State officials warned on Monday that residents of Kentucky counties, which were slammed by tornadoes, could be without heat, water, or electricity in frigid temperatures for weeks or longer. Authorities say the level of destruction was hindering their ability to tally the devastation from Friday night’s storms which claimed the lives of at least 64 people.
As searches continued for those still missing, efforts turned to repairing the power grid, sheltering those whose homes were destroyed, and delivering drinking water and other supplies. About 26,000 homes and businesses were without electricity, including nearly all of those in Mayfield and more than 10,000 homes and businesses have no water.
Kentucky Emergency Management Director, Michael Dossett, reported that another 17,000 homes are under boil-water advisories and warned that full recovery in the hardest-hit places could take years.
In announcing that lodges in state parks were being used to provide shelter Kentucky Governor, Andy Beshear, declared, “We’re not going to let any of our families go homeless.”
In the meantime, survivors in Mayfield, one of the hardest-hit towns, faced a high in the 50s and a low below freezing on Monday, without any utilities. Mayfield Mayor, Kathy Stewart O’Nan, noted on CBS Mornings that infrastructure damage has left nothing to rely on.
“Our infrastructure is so damaged. We have no running water. Our water tower was lost. Our wastewater management was lost, and there’s no natural gas in the city. So we have nothing to rely on there,” she said. Stewart O’Nan added that it is purely survival at this point for many people.
Officials believe that the death toll will be lower than officially feared, since it appeared many more people escaped a candle factory in Mayfield, Kentucky than first thought. Initially, as many as 70 people were feared dead in the Mayfield Consumer Products candle factory, but the company reported on Sunday that eight deaths were confirmed and eight remained missing, while more than 90 others had been located.
