more information available as it unfolds. According to WKYT and WDRB News stations, a tornado struck at 11:49 PM in Laurel County, Kentucky near the London-Corbin Airport (in Southern Kentucky) on Friday night, I believe. WDRB News is calling it a “Mass Casualty event”. 27 people have lost their lives, many of them in Kentucky, and the search continues for survivors and to recover the dead. According to the Laurel County Fire Department, one of the victims was Major Leslie Leatherman, who was killed while he was responding to the emergency. He was a “dedicated Public Servant for 39 years.”
This was just one of many storms that swept the mid west and south on Friday. There are other victims in the neighboring states as well, but the bulk of the casualties occurred in Kentucky. The images are horrific with whole streets of homes flattened. Governor Andy Beshear had declared a State of Emergency on Friday so as to get ahead of the coming storm and to deploy the resources quickly to the area. He will be traveling there to survey the damage.
Tornado season is upon us and I only saw this covered on the news briefly last night. These storms are now supercharged with the Climate Crisis and we will live to see more events like this. In CNY, we were warned of possible tornados too with the severe storms that swept through our area yesterday afternoon and early evening. My heart goes out to those people and the staggering losses they have experienced. If you want to donate, contact the Red Cross. They are great in situations like this one!
