Sharjah24 – Reuters: The barrage of tornadoes that tore through six states killed at least 74 people in Kentucky, officials said on Monday, as those fortunate enough to survive unscathed opened their doors to victims whose homes were destroyed, and hundreds of the suddenly homeless took refuge in shelters.
The death toll was likely to rise as 109 people remained missing, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said.
But no more dead were expected to come from a destroyed candle factory as a company spokesperson said later that a final accounting showed only eight dead. At one time, dozens were feared buried there beneath the rubble.
Some 28,000 Kentucky homes and businesses still lacked power, and 1,000 homes were damaged or destroyed, officials said, after the tornadoes surprised people by striking unusually late in the year during cold weather on Friday.
The dead, including at least six children, ranged in age from 5 months to 86 years old.
"You go from grief to shock to being resolute for a span of 10 minutes and then you go back," Beshear said, choking up at times.
Amid the roller coaster of emotions, it has proven difficult for authorities to pin down the exact death toll. Piles of wreckage, interruptions to cell service and the number of people sheltering with friends and relatives have complicated efforts to identify fatalities.
The final death toll from Mayfield's candle factory will stand at eight, as the remaining 102 workers who were on duty when the tornado struck are alive and have been accounted for, a process that took three days given the chaos brought by the disaster, company spokesperson Bob Ferguson said.
Across Kentucky, neighbors and volunteers worked to house, feed and offer any other assistance to those whose homes were damaged, destroyed or stripped of electricity.
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