Kentucky death toll from Dec 10 tornadoes climbs to 77

[December 28, 2021]    (Reuters) - The official death toll in Kentucky from a swarm of devastating tornadoes that struck the state on Dec. 10 has climbed to 77, with an infant in hard-hit Graves County counted as the latest fatality, Governor Andy Beshear said on Monday.

A Frosty the Snowman doll sits against a fallen utility pole on a Christmas morning in a heavily damaged neighborhood, after tornadoes ripped through several U.S. states, in Dawson Springs, Kentucky, U.S., December 25, 2021. REUTERS/Jon Cherry

Reuters had previously reported at least 74 people perished, a dozen of them children, in Kentucky, and 14 were killed elsewhere in tornadoes that raked a five-state region, including one twister that plowed a 227-mile (365-km) path of destruction through western Kentucky.

Mayfield, Kentucky, in Graves County, bore some of the greatest damage and loss of life from the storms, with much of the town laid to waste. Eight of the dead were employees of a candle factory demolished by the twister there.

Sixteen counties in western Kentucky have been included in a federal disaster declaration, making residents there eligible for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Kentucky State Parks were continuing to provide housing and food services for more than 600 residents displaced by the disaster, state officials said.

Insured property losses from the storms could total up to $5 billion, industry experts have said.

(Reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; editing by Richard Pullin)

[© 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2021 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.