Tornadoes kill more than 20 in south-central US

By AFP
May 18, 2025
In this image obtained from the Laurel County Fiscal Court in Kentucky, residents search through tornado damage near the city of London on May 17, 2025. —AFP
In this image obtained from the Laurel County Fiscal Court in Kentucky, residents search through tornado damage near the city of London on May 17, 2025. —AFP

WASHINGTON: More than 20 people have died after severe storms swept through the US states of Missouri and Kentucky, laying waste to local communities and cutting off electricity to nearly 200,000 people, authorities said.

Kentucky governor Andy Beshear said on X that at least 14 people had died in the storms Friday night, while local officials in Missouri said another seven were dead there.

Jamie Burns, 38, who lives with her husband and son in a trailer home in the town of London, Kentucky, had to seek shelter in the basement of her sister’s brick house while the storm destroyed some 100 to 200 houses in the area.

“Things that have been here longer than I have, things that have been here for 30-plus years are just flat,” Burns told AFP in a phone interview, her voice quavering.