Over the weekend, Kentucky’s Democratic Governor Andy Beshear spoke out regarding the series of tragic, freak, mid-December tornadoes that ripped through 6 states in the Midwest and the Southeastern United States — ultimately leaving a path of destruction and despair through Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi, and Tennessee.
All states involved in the freak “natural” (nothing about a series of massive tornadoes in the middle of winter is “natural,” it’s Climate Change) disaster experienced a level of destruction. But it seems Beshear’s state of Kentucky got it the worst — where many towns in the semi-southern state were left absolutely obliterated.
Following the deadly “natural” disaster, Beshear made an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union with host Jake Tapper, where he delivered a blood-curdling account of the tragedy — and frankly, it’s so much worse than we even expected.
Speaking with Tapper, Beshear painfully confirmed that the death toll in the state of Kentucky alone has now reached at least 80, before somberly noting “that number is gonna exceed more than 100.”
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“This is the deadliest tornado event we’ve ever had. I think it’s gonna be the longest and deadliest tornado event in U.S. history,” Beshear stated. “I’ve got towns that are gone, that are just, gone. My dad’s hometown, half of it isn’t standing. It is hard to describe.”
The Democratic governor noted that while the series of storms and tornadoes ultimately ripped through 6 states across the Southeastern and Midwest US, it was his state of KY that saw the biggest bulk of the disaster’s path of destruction and obliteration. Beshear pointed to a Mayfield Consumer Products candle factory, where intense rescue efforts are still being made, after the factory building collapsed under the tornado’s path, leaving many feared dead inside what’s left of the building.
“It will be a miracle if we pull anybody else out of that,” Beshear grimly revealed. “My understanding is that they did have a plan inside the facility, that we believe most of the workers got to what is supposed to be the safest place in the facility. But when you see the damage that this storm did, not just there, but across the area, I’m not sure there was a plan that would have worked. So we had about 110 Kentuckians, mainly residents of Mayfield that were working in that facility, about 40 of them have been rescued and I’m not sure we’re going to see another rescue. I pray for it. It would be an incredibly welcome miracle, but I think it’s been since 3:30 yesterday morning that we found a live person.”
We knew the situation in Kentucky was bad. But frankly, this was more than our hearts were prepared for.
Can we please, please take climate change seriously now?
You can watch the video of Governor Beshear’s CNN appearance here:
“I know we’ve lost more than 80 Kentuckians. That number is going to exceed more than 100. This is the deadliest tornado event we’ve ever had,” says Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear on the tornado aftermath. https://t.co/wVBWOeoDSG #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/OgEjXrnejm
— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) December 12, 2021
(Governor Beshear stated, for those who are interested in helping the individuals rocked by the tornadoes, to consider donating here.)
Featured image via screen capture