MAYFIELD, Dec 12 — Kentucky residents, many without power, gas or even a roof over their heads, woke today to a landscape scarred by a string of powerful tornadoes that officials fear killed at least 100 people while obliterating buildings, homes and anything else in their way.
But nowhere suffered as much as the small town of Mayfield, Kentucky, where the powerful twisters, which weather forecasters say are unusual in winter, destroyed a candle factory and the fire and police stations. Across the town of 10,000 people in the state’s southwestern corner, homes were flattened or missing roofs, giant trees had been uprooted and street signs were mangled.
This was but the latest disaster to afflict her: Kimp said her house burned down years ago, and then she had to file for bankruptcy following her husband’s death. In Illinois, six Amazon.com Inc workers were confirmed dead yesterday after a warehouse roof was ripped off, causing 11-inch thick concrete walls longer than football fields to collapse on themselves.
Unusually high temperatures and humidity created the environment for such an extreme weather event at this time of year, experts said.