LONDON, Ky. (AP) — Thousands of people from Texas to Kentucky cleaned up Monday from severe weather that killed more than two dozen people and destroyed thousands of homes and buildings in four days as forecasters warned that more tornadoes and storms were possible in the central U.S.
In St. Louis, where officials estimated a tornado Friday damaged 5,000 buildings and may cost well over $1 billion, the mayor warned that federal assistance could take weeks.
Kentucky has been hardest hit by the storms. A devastating tornado late Friday into early Saturday damaged hundreds of homes, tossed vehicles, left many homeless, and killed at least 19 people, most of them in southeastern Laurel County.
In London, Kentucky, where the devastation was centered, the small airport became a beehive of cleanup work after it took a direct hit from a tornado. Officials were using it as a base to get water, food, diapers and other supplies out to the community.
"We have 1,001 things going on. But we’re managing it. And we’re going to get it all cleaned up,” said London Mayor Randall Weddle.
Officials in Kansas and Texas also were evaluating damage from late Sunday storms.
Tornadoes were possible in an area centered in eastern Oklahoma on Monday, with the risk of severe storms moving into Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee on Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.
Kentucky cleans up
The Kentucky storms that killed 19 people were part of a weather system that caused seven deaths in Missouri and two in northern Virginia, authorities said.
Lonnie Nantz hid in a hallway with his wife, two daughters and a grandson as the one-story brick home they bought near London in 1977 was destroyed around them. They were trapped in rubble for about 20 minutes in the midnight darkness before they were rescued unharmed.
“I don’t know why this happened. I’ve tried to live a good life all my life. I’ve still got the faith," said the 77-year-old Nantz, who went to church as always on Sunday.
London city worker Ashley Taylor was back on the job Monday loading doughnuts to take to a hospital and dispatch center even though there was a tarp on her roof. She was lucky — the houses across her street were destroyed late Friday night.
She survived the storm with nine other people and three dogs in the crawl space of a neighbor’s home.
“We prayed like never before — and just thankful for everything God did for us,” Taylor said.
In surrounding Laurel County, first responders mourned one of their own.
Fellow firefighters found the body of Laurel County Fire Major Leslie Leatherman on top of a woman he was shielding from the storm's fury as he answered calls during the worst of the storm. The woman was yelling for help and they were in a field across from a destroyed subdivision.
The injured woman turned out to be Leatherman's wife and officials aren’t sure if he knew who he was protecting in the darkness and chaos, the fire department said on social media.
A Kansas City is spared 18 years after a tornado nearly wiped out the community
Forecasters on Sunday night issued a tornado emergency for Greensburg, Kansas, where 12 people were killed and 90% of the town was destroyed in May 2007 by a 1.5-mile (2.4-kilometer) wide tornado with winds of 205 mph (330 kph).
The city was spared this time. Power was out but residents were safe after the “storm scare,” Greensburg officials posted on social media.
Tornadoes in Kansas carved a 20-mile (32-kilometer) path through Stafford and Reno counties. While damage was extensive, no injuries or deaths were reported.
Hard-hit St. Louis waits for FEMA
St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer said five people died, 38 were injured and more than 5,000 homes were affected by an EF3 tornado with winds up to 150 mph (240 kph) that slammed areas north and west of downtown Friday. Spencer has estimated that damages will exceed $1.6 billion.
“Eight miles of pure destruction, at times a mile wide," Spencer said at a Monday news conference. "We’re talking about thousands of buildings, thousands of families are being displaced. The recovery work is just beginning.”
The city issued a state of emergency and is awaiting a disaster declaration from the governor’s office as a first step to getting federal assistance.
U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, also expressed frustration over the federal response to a deadly March storm.
“We cannot wait months. I’m not happy about the fact we’re still waiting from all of that damage two months ago," Hawley said.
Acting Federal Emergency Management Agency Chief David Richardson said last week he plans to shift responsibility for disaster recovery to states this year as part of an agencywide transformation and that FEMA would coordinate federal assistance “when deemed necessary.”
Spencer said during a news conference Monday evening that emergency protocols put in place in 2021 were not followed, possibly preventing sirens being activated to warn residents about the tornado.
When asked whether any sirens went off, she said: “We are still under evaluation. What I can tell you is that the sirens were not deployed in a way that they should have been.”
She said it was not clear whose responsibility it was to let the community know about the emergency but that the fire department will do so moving forward.
In Texas, several tornadoes touched down west of Fort Worth on Sunday, including an EF1 with peak winds of 105 mph (169 kph) that caused damage in and around Gordon, the weather service said Monday.
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See more photos from the severe storms in the South and Midwest here.
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Associated Press writers Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina; Heather Hollingsworth in Mission, Kansas; Sarah Brumfield in Cockeysville, Maryland; Hallie Golden in Seattle and Jamie Stengle in Dallas contributed to this report.
Bruce Schreiner, The Associated Press
