More than 100 people are still missing in the areas affected by the devastating tornadoes in the Midwest, with many feared dead. The recorded death toll already stands at more than 70, ranging in age from two-months-old to 98-years-old. Thousands of people remain without power or have had their homes destroyed by the storm. Damages are estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars in Kentucky alone.
More than 100 still missing in Midwest
Rescue workers in Kentucky are vowing to go through every last piece of rubble to find the 109 people still listed as missing in the aftermath of the deadly tornadoes in that state.
Kentucky was by far the hardest hit of the Midwestern states which experienced one of the worst tornado disasters in their recorded histories.
Some, including the FEMA chief, blamed climate change for the devastation wrought by the storms, which tore through relatively densely populated areas.
For the people of Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Illinois, and Missouri, the political discussions launched by the media and federal officials will have to wait.
The Biden administration has pledged to aid the rescue and reconstruction efforts but it is still residents of these states who are currently having to pick through the debris to locate survivors and corpses.
Hundreds of Nation Guard troops have been deployed in Kentucky to assist local law enforcement and rescue workers in their increasingly hopeless search for any of the missing who might still be alive.
May take more than a week to know full extent of disaster
There are still some real hopes that certain missing individuals may only be isolated and unable to contact anyone but otherwise alive and well.
If this is the case then there is still a chance that the list of missing people might get shorter through rescues, rather than recoveries of remains.
As it stands, it seems likely that the total number of deaths will be just shy of 200, making this one of the deadliest storms the region has ever seen.
Rescue workers who set out to find survivors are increasingly reaching the demoralizing conclusion that their mission has shifted more to recovery.
The good news is that assistance from FEMA, the Red Cross, and private donors is pouring into the region to help those whose lives and livelihoods have been damaged by the tornadoes.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said that it might take a week or more before the state is able to make any conclusive statements about the extent of the damage to lives and property in the state.
