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Rare winter tornadoes decimate US - 15th December 2021
Areas of the central and southern US lie in ruins following a catastrophic outbreak of tornadoes across six states on Friday 11th December.
Homes, factories and businesses proved no match for the marauding twisters, which left whole towns decimated in their wake. Speaking of this unimaginable tragedy, President Biden assured those affected that his federal administration would provide whatever assistance was required.
Kentucky, where the death toll has risen to over 50, bore the brunt of the twisters' destructive force, and 6 Amazon employees perished in Illinois when a Fulfilment Centre crashed down on them.
The swirling tempests laid waste to Mayfield, Kentucky, leaving residents like restauranteur Mitchell Fowler bereft.
Mitchell Fowler: "Just, this is our home town, and it's just devastating. Everybody's lost everything. It's, it’s just one of those things."
Funnelling energy downwards when cold, dry air smashes into a warm, humid storm system, tornadoes spiral at furious speeds. While technology predicting the occurrence of twisters makes advance warning possible, on this occasion nothing could have anticipated their intensity.
Mayfield resident David Norsworthy had doubted the forecasts.
David Norsworthy: "I didn't really think that it would hit. I thought maybe the wind would get up, but we've never had anything like this here, never. The courthouse is torn up – it, it's all torn up. All of Mayfield is, down through there, she tore up – bad."
The tornado abruptly ended the night shift at Mayfield's candle factory, its roof hurtling down onto the 110 staff and claiming 8 lives, although rescue teams have freed 90 from the wreckage, with Fowler's brother-in-law among them.
Mitchell Fowler: "I had a brother in law that was trapped out in the candle factory all night. They found him this morning - he's still alive. He's do, he’s at the hospital, but he's doing OK."
The region was battered by over 30 tornadoes, including one titanic vortex which meteorologists tracked surging for 365 kilometres. Their stark warning is, expect more tornado outbreaks as climate change accelerates.
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